12v water pump won't turn of
- Thread starter James.d
- Start date
Presumably this is a micro switch tap set up with just 2 wires, to a submersible pump with 2 wires?
Are you hearing a click when you open the tap? And is this a new install or already been installed?
The wiring should go: positive from battery to tap wire (doesn't matter which one), other tap wire to positive on pump (brown if it's a whale submersible pump) then negative on pump back to negative on battery. All the switch is doing, like any other switch, is completing the circuit.
Thanks for the response Paul. Yes micro setup with just a live and negative going from tap, and pump also has two wire also, brown and blue. So the tap is a new install so unless it's faulty, or I've damaged it during setup, I must have made a mistake with the wiring. I'll check all again like you have outlined.
Yeah it's basically a big loop. The loop goes battery to switch (tap) to pump to battery. Brown and blue on the whale pumps are positive on brown and negative on blue.
Switch polarity on the tap doesn't matter, it's just completing the circuit when you open the tap.
So I checked over all my connections and everything is correct. The pump turns on no problem as soon I complete the circuit. But i cannot get it to turn over via the tap when I open and close it. Do you know if It matters if there is water in the drum? I'm just dry testing it currently and can't see it making a difference.
Nope, won't matter, it'll still run dry - obviously don't run it for more than a second dry.
If you've basically taken the tap out the loop and are just manually completing the circuit (or using a std 12v rocker switch) then it looks like the tap micro switch is broken. Have you got a link to the tap you're using?
Microswitches are fairly robust and hard to damage with wiring. They can get welded on if they try to switch too large a load but given the switches in camping taps are generally wired direct to the pump they should be of a suitable rating.
If you remove the tap lever you’ll be able to access the micro switch.
If it’s a Smev unit the plastic centre plug covering the tap lever screw doesn’t come out easily without damaging it. Best replaced with a rubber blanking grommet of a suitable size.
If it’s a Smev unit the plastic centre plug covering the tap lever screw doesn’t come out easily without damaging it. Best replaced with a rubber blanking grommet of a suitable size.
