Date:         Wed, 25 Jan 1995 10:10:19 +0001 (EST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Doug Shapter <dps@kafka.atinc.com>
Subject:      Re: Water tank pump shot

On Tue, 24 Jan 1995, Homer Christensen wrote:

> When we bought our 84 westy, the sink's water pump didn't work. So we 
> opened up the tank and boy did it smell! The pump, it turned out, had 
> burned a hole in itself. 
> 
> It is a blue cylindrical thing. Any idea how much it costs and if an 
> after-market RV-type pump would work? Also, do these pumps leave any kind 
> of toxic residue in the tank when they self-destruct? I've poured boiling 
> water with lots of baking soda in the tank and rinsed it so that it 
> doesn't smell anymore. Should I also use chlorine?
> 
> Any help is appreciated.
> 

	We lived on a boat for 4.5 years and have oodles of experience 
with 12 volt water pumps. We found that the Flojet models worked the 
best-- the one installed now had 2 years of constant use (showers, dish 
washing etc) with no problems. I can't see any reason why it wouldn't 
work in your Westy. I don't know about the OEM equipment, but a standard 
12 volt pump should not leave toxic waste in the tank. 

	A bit of chlorine or chlorine tablets, rinsed WELL, should clean 
out the tank (the smell is probably from some funky organic thing that 
took up residence). If you don't use the tank often, you may find that 
its hard to keep the tanks clean enough for drinking water (a common 
problem with boats that only see weekend use). Best to carry your 
drinking water seperately.

	Do not buy Par pumps. They are touted by the marine industry as 
being the best all around, but they are expensive (maybethat is why 
they are touted as the best) and their mean time to failure is miserable 
(we were replacing parts every 3-4 months on our Par fresh water system 
pump). I believe these beasts are also pawned off on the RV-crowd. Avoid 
them, no matter what the salesman says. The Flojets are cheaper, more 
reliable and easier to fix when they do fail.

	If you are going to be using the pump a lot, you may want to 
install a small accumulator tank that hold the pressure in the system, so 
the pump does not come on every time you use the faucet. It can also cut 
down on your amp consumption. I have no experience with putting them in 
Westys.

	Personally, I like the hand pump set up in the earlier Westys 
(like my '70). We had some of those on the boat and used them as often as 
the pump driven faucets (more so when we are underway-- helps to cut 
battery use.)

	Good luck with things. If you need to buy parts, try the RV shops
first, then the marine pirates ^H^H^H^H^H^H, I mean vendors, for obvious
reasons. 


Doug Shapter                
dps@kafka.atinc.com         
finger dps@kryten.atinc.com for PGP public key
"Nothing in this world beats a 52 Vincent and a red-headed girl"