Water pump controller

[chessie4905]

The gauge is to check if pump sporadically runs for a short period with all water taps off. If it drops slowly, you've got a problem that needs looked into. You can't hear your pump when it runs?

[Jon]

Richard, it sounds like you are overthinking this issue.

First if you are concerned about a water leak fix your plumbing system so it is reliable. You want to make the bus like your house and you don't turn off your pump or house water supply when you leave the house so make sure the bus plumbing is just as reliable.

I don't know what water pump you have, but the simplest pump control is a well water pressure switch tied into a circuit that uses an accumulator tank. Power to the pump goes through the switch and on a well pump switch you can adjust cut in and cut out pressure as well as the differential. Assuming no leaks in the system usually an RV pump cycles because the check valve between the pump and water tank is leaking water under pressure back into the tank.

You may already have an accumulator tank because if your HW tank is heated by engine coolant it needs a way to handle the water expansion as it heats.

[richard5933]

Richard, it sounds like you are overthinking this issue.

First if you are concerned about a water leak fix your plumbing system so it is reliable. You want to make the bus like your house and you don't turn off your pump or house water supply when you leave the house so make sure the bus plumbing is just as reliable.

Not so much overthinking as being overly paranoid. One flood from a leak was enough. I have gone through the entire system and everything seems to be good. But, it's only good till it's not. Maybe I'll trust it again sometime soon...

And about the home system, I actually do turn off the well pump when we leave for a vacation or extended trip. Flipping a switch is much easier than cleaning up from a flood due to a plumbing leak.

Remember, this all started because I noticed some phantom/stray voltage on the wires to the switch. That was resolved by moving some wires in the harness. During the process I discovered that installing a controller would make our current three switch setup much more convenient since we'd be able to turn the pump on/off from any location regardless of where it was turned on. It will also allow me to add another switch in the process in the wet bay. To me it will be better for the pump as well, since it will shorten the length of wire carrying the current to the pump by about 20 feet, since the power will go directly from the battery fuse box to the pump and not through the switches.

[Jim Blackwood]

I think what you are doing makes sense, it's just a little more complex than it needs to be, which is perfectly in accord with modern trends.

Jim

[chessie4905]

Or you could get a smart receptacle and tell Alexis to turn the pump on or off, even away from coach.

[DoubleEagle]

Or you could get a smart receptacle and tell Alexis to turn the pump on or off, even away from coach.

But since Richard is already paranoid, having Alexis listening to everything he says will not help. If the water tank is down in the bay he simply needs to turn the pump off when he is not there. However, a leak could start while he is sleeping, so he needs an alarm that would go off if the pump activates, or turn off the pump when not in the coach and/or not conscious. 

[chessie4905]

Yeah, but she could yellTHE PUMP IS RUNNING ...maybe your system is flooding...RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!! in the middle of the night.  😲

[buswarrior]

Ah, the good old days of steel tent camping...

One of those cursed plastic pumps that fit on the water cooler jugs... fooled the kids into thinking pumping it was an adventure...

However, still a risk of flooding, if the bottle wasn't secured before moving...

Nothing easy in this bus life...

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[richard5933]

Install is complete. Took a while to get things tucked away neatly, but I've got to say that the thing really works nicely. Maybe more complicated than some would like, but now I can turn the water on from any of the three locations (kitchen, bath, wet bay) and can turn if off again from any location (not just the one that turned it on).

A tad bit safer now too, since the momentary switches that trigger the relay carry only ground. The 12v+ goes directly from fuse block to pump. I couldn't get the proper connector right away, so I used terminals covered with heat shrink. I've got the connector coming, and I'll get that installed soon.

[usbusin]

Nice wiring!  Looks good and glad to hear that it works like you wanted.

Gary D