Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 08:18:33 -0400
Reply-To: David Beierl <synergx@IBM.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: David Beierl <synergx@IBM.NET>
Subject: Re: camper water pump question 2
In-Reply-To: <Pine.SOL.4.05.9904201228580.10084-100000@margay.noc.ucla.e du>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
At 12:41 4/20/99 -0700, DAVID MOST wrote:
>Update: I unscrewed the screw holding down the faucet knob, pulled the
>knob up, and unscrewed one of the screws holding down one of the wires.
>Upon attempting to connect the two wires, I got a small spark. This
>happened about four times (no pump noise however), and then there was no
>spark at all. After this happened, the water level indicator light no
>longer worked, and as expected, the 8 amp fuse on the pillar was blown.
>Any idea what happened here?
>
>So, does this sound like the pump needs to be replaced?
Sure does, probably. The pump shaft is frozen and the pump is drawing high
current, which blew your fuse. If you're electromechanically inclined (I
suspect not, 'cause if you were you wouldn't be asking this particular set
of questions) you can *maybe* free up the pump shaft and go on with it for
a bit. Otherwise, and certainly if it's a submerged pump and water has
gotten inside, you gotta replace it.
>
>finally a connecter screwed on the wall. First, how does this connecter
>work (do I just pull the spade connecters off)?
If it's got spade connectors, you can just pull them off <g>. I haven't
seen your connector -- the wires on mine disappear through a hole in the
bulkhead
Second, does a new pump
>come with this long electrical wire with the same connector?
My guess is wires but no connector. I spliced mine (I used a small bilge
pump I had lying around) into the existing line (*outside* the tank) with
crimp butt connectors and sealed them with "liquid electrical tape" which
is vinyl stuff you paint onto the ends. Readily available in boat stores.
Probably unnecessary here, I've gotten used to marine conditions where butt
connectors don't last unless protected.
Third, and
>finally, how do the water hose clamps work? I can't tell how one would
>loosen or tighten them.
If they are continuous rings with a little raised/crimped section, you
loosen them with wire cutters <g> and tighten them by replacing them with
regular hose clamps. Stainless steel hose clamps for inside the tank,
unless you like rust -- and BTW the clamp makers have a sneaky trick --
unless the clamp says "ALL stainless," the worm is probably regular steel.
Also, in marine use I've found that clamps which are spot-welded together
fail at the welds, while the ones that are mechanically folded together
don't. Given a choice, I'd favor the latter for this use.
david
David Beierl - dbeierl@ibm.net
| 
