With fitted on-board tanks, water systems can become quite complex. This is one of the simpler arrangements. The selector chooses between the two water sources, the isolator opens to fill the on-board the tank. The downside is that you have to manually operate the valves to fill and then use the on-board tank. For the latest information and advice on COVID-19, please refer to the latest updates by the UK Government. Whale's innovation continued in 2014 with the launch of the industry's first-ever under-floor water heater, the Expanse. It can deliver enough hot water for a 14-litre shower in 11 minutes and then reheat sufficient for a second shower in eight minutes. A high level of thermal insulation keeps the water hot for extended periods. both types of control will work with the same objective and that is to reduce the time the pump actually runs and exetend it's life, The simplest solution is to build switches into each tap. Of necessity, the switches need to be small and so the makers use microswitches. In time the constant switching of the pump current (2-4 amps) can cause microswitches to fail. If this happens, a workaround is to go to another tap and turn it on just enough for its microswitch to operate.

As with the in-line pressure switch, the first step is to ensure that the caravan’s water system is completely full and the pump master switch is in the ‘on’ position. The Whale Inline Pressure Switch switches the pump on or off by detecting the change in pressure in the water system. It is the ideal water pressure switch specifically designed for your caravan, motorhome, or campervan. The Whale damper is quite ‘cheap and cheerful’ (though not exactly cheap) with no pressure adjustment. As mentioned in this 2013 Caravantallk thread however there is a complication, and that is without some sort of device to cut power to the pump it will continue to run endlessly, and in a short time the pump would fail. You do not tell us which Adria model of van you have or the type or make of pump that's fitted, but I believe its most likely a Truma submersible pump. This means you have a separate pressure switch fitted inside the caravan.

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However, as Adria has chosen to fit the pesky Whale Pressure Switch that has its own NRV, there should be no imperative need for another NRV at or near the pump. Most of us are familiar with the submersible pumps that sit inside an external water container, such as an Aquaroll ( available at Halfords, Millets and Argos) and pump the water on board. They use a small 12-volt motor to drive an impellor at high speed, forcing the water through the delivery pipe and into the caravan. Now open any tap slowly, to the point where you have a smooth flow of water, and then close it again. The pump should continue to run.

Conversely, if you go off-grid the first time and then you have hook-up the next, a pulsating pump its likely, as the voltage is probably higher than when you were relying on 12V battery power alone (when the charger and/or solar panel are working on our caravan, a charge of 13.7V is often displayed). Today, Alde's boilers use the same principle and are at the forefront of efficient design. They have mushroomed in popularity over the last few years. Eventually this pulsating builds the pressure to a point where the pump switches off completely and stops pulsating.The questions go along the lines of :”Even though my taps are closed, the pump in the Aquaroll continues running”; “My pump pulsates on and off when I open a tap”; and “I can’t get constant warm water for a shower because the water keeps going from cold to hot every few seconds”. Water heaters for touring caravans are dual-fuel with a capability of using mains electricity or LPG or, quite often, both at once for faster heating.

I’m quite surprised that Adria would have fitted to a 2017 motorhome a water system that includes an ‘old tech’ Whale pressure switch. why should these be voltage sensitive? Very often, if off grid, they need regular adjustment as the voltage varies with the danger of burning out an expensive pump. You can switch pumps on and off in one of two ways, both of which have increased and decreased in popularity over the years. one problem exists however with the pressure sensed system, this is of course obvious!!! and that is the pump will continue to run even after the taps turned off, until the water pressure rises to a predetermined level and as a consequence will also turn the pump on if the pressure drops for other reasons. All TrumaCombi heaters have a water tank capacity of 10 litres. Warm air heats the tank so it can take a while to get hot, especially if you operate the space heating at the same time. Common water systems for caravans

Camping Coolers

Fitted in-line, the Whale Pressure Switch provides a simple and convenient way of creating a pressure system with an electric pump that does not have its own switch. The Pressure Switch is normally fitted close to the pump on discharge side (before any in-line Y piece). The Pressure Switch detects the opening and closing of any tap in the system. An in-line filter is recommended on the inlet side to prevent dirt from entering the pump or switch.

The first to market with a combined water and space heater for touring use was Alde, as long ago as 1966. The unit used antifreeze to heat both water and radiatorsand became renowned for its efficiency. Truma's device employs an inline adaptive system to measure the performance of the submersible pump. The system uses information to adjust the start and stop pressures to suit the water pump and the prevailing battery voltage. This setting will be different for any given battery voltage since it is battery voltage that determines the pressure the pump can achieve. instead of on the taps have a micro switch on a pressure device that controls the operation of the pump by sensing a drop in pressure when the taps turned on,One of the problems of using pressure switches with submersible pumps is that the delivery pressure is very dependent on the battery voltage. If you're off-grid, this can slowly decay to the point where you have to adjust the pressure switch. To eliminate this potential issue Whale and Truma each developed intelligent pressure switches that effectively do the adjustment for you (see panel).