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Hi there, You know the switch in the van that makes the water pump through - am i suppose to keep turning it on and off as i need water or can it be left on???

The reason i'm asking is that we've had loads of trouble with our pump and half way through our holiday it refused to work any more. We have been leaving it on.

I must admit the old one did make a fair bit of noise and now even the new one does. (You can hear it in the van even with the windows shut) a sort of drooning noise??? as if it is constantly trying to push water through even when the taps are off.

Personally i don't think something is quite right but i don't know what to do - any ideas ??

sounds like the pressure switch needs adjusting to me. should be a white dial type thing somewhere near where your water pipe comes in, usually in a floor locker on the side wall somewhere.try turning it anti clockwise until the pump stops running (with the tap off) then check it fires up again ok when you turn the tap on.we had similar on our last `van.

hope this helps

If it is the pressurised system, it is almost certain to be a need to adjust the pressure sensor.  Your caravan manual will have details for adjustment. Be sure to follow them carefully.

Note: a friend of ours had a Swift caravan, and the instructions in his manual were incomplete, so I did the adjustment for him, using my manual.  If yours is a Swift, post again for confirmation of correct procedure.

Bertie.

Weve just got a new to us van and have the same thing, we thought it was ment to be like that! So a massive THANKYOU for posting this question.

Sorry for butting in but:Just to confirm our instruction book states not to leave it on for more than 15 mins is that running water? or the pump switched on?

I've not got an instruction manual - it was purchased second hand. My van is a swift though.

I have done as bev+jon instructed and i think it seems to be ok but i would be interested in what the manual has to say.

Thankyou for all your help

Hi Tracey, Can't look in our instruction book at the mo, it's in the caravan, which is in storage. Should be going there this week, so will have a look and let you know what it says.

Ours didn't come with a book but I managed to buy one from Baileys for £6 and it's a 1994 Caravan.It's been well worth the money we didn't have a clue and was worried incase we blew something up. 

If you think one might be of use contact Swift they might sell them.

Hi, Tracey. Here is the procedure for setting / adjusting the pressure switch.   I am assuming that you have no problems in setting up the water system, ready for use.

Setting / Adjusting the pressure switch.

1. With system fully primed, close all taps.

2. Leave power supply turned on.

3. Fully tighten the adjusting screw on top clockwise.  The pump should now be running.

4. Partly open the furthest cold tap from the pressure switch to allow water to flow at about 1 pint per 15 seconds.

5. Now loosen the adjusting screw anti-clockwise until the switch starts to click, then turn one full extra turn clockwise. The switch is now properly adjusted.

6. You may also find the need to adjust the pressure switch to allow for variations in the 12 volt supply, e.g. operation on battery only, or with mains connected and charger working.

The above is a direct copy from my caravan manual.  I found it necessary to do some further fine adjustments, because the pump ran on too long after closing the taps.  When properly adjusted, it will still run on for perhaps 15 seconds to build up the pressure in the system. It is this pressure which operates the pressure switch to stop the pump.

I used exactly this method to set our friend's pressure switch in his Swift.  The systems are generally identical.  You will note that I have underlined one part of step 5.  I cannot remember whether I found that this should be anti-clockwise, but you will know which is correct by the behaviour of the pump.

Hope this helps.

Bertie.

Thanks Mudlark for the links will be printing them all off for future reference.

2 Tops - have also printed off your procedure, didn't do exactly as you said as i had already had a bash at it. But i'm keeping it safe and when the van is back with us (went back in storage this morning) I'll fire it up again before we go to see how we get on with it.

many thanks