Date:         Tue, 10 Jun 2003 16:33:13 -0400
Reply-To:     David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Re: Facet's water pump
Comments: To: Jay Roth <bghuna@MCHSI.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <MBBBKDEJGIMPPBCIPIPJAEEIELAA.bghuna@mchsi.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 03:16 PM 6/10/2003, Jay Roth wrote:
>Anyone know where the Westy's water pump (for the faucet) is? In Bentley, it
>appears to be in the lower cabinet below the sink, but in my '87 the tubing
>runs behind the Dometic.

Hah, thought this was the Atomic-Four list -- Facet make an electric fuel
pump for it...

Anyway, it's inside the water tank; wires come through the top of the
tank.  There's either a floating connector or a terminal strip attached to
the wall of the "secret" compartment just fwd of the tank, where the 110vac
stuff is -- make sure you're getting 12v between those terminals when
faucet switch is on.  If so, pump no doubt died.  The original was made by
Coleman in Germany and the dealer price ten years ago was $125 -- the
functional equivalent is available from RV/camping suppliers for $20 or
less I believe.  Size of a couple 35-mm film cans on end.  A $12
minimum-size submersible bilge pump will work about as well but you'll have
to adapt the hose size; it's meant to pump lots more water but the
restricted outlet will limit it nicely.

Either type will pump water if hooked up backwards, but not very well --
they're centrifugal pumps.  Original no doubt has a nice German brown wire
for ground....  Either type will freeze and burst the pump chamber if you
let the tank freeze.

If you have the float-type water-level sender, long wand sticking down into
the tank, BEWARE -- they are extraordinarily fragile and quite
expensive.  It is by no means excessive to remove the sender from the tank
when performing any maintenance at all, including washing out the tank.  A
slight bend with no visible external effect can pull the internal circuit
apart due to thoughtless design.  Also, a single drop of water inside may
ruin the sender -- examine the seals at top closely and reinforce them  to
an unreasonable degree to prevent this.  Water wicking along the wires will
kill you.  Busted ones I may be able to fix for somewhat less than a new one.


If you have the sensor terminals in the tank wall, scrub them with
ScotchBrite or such whenever you're near them.  Depending on how soft your
water is, adding half a teaspoon or so of salt to a tankful may make the
lights more reliable.

david



>Love, Light & Laughter,
>Jay

--
David Beierl - Providence RI USA -- http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
'84 Westy "Dutiful Passage"
'85 GL "Poor Relation"