My 'land yacht' (OK, it's a lorry...)

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My \'land yacht\' (OK, it\'s a lorry...)

OK, this one's a bit 'off message', but I've tried the caravan forums to no avail (Boo) and everyone knows yotties are far more cleverer!

The beast in question has a 12V Aquaflow water system - circa 1980. Above the filler cap was a funny little two-pin socket with a flap, which was basically seized solid and had to be 'chiselled' out. It left behind two wires, as per the picture here:
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2660695060101691024wCimkj

I've been fiddling with the waterworks to try and recommission the system, and I've discovered that connecting these two wires to a 12v supply brings everything back to life. (Or at least makes the pump whirr when the taps are turned on.) Great, but a bit weird, I thought. I mean who would use an external 12v power supply to make their waterworks work? Is it normal landlubber behaviour? Why wouldn't the system be connected to the vehicle's own 12v system? Etc. etc.

Have any of you boaty folks dabbled in this sort of thing?
 
Re: My \'land yacht\' (OK, it\'s a lorry...)

Perhaps they used an external deep cycle battery so that main battery was not flattened by leisure use overnight leaving truck stranded & unstartable on a cold morning?
 
Re: My \'land yacht\' (OK, it\'s a lorry...)

I think this was a supply to a submersible pump that was used to transfer water from a roll along tank to the main tank. It could be that the water system is powered by the normal battery and there is a fault in the supply, applying power to these wires may be back powering the system.
Stan
 
Re: My \'land yacht\' (OK, it\'s a lorry...)

From your discription, I'm not surprised the caravan lot have not got a clue.

I'm going to guess, probably foolishly, that you want some sort of drinking or washing water facility???

Normally this is done by an inline pump, which produces a presurised system, coming on only when more water is needed. IE presure reduced.

Depending how much juice your using, for domestic type stuff, theres no reason why it should not use the vehicle battery. Or you could add a domestic supply, even add hot water, with heat stored from your engine cooling. All common on boats.

I'd suggest you try to explain better, just what you want to achieve.
 
Re: My \'land yacht\' (OK, it\'s a lorry...)

I think thats it as well - it looks like an early version of the plug in length of pipe with an pump at the end - the Carver pump.
See here

Has a pump that drops in the external water tank.

From your picture it looks like you have an internal water tank with the option to plug in an external water container and pump.

You can get bits for it at any decent size caravan shop or via Towsure or similar website
 
Re: My \'land yacht\' (OK, it\'s a lorry...)

Haydn, there is an inline pump system feeding the taps and hot water heater - that part is straightforward. I was hoping that someone on the forum might instantly recognise the external electrical plug component that I've removed (or at least recognise the hole), and explain how it should (or would have been) used.
 
Re: My \'land yacht\' (OK, it\'s a lorry...)

DinghyMan, you and StanD could be right - so what sort of faults could cause 'back powering' as I've described? Or could it be one of a million things?
 
Re: My \'land yacht\' (OK, it\'s a lorry...)

My caravan had a similar system with an external pump, the pump was connected to something similar and the connection was a water connection and a 12v connection.
Stu
 
Re: My \'land yacht\' (OK, it\'s a lorry...)

I think it could just be a case of the pump completing the circuit. Our caravan has the carver system but no internal pump.

I would guess that there is a fuse gone somewhere or a fault as I would expect the internal and external pumps to be an "either/or" setup with some sort of sensor switch in the part that you have chiselled off and where the external pump plugs in. When there is no external pump & water supply then the internal pump is used from your internal tank - when you plug the external pump in it senses it and powers the external pump instead.

You can buy the whole side fitting & external pump but the pumps £40 so would expect the side fitting to be at least the same again. I would look at fitting a three way changeover switch - off / internal / external setup. Thinking about it the caravan has a three way switch rather than a two so this must be a standard setup. Check to see if you have any switches on the main control board - we have a battery internal / external and a three way for the pump.

Either that or just rewire the pump system with new cable and a new three way switch. See Vehicle Wiring Products for a good range of sensible priced electrical gear.
 
Re: My \'land yacht\' (OK, it\'s a lorry...)

Was the 'socket' you removed a socket or a plug? Pretty universally, a female socket provides the power, whereas a male plug (with pins) receives it. So if it was a female socket, I would have expected it to be powering something external, like a pump to refil your tank in out of the way places, from a stream or similar.
 
Re: My \'land yacht\' (OK, it\'s a lorry...)

I think StanD is correct. I would think there would have been a permanent supply on the socket to enable a pump to be plugged in and pump water from an external portable tank into the internal tank. You will need a meter and trace the circuit back from the pump. You mention that the pump runs when power is connected to these cables and the taps are on. You probably have micro switches in the taps that are obviously OK. They can be a source of trouble in this type of installation.
What you need to see is 12v across the pump (or on your pair of wires), one side will probably go to the vehicle earth, a possibility of corrosion if it does, or straight back to the battery. The other side should go back to the battery via the taps and a fuse. One other possibility is that there may have been an extra battery powering the domestic part of the horse box on a split charge system and no longer there.
 
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