Access to Submersible water pump - Kemerton

I suspect the submersible water pump has a problem and would like to fish it out and check it. Does anyone managed to get access without removing the tank?  There does look like a sump plug, just draining water to see if its removeable.

The tank on my Nuevo has a cap on the bottom but it had been sealed up with some black mastic. It was very difficult to remove but I managed it with a strap type wrench after having warmed the capi with an electric heat gun taking great care not to overheat it. My pump had failed and replacement would have needed the tank to be dropped to replace the 12V supply cable. I took the simpler way of fitting a Shurflo in the bed locker but left the failed pump as the pick-up.

Yes the agree the sump cap is definitely on there! I think this maybe the way ahead. Thanks T

Be interested to know how you get on with whichever solution you decide on. Not got a problem yet!!! with our pump but always good to know how to carry out a replacement or alternative.

Good luck.

Biker51.

I too am following this with interest so I can prepare for when the pump fails.

Oldvolkshome wrote:There does look like a sump plug, just draining water to see if its removeable.

Do you have to remove the tank heater blanket before the sump plug is visible?

When my submersible pump went there was no warning. We were lucky as it failed 2 or 3 days before the end of a month trip to France. We ran some water to wash hands, then tried to fill the kettle and the pump was silent. First thought was fuse - no - then pressure switch and after that it was use our 10 litre container. We had a tankful of useless water! Another lucky aspect was that the loo has its own water tank. Replacement with a Shurflo once home was the easy option but the water pressure is greater and I did find that I need an on-off valve on the shower head as controlling temperature with the shower tap is much more difficult. It's easier to control the flow at the head and rotate the tap for temperature. I've also put pipe insulation round the pipes in the swing wall to stop vibration against the plastic when bathroom sink tap is used.

AutoSleepy_Don wrote:I too am following this with interest so I can prepare for when the pump fails.

Oldvolkshome wrote:There does look like a sump plug, just draining water to see if its removeable.

Do you have to remove the tank heater blanket before the sump plug is visible?

Probably.

I replaced the pump in our 2014 Kemerton. I had to drop the tank around a foot to allow access to the hatch on top of the tank. Remove 2 hanger bolts completely and loosen the others allows the tank to hang down at an angle and gain access. Beware the makers use poorly made off connectors for the wires feeding the pump and lying on top of the tank exposed  they fell apart due to corrosion. Instead of using the proper crimping tool they had used side cutters to crimp and made a pigs ear of a job then smothered them in plastic insulating  tape.. 
       I just reversed onto a couple of bits of 6 x 2 to gain access and all in the job took around half an hour including renewing the connectors . It really is an easy job if you are physically fit enough to crawl under the van .  Beware that in our case we previously  got the airlock issues on refilling the tank because A / s had cut the semi rigid  pipe inside the tank too short which means that the pump hung vertical about 3 inches above the bottom of the tank allowing a bubble to form at its impeller face on filling . I increased the length of that pipe and the pump now lies at a 45 degree angle on the tank bottom allowing it to fill with water on refilling the tank. Result was we never had any issues with airlock after refilling tank from then on.

I just took the other option and fitted a henderson hatch in the tank so now I can vent it, clean the gauge senders and change the pump in a few minutes. Wouldn't work for everyone but does for me. I don't have a tank heater though!

Same as Richard above, it’s a job I have thought about so any info appreciated.

Richard, with the fresh tank capacity at 79ltrs plus the Truma at 10 ltrs and a bit for the pipework, your fresh capacity 'should be' about 93-95 ltrs.
if you're running out of fresh before the waste fills then there are a couple of conclusions...
the pipe that draws the water (with old pump on the end?) isnt anywhere near the bottom of the tank or are you refilling when the 'panel' says so and this isnt working properly?
sounds like your 'effective' fresh capacity is only about 40 ltrs, i can see why this would be an issue...youre probably refillng two days out of three, hardly 'self sufficient'...
is there any form of entry to the top of the tank where you can do some sort of 'dip test' to see how much is left in the tank when its apparently empty?
have you done a 'practical' test where you run the fresh until it actually runs out?

Yes ours is the TCL4.it is fitted on the inside wall of the tank. Fitted as the original pump failed. It has never leaked in eight years and was easy to fit. I would feel confident fitting one to the bottom of the tank.

Remember that the gauge tell syou the tank is at 0% as soon as it drops half a cupful below 25% full so you are probably filing long before it's needed.

Sadly we didn’t buy our van from one of you clever A-S owners and the dealer was an ex-biscuit salesman with no engineering idea - self admitted. 
My reading matter for the past week has been this forum, while my husband has been finding bent drawer runners, loose or lost screws, bare wires etc.
All this was in pursuit of how to get fresh water into the tank! (Whale-thing in the way. 🤨.
Once he copied a member’s scheme of filling through the tank outlet he could see everything worked fine but that works against his tendency to OCD as a ‘proper’ solution to the non-working Whale leave-in-place lock.
As I write he is scrabbling about in gravel under the van trying to implement another members solution to this very common problem.
Thank you all - you give us hope!

this is the third such post ive read in the past ten minutes...'my Whale system doesnt work'...
like your OH, i wouldnt be happy sticking the hose up the waste pipe....ok in a single emergency but come on....this is the 21st century and we're just talking abput getting fresh water from a tap into a tank!
id never buy a van with this over complicated mess...in fact, my advice would be to rip it out and re-use the hole in the side of the van and add a new filler pipe directly to the tank...
and while you're about it, take a look at the 'submersible pump' and 'sargent solar' threads...your OH might pick up on another couple of essential 'projects'?..

It’s not the ‘grey waste’ pipe - that really would be a step too far! It’s the drain from the fresh water tank, but anyway Tony lifted the van, as a member suggested, and found the corroded spade terminal to the float switch in the ‘rat’s nest’. All sorted!
Thanks everyone for the outpouring of pity!

bolero boy wrote:this is the third such post ive read in the past ten minutes...'my Whale system doesnt work'...
like your OH, i wouldnt be happy sticking the hose up the waste pipe....ok in a single emergency but come on....this is the 21st century and we're just talking abput getting fresh water from a tap into a tank!
id never buy a van with this over complicated mess...in fact, my advice would be to rip it out and re-use the hole in the side of the van and add a new filler pipe directly to the tank...
and while you're about it, take a look at the 'submersible pump' and 'sargent solar' threads...your OH might pick up on another couple of essential 'projects'?..

Well done Tony, in finding the corroded spade terminal. Don't be disheartened by Chris' comments above. His suggestion of putting a hole in the wall filler to replace the Whale is likely to be impractical. When my van was being built I asked for that to be done as I had been used to that sort of filler on my Hymer. The factory  old manager told me that a Fiamma filler wouldn't fill the rectangular aperture which is part of the body moulding and that the wider filler hose would take up extra space in the bed locker. I was offered a supplementary hole in the wall filler foc, which I declined.

Sorry can't help you with the symbol or Warwick but there are smaller access hatches available but I have no experience of them or how good they are

inspiredron wrote:

bolero boy wrote:this is the third such post ive read in the past ten minutes...'my Whale system doesnt work'...
like your OH, i wouldnt be happy sticking the hose up the waste pipe....ok in a single emergency but come on....this is the 21st century and we're just talking abput getting fresh water from a tap into a tank!
id never buy a van with this over complicated mess...in fact, my advice would be to rip it out and re-use the hole in the side of the van and add a new filler pipe directly to the tank...
and while you're about it, take a look at the 'submersible pump' and 'sargent solar' threads...your OH might pick up on another couple of essential 'projects'?..

Well done Tony, in finding the corroded spade terminal. Don't be disheartened by Chris' comments above. His suggestion of putting a hole in the wall filler to replace the Whale is likely to be impractical. When my van was being built I asked for that to be done as I had been used to that sort of filler on my Hymer. The factory  old manager told me that a Fiamma filler wouldn't fill the rectangular aperture which is part of the body moulding and that the wider filler hose would take up extra space in the bed locker. I was offered a supplementary hole in the wall filler foc, which I declined.

Yes, agreed...well done Tony....but it begs the question as to why anyone should have to chase electrical gremlins just to put water in a tank..
Ron, this just happens to be another regular issue on the forum and here we have a new member frustrated by the same...
if one is used to just sticking a hose in a hole then the Whale system is likely to feel far more complicated, which relies on more components which are, as we regularly read, more susceptible to problems.
it certainly cant be beyond a reasonable MH service centre (or competent DIYer) to remove the Whale plumbing and add a new pipe...if the socket is a different size, it can be left there and a new, round, hole be added.
its down to how much 'benefit/issues' an owner sees in one system over the other...
Roger, apologies, the thread had wandered quite a while ago...

It must be very confusing for new owners who aren't aware that there are TWO completely independent Whale plumbing systems on many vans and threads on this forum drift from one to another and then back again with no clear distinction.

This thread started to discuss the system that supplies water from the fresh water tank to the taps but is now discussing another system that allows the fresh water tank to be filled automatically from a main or other external water supply automatically without any user intervention once coupled - a feature that many members who post on this forum are delighted with.

With respect this thread started with a question how to access the tank to check the pump.

groundhog wrote:With respect this thread started with a question how to access the tank to check the pump.

My point exactly.