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Fri May 23, 2008 7:20 am

I had an issue with my sink pump, swapped it out and every things is ok. Or...is it?
When this died and I brought it back to life my wife started thinking, can't we have more water pressure?

So now I ask all you listies, are there any faucet replacements or pump replacements that will give a bit better flow from the tap?

Cheers!
Dave

Fri May 23, 2008 8:57 am

The PO had 12volt marine pump for the sink and it came out alittle to fast. Thats were you might start. i switched it to a pump from gowesty.

Fri May 23, 2008 10:38 am

We use an in-tank pump from GoWesty (my 82 originally had an external pump, but it was easy to re-route) and it shoots the water out pretty fast. Wonder if there isn't another problem somewheres...

Best,

Lanval

Fri May 23, 2008 3:10 pm

You might want to check the water line, at least the parts you can get to without pulling the cabinets, to check for kinks. With a new pump, you should be able to spray water across the 'kitchen' if your rotate the spout too far up.

Fri May 23, 2008 8:18 pm

hey this a bit off topic, but there is a watertank on ebay closing pretty soon if any one needs it.

I live full time in a converted big bus, built the water system for that and for my 40' sailboat many lives ago. The system in my 84 westie was designed by the local village twerp. If we run out or drain the tank we have to suck on the spiggot to prime the pump. I would either put in an immersed pump or put in a fitting on the side of the tank just above the bottom.
tony

Wed May 28, 2008 9:12 pm

Today I got Winston's new immersion sink pump installed successfully, I picked the one from Van Cafe, which was the cheapest German one I could order.

I was intelligent enough to use insulated spade crush-on connectors, in the event that the pump was defective. I read the original instructions, which Van Cafe included--they even called because I specified that it was for an '84 Westy, and they thought I might have had an inline pump. Winston was made in December, he still had his original immersion pump--no splice in the power line.

Now, the instructions for that pump made it quite clear--blue/blau was the negative wire, braun/brown was the positive wire, the reverse of the wiring I've found so far on Winston, in which brown is negative, brown being the color of 'earth.' So I cut off the old pump, wired in the splices, hooked it all up, put a nylon tie around the hose connection just because, and the pump buzzed! Success. I thought.

Just before I tossed the old pump, a VGO, I paused to look at it. 'Blau +, Braun -.' Greeeat. The instructions on the pump even said that it would work if wired in reverse, 'but with less performance.' I put 3 gallons into the tank, buzzing, but no water.

:shock:

So I pulled the conventional electrical tape and the fusing tape over that, and re-did the connectors in the opposite way. Buzzing, but no water. I finally got to where I was sucking on the end of the pump, I then heard a gurgle, and the next time I tried the sink--water. Pump had to prime, I guess. More fusing tape and I pulled the connected wire back into the next cabinet to move it away from the tank and water.

I have no idea why the company that made the new pump decided to reverse the wiring scheme. But, that was fun. It's working now, though. I also paused to test Winston's propane system, and I picked up the repaired window screen for the Jalousies, which slid right into place.

I can eat the cookies, now that I've installed the part successfully.

Best!

Mon Jun 09, 2008 6:42 pm

We originally had a marine sump pump that the PO had installed. It had lots of pressure but the water would splash too much for my liking because I would have to wipe down the stove and stuff after wahing my hands. I though it was a bad design...until I investigated and realised that it was not the right pump. I bought a replacement OE one from GW and now the splashing in minimal.

Mon Jun 09, 2008 6:52 pm

The Westy faucet is a cheap piece of crap! I broke two of them and then installed a ShurFlo. It shoots out plenty of water with the stock pump, swivels both up and down AND side to side and can be installed with a simple foot switch so you can use it hands -free.

Here's the faucet from campersdirect.com: http://www.campersdirect.com/susqrv/details.php?ITEM=0294009

And here's some pics of mine installed:
http://www.vickersdesign.com/vanagon/faucet1.jpg
http://www.vickersdesign.com/vanagon/faucet2.jpg
http://www.vickersdesign.com/vanagon/foot_switch.jpg

The second pic shows what I used for the baseplate of the Shurflo. The hole in the Westy sink is bigger than the Shurflo so I went to Home Desperate and got 2 door knob "bumpers". The bumper is a white piece of flexible plastic that prevents a door knob from dinging a wall. I cut a hole in the center of the door bumpers to match the Shurflo. Its basically just creating two huge washers to keep the Shurflo from falling through the sink's hole.

The third pic is a footswitch that I got at a local electronics store. About $4 I think.

The Shurflo is a great faucet. It can be set up with a foot switch or turned on/off at the faucet and the stream can be turned way down to a trickle so its very adjustable. You can also pivot the head of the faucet side to side which makes cleaning the sink a bit easier.

Jeff

Mon Jun 09, 2008 8:39 pm

I've always converted to a surflow also,, The same as my motorhome has,, there just over 60 Bucks come with a rubber mount and a prussure switch in this style,,, in other words turn on the faucet.. bingo you have water,, just like at home,,

Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:27 pm

The only problem with the Shurflo is that you lose your 'external water' option and are on 'tank water' from then on. From what I hear about overpressure, leaks, and resulting panel rust, I can see why a lot of people don't mind that. But it's why I've been dragging my feet so far.

Best!

Mon Jun 09, 2008 10:52 pm

msinabottle wrote: From what I hear about overpressure, leaks, and resulting panel rust, I can see why a lot of people don't mind that.

Best!

That's exactly why I abandoned my city water - the trifecta of doom! Besides, I never camp anywhere where there's hookups anyway so I never used it once.

Jeff

Tue Jun 10, 2008 4:15 am

izzydog wrote: msinabottle wrote: From what I hear about overpressure, leaks, and resulting panel rust, I can see why a lot of people don't mind that.

Best!

That's exactly why I abandoned my city water - the trifecta of doom! Besides, I never camp anywhere where there's hookups anyway so I never used it once.

Jeff

Easy fix for the city water hookup. Remove the city hookup box, drill out a hole in it's center, enough to slip a washing machine hose through. Cut off the "male" end, and slide it through the hole in the box, slip the hose over the water feed inside the Vanagon, and you'll never have water leaking inside the van again when using city water hookup.

The dreaded "leak" comes from the brass elbow fitting in the inside of the city water box. Brass into plastic will cause the plastic to crack and leak over time, and the water leak collects on the inner floor, behind the cabinets. Eliminate this setup, and you'll never have that problem again.

Tue Jun 10, 2008 1:51 pm

If you go to Princess Auto Parts, they sell shurflo pumps for around $100 cdn these are the ultimate water pumps, we use three in our big bus, one for the house supply (shower kitchen toilet) one for the radiator spray system, and one on a portable tank that we put in the van to bring water to the bus when in the desert. In 10 years full timing we have had one that failed. I look for them used at garage sales, the one we are using now for the house cost us $1.00 in Parumph Nevada.
Look for us at the Canmore Folk Fest, our banner says "shiny stuff"

Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:20 pm

Another pump from Princess Auto (in Canada at least) is
Proven Pump, model BPLA. Costs $40, much less than a Sureflo. They sell it as a 'Marine Pump', but is is smaller and simpler than the genuine brand name types. Plenty of water out of my shower installation now!

Tue Jun 10, 2008 9:50 pm

I nominate this thread for a sticky!

The next thing, O Bucko, and thou art most wise in thy simian way, would be a one-way valve system or the like that would let the 'Bucko Modded' city water feed work with the Shur-Flo faucets.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Best!

Mon Jun 16, 2008 7:21 pm

yea, this is a good one, i bought my westie gutted and instead of replacing the oem sink system i`m going to build and design my own. this is the sort of info i was hoping for! as anybody else done this? pics if so! thanks!

Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:16 pm

Lo, I built the water system on my sailboat (familly of 4 fulltime) & built the one in my MCI bus. I would not ever use city water connection, if it busts you got water, Some friends almost sank their boat with city water while they were off at work. If you live by your water pump, you will use less water, read be more environmentally friendly. Also the prob with Westy water is that the sink dumps onna ground so collecting & storing it is a hassle. The surflo pump we use has lasted many years, the only one we have ever had fail had been used to pump diesel in a mergency, I still have the motor off it which works just fine. If you can afford it make a cardboard mockup of your tank & get one made of stainless, put the outlet connection about 1/2" from the bottom so the pump primes easily.
BTW does any one have any ideas about how to fill the van from the 5 gal containers used in Mexico, I empty the locker & take off the lid then upend the full jug into the tank, only leaks a bit. There must be a better way.

Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:57 pm

My new pump failed on the first day of camping at the job site with Winston. I broke the faucet switch trying to figure out if that was the problem. It turned out to be one of my four connections on the splice. I think I'll go with the West Marine ShurFlo faucet once the season's over.

How about getting one of those electric drill pumps and some hose for the Mexican jugs? Use it with a Makita.

Best!

Thu Jun 19, 2008 12:03 pm

i found an old bilge pump in the garage i`m going to wire a cheap setup with this and a big plastic jug until i can afford a shurflo, hehehe

Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:00 pm

what about one of these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/PORTABLE-INDOOR-OUTDOOR-SINK-W...18Q2el1247

just bolt the base down and you should be good to go if you want to spend the cash on it