Water fill pump

Evening all,

Whether I decided to get one or not and I know there are pro's and con's but could someone give me the definitive answer on which pump I would need to get to fill our new Warwick XL from an Aquaroll?

I've got different answers today from various dealers and I even got different answers from two people at AutoSleepers. Trawling the internet it seems some come with a cable with a two pin plug but on our van there is no two pin socket.

Eventually I got through to parts at AutoSleepers and the guy there said I need the Aqua Source Delivery System which costs, from them, £73.99 inc del.

I'm sure he's probably right but after all the uncertainty I would like confirmation from anyone in the know on the forum who could confirm this.

Appreciate any help, thanks.

My 2018 Kingham came with 2 Whale devices that both fit into the Whale inlet on the side of the van. One is a “Whale water master external pump” which has a pump on the end of a short pipe, for drawing water from a container to fill the onboard tank. The other is a “Whale Aquasource mains hookup” and has a long length of flat hose with a tap connector for filling the tank from a tap on a service pitch. Both have the same connector for the whale socket and are controlled automatically by a switch inside the van which cuts off the supply when the tank is full. The switch in the van says do not adjust but in fact it wouldn’t work until it was adjusted. The handbook is no use. As for prices, beware, AS are likely to be the most expensive. You could ask why they were not supplied with the van or maybe they went missing at the dealership.

As TJB my van came with same two water fill devices.I would ask again at AS but not parts department,just to confirm whether or not it should come with them. You did say your van did not have two pin socket,look inside the socket that the water connector sits into on side of van,I would expect you to find two brass connectors integrated into it to supply the pump.

I am surprised that the external pump was not supplied as standard.
Does your water socket lookike this?
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You can see the contacts for the external pump plug in the picture.

inspiredron wrote:I am surprised that the external pump was not supplied as standard.
Does your water socket lookike this?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
You can see the contacts for the external pump plug in the picture.

Hi,

Yes it does look similar to that but it has a slide up cover and the brass/copper connection is on the left hand side as you look at it, where the one i=on your photo is on the right hand side.

There should be a connector on each side as you look into the socket.I cannot understand why yours would be different. Maybe if you could post a picture all will become clearer. Hopefully a quick solution can be supplied.

Kdc wrote:There should be a connector on each side as you look into the socket.I cannot understand why yours would be different. Maybe if you could post a picture all will become clearer. Hopefully a quick solution can be supplied.

I'm sorry mate the vans now back at the storage unit but you're quite right I should have taken a photo and posted it, I will do that as soon as possible.

Thanks for the help.

If you press 'settings' on your EC700 Control Panel and on the top right it shows 'autofill', I am sure you will have the standard Whale water inlet socket with a slide cover on the side of your van.  'Autofill' works in conjunction with this.  The two ways of delivering water to the Whale socket are described by TJB.

LATEST UPDATE ON TALES OF THE PUMP 

Isn't it just amazing what power of the people can do. Following the long saga of me trying to get an external fresh water pump to enable me fill from an outside source Aquaroll for instance.

The dealer provided me with a hose pump but it seems to me that would only be of any use when parked on a service pitch. AutoSleepers said the could send me the other one for about £78 inc VAT and delivery and my dealer wanted £90 for on.

I contacted my dealer again and said I had mentioned this on the AS forum and it seemed other people had got both pumps with their new van. Low and behold this very morning, knock on the door and delivery man hands me a parcel which contained a brand new pump. How did that happen I wonder  

Just one thing, I  had a quick read of the instructions and have I got it right when it say's you need to drain your water off before using? I thought the whole idea of using these pumps  was so that you could top up your on board tank each day when parked up!

One other thing, some people say, they may need to be adjusted, where is this adjustment?

Thanks again buddies for all your help and Power To The People eh

I don't know if this is any help but I have this photo any way so it's easy for me to post.

This pump was standard with my van. The white tube laying on the floor goes in a bucket of water and it draws the water up into the onboard tank.

Yep that's the one they sent me.

AutoSleepy_Don wrote:I don't know if this is any help but I have this photo any way so it's easy for me to post.

This pump was standard with my van. The white tube laying on the floor goes in a bucket of water and it draws the water up into the onboard tank.

Same as supplied with our Duo.
---------
Richard

Sapper.....glad you got the filler pump without having to spend £78. Guess you should have had one when you  picked up your van and the dealer knew this.1-0 to the advice from forum.

Hi Sapper 
There is no need to drain your water before using the the pump. Just put it in a bucket or aquaroll shake it to get rid of the air, make sure you have 12volt turned on the control panel and away you go.

Another thing that may help others with this method of filling with water. My pump recently packed up and I found out that there was no need to replace the whole unit at over £50 it is a fairly easy job to just replace the pump which I purchased on eBay for about £29.

Ps I think your question about draining and adjusting relates to the Whale infamous onboard water pump that you will either love or hate!!

Sapper wrote:
The dealer provided me with a hose pump but it seems to me that would only be of any use when parked on a service pitch. AutoSleepers said the could send me the other one for about £78 inc VAT and delivery and my dealer wanted £90 for on.

I contacted my dealer again and said I had mentioned this on the AS forum and it seemed other people had got both pumps with their new van. Low and behold this very morning, knock on the door and delivery man hands me a parcel which contained a brand new pump. How did that happen I wonder  

There are two identical Whale submersible pumps but the second one is permanently in your onboard fresh water tank which pressurises your water system and pumps water to your taps.  It's good you now have both.  However, you should also have a blue 7 metre food grade fold flat hose with a water tap connector at one end and a Whale socket at the other.  This is used to fill the onboard fresh water tank directly from a tap i.e. without using an Aquaroll and Whale pump.  If you haven't got this you should be asking for it.

Roadstar620 wrote:Ps I think your question about draining and adjusting relates to the Whale infamous onboard water pump that you will either love or hate!!

You would have thought that but I quote from the instructions that came with this pump :- Ensure that the system is fully drained before starting the installation. To do this open and close all outlets to expel water and air

Caraman wrote:

Sapper wrote:
The dealer provided me with a hose pump but it seems to me that would only be of any use when parked on a service pitch. AutoSleepers said the could send me the other one for about £78 inc VAT and delivery and my dealer wanted £90 for on.

I contacted my dealer again and said I had mentioned this on the AS forum and it seemed other people had got both pumps with their new van. Low and behold this very morning, knock on the door and delivery man hands me a parcel which contained a brand new pump. How did that happen I wonder  

There are two identical Whale submersible pumps but the second one is permanently in your onboard fresh water tank which pressurises your water system and pumps water to your taps.  It's good you now have both.  However, you should also have a blue 7 metre food grade fold flat hose with a water tap connector at one end and a Whale socket at the other.  This is used to fill the onboard fresh water tank directly from a tap i.e. without using an Aquaroll and Whale pump.  If you haven't got this you should be asking for it.

 Yep I did get this one thanks.

Sapper wrote:

Roadstar620 wrote:Ps I think your question about draining and adjusting relates to the Whale infamous onboard water pump that you will either love or hate!!

You would have thought that but I quote from the instructions that came with this pump :- Ensure that the system is fully drained before starting the installation. To do this open and close all outlets to expel water and air

As Roadstar620 has said, there is no installation for the external Whale pump.  You just plug the Whale plug into the Whale socket on the outside of your van, stick the other pump end in the full Aquaroll and then switch on your EC700 CP, go to settings and press the Autofill at which point the external Whale pump should spring into life.  When the Aqualroll is empty, unplug the Whale plug from the Whale socket, refill the Aquaroll and then plug the Whale plug back into the Whale socket and it will start pumping again.  Once the onboard fresh water tank is full a float switch at the top of the tank should cut the 12V supply to the Whale socket and the pump will stop.  Unplug the Whale plug and switch the Autofill off on the CP.

Sapper wrote:Just one thing, I had a quick read of the instructions and have I got it right when it say's you need to drain your water off before using?

I have never drained the system before using th eexternal pump but if the onboard tank is 100% full then the (new) external pump will not start. This may be the motive for their comments.

Sapper wrote:
One other thing, some people say, they may need to be adjusted, where is this adjustment?

Probably refers to the pressure switch. Some people seem to be constantly adjusting the pressure switch but I find it best left alone unless you get issues.

The pump that is on the end of your newly supplied fitting is the same pump that is in your fresh water tank. I suspect that the instructions that you quote refer to the installation of a pump alone into the tank.  Since my hatch is on the bottom of the tank it would need draining before installing a pump - but not for the aquaroll filler.

Caraman wrote:

Sapper wrote:

Roadstar620 wrote:Ps I think your question about draining and adjusting relates to the Whale infamous onboard water pump that you will either love or hate!!

You would have thought that but I quote from the instructions that came with this pump :- Ensure that the system is fully drained before starting the installation. To do this open and close all outlets to expel water and air

As Roadstar620 has said, there is no installation for the external Whale pump.  You just plug the Whale plug into the Whale socket on the outside of your van, stick the other pump end in the full Aquaroll and then switch on your EC700 CP, go to settings and press the Autofill at which point the external Whale pump should spring into life.  When the Aqualroll is empty, unplug the Whale plug from the Whale socket, refill the Aquaroll and then plug the Whale plug back into the Whale socket and it will start pumping again.  Once the onboard fresh water tank is full a float switch at the top of the tank should cut the 12V supply to the Whale socket and the pump will stop.  Unplug the Whale plug and switch the Autofill off on the CP.

Thanks Caraman your instructions are brilliant, far better to hear these things from someone experienced than from any book etc.

Just one thing, where is the pressure switch you talk of, is this the one in the underseat locker that regulates the onboard pump?

does a 2020 WXL have a 'hole in the wall' filler as well as the Whale unit?
if so, you could do the initial fill of 80L (69L fresh tank + 10L hot water boiler) by pulling up at the water tap in the MH service area.
small length of hose straight into the water tank.
turn on the water pump and the hot tank will fill from the cold tank.
when the cold tank is full you should have a full system...
now you can (if you need to) make use of the Whale system plus Aquaroll to top up during your stay.
if you dont fill at the MHSP youll need 3 trips to the tap with a 30L Aquaroll to fill the tank plus another to sit by the side as replenishment....thats a lot of water moving compared to turning one tap on.
even with a 40L version, thats still two trips to fill the tank plus another to have that all important 'top up' handy.
once you get into the swing of using the van, you may find (especially if using sites with showers/washing up facs) that the initial fill lasts you for the whole of your stay and that the Whale/Aquaroll system isnt needed.
similarly, if taking the van out for the day, it may be a lot easier to just call back in to the MHSP on your way back one day and refill with the hose.
like other aspects of MH use, there are many different ways to 'do things'...
my post isnt a criticism of the pumped system, merely to add a different perspective....it may be that you find an Aquaroll a large, inconvenient piece of equipment that takes up a huge amount of storage space or you may find it works really well for you.
either way, its always good to have a look at processes froma different perspective.
good luck with the new van...

Hi Sapper, I have a Autosleeper Stratford with a rear lounge. My pressure switch is under the bench seat next to the leisure battery.
I doubt if you will get away without ajusting it at some stage. I have had issues with my system. I have spoken to Whale technical and they explained how to adjust the switch and emailed me instructions and a video. They also told me there are various reasons why you may have to do this voltage drop, air in the system etc. It's a fairly staight forward job to do and it sorted my issues.

Sapper wrote:


Just one thing, where is the pressure switch you talk of, is this the one in the underseat locker that regulates the onboard pump?

There are two Whale pressure switches.  The one everyone talks about is integral with a Whale Non Return Valve (NRV) that will be under a seat locker.  Water is pumped from the fresh water tank with a Whale submersible pump through the NRV and past the pressure switch.  The pressure switch activates the submersible pump.  When the pressure drops the pump comes on.  When the pressures rises the pump goes off.  Adjusting the pressure switch is a bit of an art.  There are instructions on how to do it but my advice is don't touch it unless you have to.  The second pressure switch is on the back of the Whale inlet socket.  This should be fully unscrewed if not removed altogether.  Again don't touch it unless you have to.  This pressure switch works in conjunction with a Whale solenoid valve.  When there is sufficient water pressure at the Whale inlet the pressure switch activate the solenoid to open the valve to allow water to pass into the fresh water tank.  When the fresh water tank is full a float switch at the top of the tank cuts power to the Whale inlet and therefore the solenoid which closes the valve and stops further water from entering the tank.  IMO its un-necessarily complex so I have removed the solenoid valve which makes it easier for the external Whale pump to fill the fresh water tank.  When the tank is full the float switch will still cut power to the external Whale pump.  If I'm filling the fresh water tank with a hose I do it through the lockable filler cap.