Hymercar
Guest
I am really posting this as useful information for anyone contemplating a pump upgrade.
The water system in our van is theoretically non pressurised with the water pump being activated by micro switches on the taps. It therefore seemed no problem to upgrade the water pump to one that operates with a greater flow rate. (Reich 19ltr Twin Submersible) as its name suggests it has twin pumps which provides the additional feature that should one pump fail the second will carry on working albeit at half the flow rate, it also has a built in non return valve(NRV). Replacement was easy pull off old pump push on new pump and connect.
All worked fine for some time with no problems. Then one morning we could hear the pump run but no water came forth! Investigation revealed that the pump had come off the end of the pipe. Perhaps was vibration and rough roads had disconnected it and it failed in the night? Whatever pipe was pushed back onto pump and all was fine. until a couple of nights later and the same thing happened.
It was while refitting and testing that I discovered that although it is not a pressure activated pump when the tap is turned off because the pump is in full flow the line is pressurised. Uprated flow rate equals increased pressure in line. But why had this suddenly started to happen? On the two occasions it occurred we had switched on the water heater (Webasto Dual Top) before retiring for the night.
So water in pipes already at a slightly higher pressure because of uprated pump now gets heated and expands and the pressure acting against the NRV forced the pump off the pipe. Solution: fit a jubilee clip (although this had not been necessary with the old pump it cured the problem. So if you are upgrading you pump and you have push on pipes they may need a jubilee clip.
But that is not the end of the story. One morning as one person is showering the person outside gets a free foot wash. Water is flowing down the van floor. At that volume it was not hard to discover the leak. There is a second NRV fitted in the system and this also is just a pipe pushed onto the NRV it is the next weak link in the system. A jubilee clip has now secured that nut where next?
The short term solution until we return home and I can check the whole system is either to turn off 12v open tap and release pressure before turning water heater overnight, alternatively don't turn on the water heater until the morning and we start using water for tea etc thus not allowing excess pressure to build.
Hope someone finds this helpful it may save a flooded van and wet feet! Oh yes I can recommend the pump it is great and gives a really good shower flow. and we do not seem to be suffering from heavier water usage, it just fills the kettle quicker.
The water system in our van is theoretically non pressurised with the water pump being activated by micro switches on the taps. It therefore seemed no problem to upgrade the water pump to one that operates with a greater flow rate. (Reich 19ltr Twin Submersible) as its name suggests it has twin pumps which provides the additional feature that should one pump fail the second will carry on working albeit at half the flow rate, it also has a built in non return valve(NRV). Replacement was easy pull off old pump push on new pump and connect.
All worked fine for some time with no problems. Then one morning we could hear the pump run but no water came forth! Investigation revealed that the pump had come off the end of the pipe. Perhaps was vibration and rough roads had disconnected it and it failed in the night? Whatever pipe was pushed back onto pump and all was fine. until a couple of nights later and the same thing happened.
It was while refitting and testing that I discovered that although it is not a pressure activated pump when the tap is turned off because the pump is in full flow the line is pressurised. Uprated flow rate equals increased pressure in line. But why had this suddenly started to happen? On the two occasions it occurred we had switched on the water heater (Webasto Dual Top) before retiring for the night.
So water in pipes already at a slightly higher pressure because of uprated pump now gets heated and expands and the pressure acting against the NRV forced the pump off the pipe. Solution: fit a jubilee clip (although this had not been necessary with the old pump it cured the problem. So if you are upgrading you pump and you have push on pipes they may need a jubilee clip.
But that is not the end of the story. One morning as one person is showering the person outside gets a free foot wash. Water is flowing down the van floor. At that volume it was not hard to discover the leak. There is a second NRV fitted in the system and this also is just a pipe pushed onto the NRV it is the next weak link in the system. A jubilee clip has now secured that nut where next?
The short term solution until we return home and I can check the whole system is either to turn off 12v open tap and release pressure before turning water heater overnight, alternatively don't turn on the water heater until the morning and we start using water for tea etc thus not allowing excess pressure to build.
Hope someone finds this helpful it may save a flooded van and wet feet! Oh yes I can recommend the pump it is great and gives a really good shower flow. and we do not seem to be suffering from heavier water usage, it just fills the kettle quicker.
