Intermittent Water Pump Diagnosis Help

My water pump stopped working a week ago while on a trip. I immediately ordered a new one from Go Westy and had it shipped to a friends house where I could pick it up. In the few days traveling to my friends house the pump would sometimes work, sometimes not. I installed the new pump yesterday and all was working well....this morning it's not working again.

The intermittent function is not related to moving the van...i.e. vibration because the intermittent function has happened when the van was stationary for a couple of days.

I checked the current supply of the pump wiring at the fuel tank using the kitchen sink faucet and all seemed to be working correctly when I was installing the new pump.

When the pump is not functioning from the kitchen sink I have also checked it at the bathroom and rear shower to make sure it's also not functioning from either of those faucets/switches.

I've checked the city water fill door/micro switch and that appears to be functioning and closed when the door is closed.

The exterior rear shower switch works properly as that's where I shower regularly.

Anyone have any ideas ?
Thanks.

Robert, have you checked the fuse supplying the pump? According to the owners manual, it should be fuse number 2 in the panel under the cabinet where the bench seat belts hang out. Other loads on that circuit are: "Water pump, toilet, shower lighting, halogen spotlights in the side roof storage area". Not sure which lights the manual is referring to, but it would be interesting to see if the bathroom lights come on when the pump isn't working, then check the fuse.

Or, you can just pull and reseat the fuse now.

Otherwise, there must be a connector that the faucets come together at that must be a bit loose. My wiring diagram feature isn't working right now.

Hope you're enjoying your trip otherwise, and getting some good riding in! -Pat

1. Power?

When you turn on a faucet (even if no water flow), do you hear the water pump working or not? A humming noise?

Yes, then there is power going to water pump and pump may be pumping.

A. Water Hose Disconnected

Water hose may have become detached inside water tank. Some folks use hose clamps.

B. Air bubbles?

Check other postings re air bubbles or something like that which prevents water from being pumped. Swish water pump around in water and there were some other posts re priming water pump from Autocamp.

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showpost.php?p=240392&postcount=5

C. Kinks/Clogs in Hose

Water hose from water pump not kinked or clogged with debris?

D. Defective Water Pump?

If power/humming noise, check to see if water pump is actually pumping inside water tank.

Maybe grit caught in impellers of water pump?

One time, my water pump died but would periodically work (last gasps) while I waited for new gowesty pump.

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showpost.php?p=265862&postcount=9

E. Plastic Fitting

Think there is some plastic diverter thing where water goes to plumbing but NOT water tank when hooked up to water supply. Just out of curiosity, hook up to water supply and see if plumbing all works. See OneManVan post:

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showpost.php?p=407125&postcount=2

2. No Power

You already checked the possibilities, but maybe check again.

If don't hear water pump pumping, then maybe wires to water pump have become disconnected or are corroded. Check those connections again as they were recently touched to install new water pump.

Also, see Autocamp's posts (or his Eat Drink blog) or other posts on the microswitch in outside water fill--try bypassing the switch to see if microswitch is the problem. Post here has photos--for water pump to work, the little button behind metal clip presumably is pushed in:

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53659&highlight=Water+connection

http://eat-drink-men-women.blogspot.com/2013/06/tatyanas-cassette-toilet-part-13.html

Fuse is presumably okay if other stuff works per Riptide. Double-check it's firmly in place.

Don't know where water pump ground wire is located, but maybe check for good connection there. There are a bunch of grounds above the battery charger (after removing cover panel to that area).

3. Old Water Pump

Did you check old replaced water pump? Hook it up to a battery externally and immerse in a water tub. If old replaced water pump is actually good (not just last gasps), then maybe problem predates installation of new water pump--so maybe that helps.narrow down possibilities.

---------

Let us know what you find.

Thank you for the replies Pat and OldWest.

After checking the proper function of all four micro switches and finding them working correctly, I was stumped...for awhile. I had begun to notice that the intermittent apparent pump failure was temperature and time of day related.

What had been happening is that, depending on the orientation of my parking spot, in the morning the low lying sun would heat up the black plastic cover on the municipal water fill port causing the cover to expand and bow outwards releasing the pressure on the metal tang that maintains contact to keep the switch closed. Unlike the three faucets (kitchen, bathroom and exterior shower) that turn the pump on when the switch is open, the micro switch at the municipal switch must remain closed for the pump to turn on when one of the three faucets are opened.

For now, while on the road, I cut a piece of cardboard from the back of a legal pad and taped it to the inside of the black cover to increase the pressure on the tang that closes the micro switch.

When I return home I will disconnect/bypass the municipal water fill switch as I never stay at full service campsites and have never used the municipal water fill connection.

I have been parked at a beautiful spot on BLM land outside Gunnison, Colorado the last three days mountain biking at a place called Hartmans Rocks...remote, beautiful, great mountain biking, 70s during the day and 40s at night will full bars, 4G cell phone reception. There's nothing like having a vehicle that you can so comfortably live out of. Thank you Sprinter Westfalia.

Good to find out diagnosis--can now add to our knowledge base. (Heat from the sun also seems to expand the roller shades and make mine inoperative until the temp drops.)

The European James Cooks do not have a city municipal water hookup (as far as I can tell from photos), and rely solely on the freshwater tank and water pump.

I also haven't used a water hookup in years--last time was when water pump went out (2 pumps ago) so I hooked up to the campground site water while waiting for a gowesty pump to arrive. With solar panels, no need to ever hookup for electric other than cloudy or rainy days. With your composting toilet, you have even more flexibility as no need to find a dump station.

Note: In an emergency with no water source other than water tank and an inoperative water pump, one can get water out of the water tank from the fresh water tank drain valve. Should.be obvious, but sometimes one's mind forgets.

Even after removing the microswitch on the city water fill, you can still use by just remembering to turn off water pump under dishpan (but an inoperative water pump may be reason for hookup anyways).

Autocamp in his blog likes most Westy design but was thumbs-down on the city water fill microswitch design.

Wow, that's some great deducing! Will file that one away, for certain. In fact, I'm going to go check on that switch right now. Glad the trip is good otherwise...

Did you get the intermittant shutoff resolved too?

I started having another water flow problem on a just completed trip and after searching all the relevant threads I didn't find what I needed, so thought I'd post here instead of starting another new thread.

Now it looks like the micro switch on my kitchen sink faucet is failing. Sometimes opening the faucet turns the water pump on, sometimes it doesn't. When the kitchen faucet doesn't turn the pump on, both the bathroom and rear shower do still turn the pump on. I want to replace the kitchen faucet, but can't find an up to date or appropriate link in any of the past threads found using the search function.

Does anyone have a source for these or a higher quality kitchen faucet ? Note that at least some of the references in the past threads that I found appear to recommend faucets using a North American pressure/flow style plumbing system not the European style micro switch/electric plumbing system where there is a micro switch within each faucet that turns the pump on electrically.

Riptide: Yes, I fixed the occasional engine shut down problem myself by replacing the fuse panel block located under the steering column. It was a simple 30 minute DIY job plus the $176 part. Somewhere in my Internet digging I read about a known batch of problematic fuse blocks causing the exact scenarios that I was having. Too bad I didn't dig deep enough on the Internet prior to wasting money on two different mechanics.

The most recent thread is over on the James Cook Friends Forum, but the links for the various kitchen faucets look slightly different than mine (side mounted handle).

http://forum.james-cook-freunde.de/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6520

In an older thread on here, I thought a Reich model might be the same but the link no longer works.

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41133&highlight=Faucet

But if you go to the Reich manufacturer page, they have several folddown faucets which might work.

https://reich-web.com/en/products/water-fittings/

Ceramics STYLE looks like ours.

Contur C
Trend C
Ceramics Trend A

Just need to confirm clearance and hole opening. Bill found one that fits a Smev sink with glass lid(s) (our Cramer is now part of Smev and Dometic) and the link still works.

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showpost.php?p=577915&postcount=14

Please keep us posted. (Oh, by the way, it'd be great if you posted some of your other modifications on the forum. Did you changeout the fridge for a bigger fridge/freezer? Etc.)

Note: Check PantherRVProducts based in Washougal, Washington. Their website has several microswitch folding faucets including Reich and Comet. Don't know anything about them.

This one was but is no longer available.

https://pantherrvproducts.com/comet-ac539m-fold-down-fresh-water-faucet-hot-cold-tap/

Here is their substitute:

https://pantherrvproducts.com/can-srl-rb1488-fold-down-fresh-water-faucet-mix-tap/

These other faucets may be coldnwater only.

https://pantherrvproducts.com/fresh-water/kitchen-faucets/fold-down-faucet/

Note:

Ebay has a bunch for Comet Florenz with shipping from UK.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...+comet+florenz&_odkw=12v+faucet+comet+florenz

I've used this source for a mess of Reich stuff when I replaced the bathroom faucet. They sell faucet parts, too, including switches:

https://www.leisureshopdirect.com/water/caravan-taps/reich-taps

The Keramik series looks pretty close to what we have:

https://www.leisureshopdirect.com/w...mik-style-single-lever-mixer-taps-spare-parts

The switch itself might be easy to fix; it's probably nothing more than a thin metal tab that is pushed down to make contact and complete a circuit when the faucet lever is pulled up. Just bend it back into shape.

Thank you OldWest and Riptide. I ordered the Comet version off of the UK Ebay for $75 to my door, it's already shipped. I'll post a comparison with the original faucet once it comes and I install it.

Riptide, agreed, the switch is probably an easy fix. At 15 years in though, for hopefully improved reliability over the next 15 years, I'd prefer to replace worn components with new ones. I'll repair them if I can and hold onto the originals as spares if I think that I might reuse them in a pinch.

I installed the Comet Florenz faucet. It's not an exact fit as the base of the Comet is larger than the base on the original faucet and slightly too large for the flat landing zone on the sink. It mounts up in a secure fashion, but you need a little plumbers putty in addition to the gasket to ensure a water tight seal.

The Comet is a wash when compared to the original faucet. The lever handle on the Comet feels more substantial with a higher quality movement and for me a more preferred orientation. The spout on the Comet feels flimsy and more plasticy than the original.