Whale Auto Fill on Burford Duo

Lefty wrote:We have a new 2021 Burford Duo and I tried to use the alternative Whale Auto Fill. I had 50% Fresh Water. Connected the Whale kit as supplied by Autosleeper. Filled an Aqua roll but the end into the water switch on auto fill on the panel and no water is being delivered into the fresh water tank? Does it only work if their is mains pressure?

Any help would be appreciated.

If the Whale inlet socket on the side of your van has two brass contacts on it, it can only be for the Whale submersible pump that goes into the Aquaroll.  If no power is reaching the brass contacts which can be checked with a multimeter it could be a) the float switch in the top of the freshwater tank has cut the power because the tank is full (the 50% water tank gauge may be incorrect) or b) the Autofill button on the Sargent/EC700 CP isn't set correctly.  I am aware that Sargent has changed the latter and there are now three Autofill positions - unlit, green & blue.  Try changing from one to the other to see if it makes any difference.

If filling from the mains, mains water pressure is required for it to work properly and the appropriate buttons on the Sargent/EC700 CP must be on.  If there is no power, no water will enter the tank.

Cath Dawson wrote:As a matter of interest, we recently replaced our 2016 Bourton with a 2020 Bourton which no longer had the smaller submersible Whale supplied, only the Whale hose to the tap. When we queried this, we were told that the smaller submersible Whale would no longer work on the new van. Something to do with the Whale electrical fitting on the side of the van!  Would be interested to know if anyone does have a submersible Whale with Aquaroll that works on the newer vans.

I have just seen on the Auto-Sleepers website that they have brought out a 2021 handbook to replace their 2018 handbook.  It still describes the external Whale pump that is used with an Aquaroll.

CroftBadger wrote:I had the same problem filling when I picked up my new van last year until I got to grips with how it worked. Also the kit with the water fitments was open (van was an ex-demo) and I only had the Whale hose to tap. So to check I asked AS if I should have received a submersible pump as well and their reply was 'No', so maybe a cost-cutting exercise, although some newer vans seem to have got both. I have a manual filler on the other side of the van too so no problem. I either hook up to a tap or fill with a collapsible container manually.

This sounds suspicious.  Older vans (mine 2019) and new vans are provided with the Whale submersible but not yours.  It's more likely that the dealer cannibalised your van for spares.  Assuming you don't have a Shurflo diaphragm pump, the Whale is the same as the one inside your fresh water tank which is not known for its longevity - ours failed after 4 days.