Adding 12v water pump to a manual line

denmonkey · Senior Member

Adding 12v water pump to a manual line

hako · Guru

Can you put the pump inline with the town hookup tap?....that would work as long as you have a 1 way valve fitted to the line.
By the way, those 12v Ebay pumps for under $25 delivered are the cheapest way to go and quite reliable from my experience.

Good Luck

denmonkey · Senior Member

Hey Hako,

I already have one of those ebay pumps ready to go but just need a plan before I start pulling things apart.
Handy to know they're reliable enough though.

I have though about that. Do you by chance know if a one way valve is available that can just be used instead if the standard connection.
I guess, I could just a manual valve behind the connection and shut it off when not in use, which would be most of the time.

My only concern is the diameter of the hose that I would have to run. The outlets on the pump are only 10mm which required adapters to fit.
I have seen some others on ebay though that look like they have threaded outlets and have hoses connected. hmmm

Do you know which yours has by chance ? and how are you using yours ?

cheers

hako · Guru

Initially our Avan Cruiser used all rigid plastic hoses and John Guest fittings which cost a quid and sometimes blow off....also the rigid pipe makes the pump noisy so I got rid of all that and used air line hose plus hose clamps to suit. This means you can use readily available air hose fittings, adaptors,tee pieces etc. The hose comes in 2 sizes.
Plan it out first and use a one way valve from an old HWS or Bunnings with adaptors to bring it down to air hose size OR why not use a blanking screw on cap to screw on the caravan town water connection.

Thinking further, all you need is something to cap the town water inlet (no one-way valve), and plumb the pump into the separate tap for town water hose....this keeps it ultra simple which usually means NO LEAKS! If you have trouble visualising this I can do a plan.

Good Luck.

denmonkey · Senior Member

I like the idea of the air hose option. I have a compressor in the shed and was eying off the spare connections I had when I was mounting it hoping one of those would already be threaded to fit.
Unfortunately it didn't.
Since I've already laid out funds on the same pipe, I'll stay with that for now.
It's my first van, so I don't want to invest to heavily in it....I can't help but tinker though.
I think you're right about just blocking the town inlet. Seems to be the simplest option.

Since you have me focused on the town water tap I'm considering one of these jobbies.

should make the job a simple one.

One from the hook up and one from the pump both going to the same line on the tap.

appreciate the help

Possum3 · Guru

New lift pump quicker way to solve problem - cost less as well.

hako · Guru

denmonkey wrote:
SNIP
Since you have me focused on the town water tap I'm considering one of these jobbies.

should make the job a simple one.
One from the hook up and one from the pump both going to the same line on the tap.

appreciate the help

See link below - this is the type of plug/cap I was thinking of and most irrigation places will carry one much cheaper.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1-Bosch-Garden-Watering-05HCC-Gilmour-Brass-Hose-Cap-Free-Delivery/182976403327?epid=1841128674&hash=item2a9a3e577f:g:Y5gAAOSw6VRaPHLv

Or for $2.99 delivered one of these:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4x-Hose-Tap-Pipe-Compatible-1-2-2-Way-Connector-Valve-Fitting-Adapter-Garden/201978148848?hash=item2f06d5f7f0:m:mAAgP3NknHScgMIZnVuG05A

Good Luck.

PeterD · Guru

hako wrote:
Can you put the pump inline with the town hookup tap?....that would work as long as you have a 1 way valve fitted to the line.
By the way, those 12v Ebay pumps for under $25 delivered are the cheapest way to go and quite reliable from my experience.

Personally I would not attempt to force mains pressure water through a water pump. In any case you would still nee 2 non-return or One Way Valves at a cost of $20 or so each.

My van has a mains tap like this plus a hand pump. I will not consider replacing the hand pump with other devices, it's too handy if the other things fail. I have been considering replacing the mains tap with one like this. The system will not require non-return valves. The mains supply can go straight to the cold side and the van pump to the "hot" side of the mixer. I will also install a switch near the sink for isolating the pump when not required.

denmonkey · Senior Member

Possum3, The hand pump I have still works, its just sloooooow to fill the sink. Or anything for that matter.
Since I've added a battery and am in the process of running 12v power around, I figured I may as well throw in a pump whilst I'm there.

PeterD, I wasn't considering the water pressure heading back to the pump if I used hook up.
The image I posted above should sort that though.
It has valves on both sides, so when using the pump the hook up would be closed stopping water exiting there.
When on a hook up I'd closed off the pump side and stop water heading back that way.

I'd like to go to the 2 tap route but It would mean cutting holes into the sink and I wouldn't be overly confident with doing that.
Plus if I can make the connection to the line in to the hook up tap under the floor which means one less hole through the floor. I'm already making my fair share of those :)

For now I think it covers all bases and seems like a workable and simple solution for under 20 bucks. Unless anyone can see a flaw in the current plan

hako · Guru

PeterD wrote:
hako wrote:
Can you put the pump inline with the town hookup tap?....that would work as long as you have a 1 way valve fitted to the line.
By the way, those 12v Ebay pumps for under $25 delivered are the cheapest way to go and quite reliable from my experience.
Personally I would not attempt to force mains pressure water through a water pump. In any case you would still nee 2 non-return or One Way Valves at a cost of $20 or so each.
My van has a mains tap like this plus a hand pump. I will not consider replacing the hand pump with other devices, it's too handy if the other things fail. I have been considering replacing the mains tap with one like this. The system will not require non-return valves. The mains supply can go straight to the cold side and the van pump to the "hot" side of the mixer. I will also install a switch near the sink for isolating the pump when not required.

That's a good point Peter!!

Regards

Nifty150 · Veteran Member

I have done what you considered and it works well. I used an inline Whale pump and have a manual switch near the sink. The manual pump still works, and when you use the electric pump the hand pump just staggers to attention with the extra pressure. I also have a mains pressure tap. There are other ways of doing what you want, but this is a simple solution and it is now about ten years old.

denmonkey · Senior Member

Nifty150 wrote:
I have done what you considered and it works well. I used an inline Whale pump and have a manual switch near the sink. The manual pump still works, and when you use the electric pump the hand pump just staggers to attention with the extra pressure. I also have a mains pressure tap. There are other ways of doing what you want, but this is a simple solution and it is now about ten years old.

Brilliant. Thanks Nifty. That's exactly what I was after.

My manual pump is not a whale but I would imagine works the same.

I think I'm going to head down the other route with a splitter on the town line but its handy to know the other option is a workable one if I need it.

Thanks everyone for your input thus far.