Water pump

Mobilvetta

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About every 5 minutes I here the water pump make a noise as though someone has put a tap on, it lasts for about a second. Doesn't bother us during the day but it does get anoying when we go to bed, I though the solution was to switch it off on the control panel, but then if you want the toilet in the night, it won't flush. Is this normal if not what would you advise please to stop it happening, it's a newish van under warranty but we are in Europe at the moment so would probably after wait until we return to the UK in April before we could take it up with the dealership.
 
If your pump is operated by a pressure switch you could have a small leak which causes the pressure to drop and turns the pump on, check for leaks on all the taps because every 5 mins is a quick pressure drop
 
It would be wise to turn the pump off after use each time it could be just a slight air leak fitting an accumulator would cure it. On a new van it could even be an air lock.
Turning the pump off after each use is good practise if a leak or joint fails with the pump left turned on it will run until the tank empties if you are out or at night this would be a major problem.

Alf
 
Alf said:
It would be wise to turn the pump off after use each time it could be just a slight air leak fitting an accumulator would cure it. On a new van it could even be an air lock.
Turning the pump off after each use is good practise if a leak or joint fails with the pump left turned on it will run until the tank empties if you are out or at night this would be a major problem.

Alf
Click to expand...

In a pressurised system, an air leak may be possible to start with, until pressurised water fills the pipes. Then it's going to be a water leak lol. Air in the system maybe for a while, as air might leak out of a water tight joint, but unlikely if it's been going for a while.

Pump off if you don't need it - definitely a good idea, just in case something pops. But not to ignore a leak ;)
 
Oh dear, this is a familiar tale. We to have had a similar problem. Sue kept waking up because the pump under her bunk kept on kicking in every few hours. It turned out that there was a leak, not inside though. I noticed that there was a trickle from the drain valve on the carver outside cover, so each night we turned off the pump. When back at home I re-pressurised the system to see what happened, and after a bit of piggery jokery it seemed that there was a sort of catastrophic failure in the tank heater and water was peeing out all over the place. Because I am not able to sort these things out, we have just diverted the water away from the heater and now rely on the kettle
 
Could be a microswitch on one of the taps which although the tap is closed the switch is closed causing the pump to run.
Slightly paradoxically when you OPEN the tap the microswitch CLOSES (ie completes the circuit, which in turn to means the pump functions).
Try fiddling with all the taps. The fault with us was with the sink tap which is rotated to choose either hot or cold water and raised to get flow.
The problem was temporarily eased by the tap being in either hot or cold position when closed .
As our vehicle was 13 years old the best solution was to replace the tap unit as the issue was mechanical wear within the tap unit.
Easy enough in the kitchen...but much more difficult if it was the washbasin and next to impossible the shower. (Access)
I our case no water was lost but the pump running was annoying (and not good for the pump) so we would switch it off.
Hey Ho "The joys of full-timing"
 
Oh I hope it is a micro switch, had a quick look last night and couldn't find a leak under the kitchen sink or the bathroom sink, impossible to check the shower as the pipework is all behind, going to look at the water pump itself today to see if there is any damp and there is an outside shower, but again cannot get to this, not that we have ever used it, the van is fitted with a Truma 6 boiler and heater that is contained within a cupboard in the garage, so when I get the scooter out next I will have a look at that. Thanks all for your answers, hopefully I will get to the bottom of it, in the meantime I will keep switching the pump off.
 
Mobilvetta said:
Oh I hope it is a micro switch, had a quick look last night and couldn't find a leak under the kitchen sink or the bathroom sink, impossible to check the shower as the pipework is all behind, going to look at the water pump itself today to see if there is any damp and there is an outside shower, but again cannot get to this, not that we have ever used it, the van is fitted with a Truma 6 boiler and heater that is contained within a cupboard in the garage, so when I get the scooter out next I will have a look at that. Thanks all for your answers, hopefully I will get to the bottom of it, in the meantime I will keep switching the pump off.
Click to expand...
I doubt it has micro switches on the taps. The symptoms suggest the pump is pressure operated and not switched.
 
If pressure operated, the pump includes a non-return function or the system has a non-return valve on the pump discharge. This prevents the pressure dissipating through the pump back to the tank. Leakage through this can be another cause of the symptoms described, so if you can't find a leak anywhere you might have a defective pump/non-return valve. HTH, Geoff
 
St3v3 said:
In a pressurised system, an air leak may be possible to start with, until pressurised water fills the pipes. Then it's going to be a water leak lol. Air in the system maybe for a while, as air might leak out of a water tight joint, but unlikely if it's been going for a while.

Pump off if you don't need it - definitely a good idea, just in case something pops. But not to ignore a leak ;)
Click to expand...

That is the principle I use as well and try to remember to turn the pump off when I don't need to use the water - and especially worth while doing so in this current weather I think.
 
GeoffL said:
If pressure operated, the pump includes a non-return function or the system has a non-return valve on the pump discharge. This prevents the pressure dissipating through the pump back to the tank. Leakage through this can be another cause of the symptoms described, so if you can't find a leak anywhere you might have a defective pump/non-return valve. HTH, Geoff
Click to expand...

True!
 
If there is no leak .
It could the pump . the rubber diaphram split in ours and lost pressure .then every now and then off it went.
 
Mobilvetta said:
About every 5 minutes I here the water pump make a noise as though someone has put a tap on, it lasts for about a second. Doesn't bother us during the day but it does get anoying when we go to bed, I though the solution was to switch it off on the control panel, but then if you want the toilet in the night, it won't flush. Is this normal if not what would you advise please to stop it happening, it's a newish van under warranty but we are in Europe at the moment so would probably after wait until we return to the UK in April before we could take it up with the dealership.
Click to expand...
Do you have alde heating, these systems have a hot water pressure valve that if the water is getting too hot can release some pressure, when our hot water is left on we get a small drip from the release valve when it reaches temperature, hence our water pump will activate three clicks every six hours or so
 
andyjanet said:
Do you have alde heating, these systems have a hot water pressure valve that if the water is getting too hot can release some pressure, when our hot water is left on we get a small drip from the release valve when it reaches temperature, hence our water pump will activate three clicks every six hours or so
Click to expand...

No it's is a Truma 6 hot air system.
 
Checked the pump
ian and cath said:
I just had the exact same problem with my new van. It turned out the hose just before the pump was not pushed on all the way and the system was drawing air. It took ages to discover and seconds to fix. Would only take you a moment to check.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Checked around the pump today and checked the filter housing, glad I had a little filter as I unscrewed the top of the water tank to look inside it and could not believe how many bits were at the bottom of the tank, it was clean as a whistle when we set off, next time I'm on a caravan site I'm going to drain it and clean all the bits out, wouldn't mind we have been using tank water in the kettle and to brush our teeth.
 
Found a pool of water under the motorhome this morning below were the fridge freezer is and there was a constant drip, luckily we were stopping at a motorhome dealers in Jerez, I told them about the pump keeps making noises every now and again even though the taps are switched off, they took the panel out under the fridge freezer, but could not find the leak there, they checked the shower and the water tank and water pump, after around a 90 minutes they eventually found the link near the Truma heater, it's now been fixed.

I rung Marquis about it with it been new and they said they couldn't authorise the work as it would have to go back to them in order for them to submit a claim to the manufacturer, I said that would be difficult as I was in Spain and are not due to return until April.

I said don't worry my contract is with you the retailer, not the manufacturer, under the sale of goods act, I have asked them to fix it and I will furnish you with the bill giving you 14 days to pay refund me, otherwise I will take the matter to the small claims court. They said they will need an estimate, I said no one can give an estimate until they locate the leak. It took two hours in total and the bill was €30 per hour plus 21% IVA. I rung Marquis back and they have agreed to refund me once we get back to the UK. Good result around. The pump no longer makes that noise, so it definitely must be cured.
 
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