Whale water system he’ll!

Hi
On my 2012 Nuevo the whale water filler has packed in! I can’t fill from mains or from container.
The solenoid doesn’t appear to be opening.
There is no voltage at the solenoid.
I’ve got power at the feed going into the relay switch which is located under the boiler but no power after the relay. So I replaced the relay and thought I’d fixed the problem.
How wrong was I!
This system is driving me MAD!
All I want is a hole in the wall type filler.
Would it work if I removed the inline solenoid and just replaced with some 12mm push fit? I understand I’d still have to use the whale hose and connector but it would at least be an interim measure till I can get a proper hole in the wall fitter.
Please advise if removing the solenoid part and replacing with a bit of pipe would work OK.

Thanks

Andy

Sorry I didn’t replace the solenoid I replaced relay switch

You could try filling from the drain tap ,works for me .

Thanks, I’ve sorted it by ripping out the daft solenoid and replaced with a longer bit of push fit pipe therefore bypassing the requirement for 12v. No more unreliable filling but I’m still stuck with the daft whale plug and socket but that will be going soon too.
Also managed to fill with cleaning sterilising fluid by using a drill pump which was super cheap and worked a treat.

Agree with Molly3 - since having the same problem quite a number of years ago, I have always filled through the drain tap. 

It also has the advantage of filling far faster due to the larger bore of this pipe compared to the restrictive diameter of the solenoid valve. 

Give the drain tap a rinse first by releasing a bit of water and use one of those flexible conical fittings that are readily available at caravan shops.

Incidentally the reason that my system would not work was due to the 12V feed being corroded at the connection on the float switch in the tank. (The solenoid feed is routed via this to turn it on and off). Not the kind of fault that is easy to find or get to when you are booked on a ferry to France the following day!

I have not bothered to go to the trouble of converting to a standard hose feed, but I fully understand the desire to do so.

Regards Graham

As a back up I am interested in buying the drain tap flexible conical fitting mentioned by GrahamF in this thread. As I find it difficult to visualise a fuller description or photograph would be greatly appreciated. Wearsider

Hello Wearsider

As I am away up in Scotland at the moment, a photo could be a bit difficult for me. However if you go on eBay and put in a search for “Caravan Motorhome Aqua Roll Filler Pipe” I am sure you will see it.

Regards Graham

Will do. Thank you.

Well Rosie that is a coincidence as I have this week faced the very same problem in my 2012 Broadway ie no 12v supply when I plug into the Whale socket. The fuses were ok. This happened the day after a new submersible pump was fitted at Chieveley so something went wrong and I only discovered it the next day when we arrived at our holiday site. We called out a mechanic who temporarily ran a live wire from another 12v take off point under the wardrobe (join to the blue wire going in to the pressure switch) direct to the back of the whale plug ( join to the green wire on the 


right under the white adjuster) thereby bypassing the solenoid. He put an in-line fuse and switch easily accessible from the wardrobe and this has completely soved the problem. It can be left switched on but that means the contacts in the Whale socket are always live so he recommended using the switch to isolate the socket after filling up. The drawback is that the auto shut-off when the fresh tank is full does not work so you have to keep an eye out for the water ooverflow kicking in under the van. Not a big problem and I am inclined to adopt this way forward rather than take it to an expensive auto electrician. I phoned a couple locally who won't touch campers in view of the complexity. Hope this helps. It worked for me. When the whale system workd it was great but do we need all this high tech just to fill up with water ?

I had a problem with the water slow to fill by hand or mains but had filter cleaned at hab check which after only two years was almost blocked no problems now.  Filter is very small about size of finger nail
Gef

Thanks for all your replies, sounds like a lot of folk out there been affected by a poorly designed water system. 

Great idea on filling through the drain pipe, why didn't I think of that........doh! 

I like the sound of faster filling as my work around though neat and tidy is still relying on the 12mm bore piping. 

The drain pipe will be a great trick, going to purchase one of those caravan aqua roll filler pipes. 

Thanks again.

Andy

Hi.
I have also been concerned about the Whale filling system failing and not being able to get water in.

 I have made up an adaptor which fits onto the drain tap. It uses standard 28mm water fittings with a standard hose pipe snap connector on the end. Works great.

I now use this method to fill the tanks. Much simpler and faster and doesn't require the house power to be on.

Cheers

naki585 wrote:Hi.
I have also been concerned about the Whale filling system failing and not being able to get water in.

 I have made up an adaptor which fits onto the drain tap. It uses standard 28mm water fittings with a standard hose pipe snap connector on the end. Works great.

I now use this method to fill the tanks. Much simpler and faster and doesn't require the house power to be on.

Cheers

Can you tell me a bit about this adapter you made. Also is there not a problem with the water trying to empty out through the drain pipe while you are pushing water in the same way? It obviously works but I'm not sure why?

I dislike and distrust the Whale system. Think in time I'll have it replaced with a standard filler and external pump. In the meantime, as a precaution in case of solenoid failure, I've made up a hose that connects in the standard way at the tap end and, at the van end, connects to the drain tap with a universal tap connector - available from most caravan parts suppliers. I use a hand tightening jubilee clip to hold it in place on the drain tap. All works well. The pressure from the tap is greater than the pressure of the water in the tank so no problem filling. 

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andyh wrote:I dislike and distrust the Whale system. Think in time I'll have it replaced with a standard filler and external pump. In the meantime, as a precaution in case of solenoid failure, I've made up a hose that connects in the standard way at the tap end and, at the van end, connects to the drain tap with a universal tap connector - available from most caravan parts suppliers. I use a hand tightening jubilee clip to hold it in place on the drain tap. All works well. The pressure from the tap is greater than the pressure of the water in the tank so no problem filling. 

Thanks for that. I won't be getting my Broadway for another couple of weeks so still trying to work out the details of this. I assume that you open the tap on the drain to let the water in. So, connect hose to tap and tighten jubilee clip, open drain tap, run to water tap and turn on. Wait for tank to fill. When tank is full turn off tap. Close drain tap. Disconnect filler pipe. Would that be the sequence. And how do you know when the tank is full. I assume there must be some sort of overflow but as there seems to be some sort of cut off mechanism with the whale system when the tank is full I'm not sure if this is the case. I'm sure I'll get it sorted after a few goes but interested in hearing how it works in practice.

Hi. 

I fitted a standard 32mm elbow to the standard A/S fresh water drain tap. Then I fitted a standard hosepipe snap connector to the elbow. The elbow changes the tap drain from vertical to horizontal.

It works really well. Far quicker to fill than the Whale system.

If your A/S has a fresh water drain tap then this is a cheap easy way to get fresh water into your tank via a standard hosepipe.

I send post pics if you wish.

Cheers.
Keith

Pictures would be appreciated.

I am sure the better engineered solutions that have been suggested will provide a more secure water fill. However from 5 year’s experience of just using the conical push on connector, I would say that this alone very rarely ever came off as there is little back pressure from water in the tank. (Yes your sequence of use is correct).

Recently my submersible whale pump started making strange noises. As I was travelling fairly close to AS at Willersey I finally bit the bullet and had a Shurflo surface pump fitted (Grommit will be pleased). As they were having to drop the tank I also then got them to fit a “hole in the wall filler”, so there’s an end now to the back filling game. But it really was totally practical whilst in use.

Hope this info is useful.

Regards Graham

naki585 wrote:Hi. 

I fitted a standard 32mm elbow to the standard A/S fresh water drain tap. Then I fitted a standard hosepipe snap connector to the elbow. The elbow changes the tap drain from vertical to horizontal.

It works really well. Far quicker to fill than the Whale system.

If your A/S has a fresh water drain tap then this is a cheap easy way to get fresh water into your tank via a standard hosepipe.

I send post pics if you wish.

Cheers.
Keith

Keith thanks for all the replies. I'm a bit confused, maybe just being a bit dull. It your earlier post you mention 20mm fittings but in this one you talk about a 32mm elbow. Also how do you stop water flowing out of the drain pipe if you have removed the little tap. Perhaps some photos might solve all of this. thanks.

GrahamF wrote:I am sure the better engineered solutions that have been suggested will provide a more secure water fill. However from 5 year’s experience of just using the conical push on connector, I would say that this alone very rarely ever came off as there is little back pressure from water in the tank. (Yes your sequence of use is correct).

Recently my submersible whale pump started making strange noises. As I was travelling fairly close to AS at Willersey I finally bit the bullet and had a Shurflo surface pump fitted (Grommit will be pleased). As they were having to drop the tank I also then got them to fit a “hole in the wall filler”, so there’s an end now to the back filling game. But it really was totally practical whilst in use.

Hope this info is useful.

Regards Graham

I am pleased you have got it fixed Graham, as I am sure you will find the Shurflo so much less likely to raise your stress levels.

As I've said on many occasions, the most important aspect of all this (in my opinion) is what happens when the submersible packs up on the second day of your French holiday. Then you are deep in the merde!!

Now you have the Shurflo there's no problem. Half an hour at most with a screwdriver and a new one is installed.

Very wise to get the hole in the wall while you were there.

Can I recommend a good supplier of watering cans!!   

As you know Dave, the installation of a Shurflo pump after two years of freshwater tank whale pump pain and the fitting of a ‘hole in the wall’ when we originally bought the Broadway new, was one of the best things we ever did. No more stress, and dead easy to fill with a watering can as we don’t tend to move the van once we are on site.

I can highly recommend both courses of action, both carried out efficiently by the AS Service department.
 - Good selling points for when I finally get rid and buy a Carthago!!

Pete

Wearsider wrote:Pictures would be appreciated.

I have posted pictures and information in another thread you can find it  here [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Hope this helps.