Water Pump Switch in Bathroom

[Yoda]

Well I have the parts ordered (post#25) Spemco. Katie Alford <KatieA@spemco.com> was excellent to work with. As the switch has an independent lamp I hope to tie it in to the existing indicator lamp circuit if I can figure it out when I finally get into this. Spemco has just about every type of operational switch you would ever need. Carling is the maker. Spemco pricing is excellent and they have circuit diagrams available (below switch information. I got all 3 parts cheaper than Amazon or elsewhere with USPS shipping.(roughly 4$) Total cost $14.45 with 10OFFCART coupon. Should be fun and I will post pictures and be doing a write up on this. Should be simple and straight forward install. They also have a simple dependent lamp switch v1d1bc0b https://spemco.com/v1d1bc0b-carling-v-series-rocker-switch-on-off-single-dependent-red-led/?_ga=2.147917105.748678270.1587386921-920574210.1584714166 if you want it to light when you turn the switch on (dependent lamp).

More later - back to the garden

Keith

[Yoda]

Well folks
I decided to to a test run of the switch before I go cut holes. First the switch, It is a SPST with independent LED lamp ( https://spemco.com/) it has 2 spade terminals for the switch and 2 spade terminals for the LED light, The LED light is power specific as I found out. I first thought all is lost on having the light come on with the pump before I switched the power and ground around.

In our bath the spot I chose is beside the GFI receptacle in the hall wall a few inches above the counter. A few feet away is the sink and a clear path to the basement. By removing a few drawers (how to here https://www.google.com/search?client...emove+RV+drwar) I can drill wire holes into the wall under the counter to the switch. Then run then under the counter above the top drawer, into sink area and down the sink drain line and over to the pump switch on the Nautilus panel.


OK - the existing switch is a 3 way. It will have power in, power to the pump and a traveler wire. Using my meter and pump OFF I found power out is the center (white with green stripe) and hot in is the bottom terminal Plain white, The traveler wire is white with purple stripe. At the top the LED draws power for center - lights up with power to the pump.

So in theory if I tap the hot in and the power to the pump when my switch is on pump runs,and if I tap power out of new switch to LED on switch and the to ground, the LED should light up with power on. Well lets put it to the test.

Warning - the jumper wires I am using were made in electronics class when I was in high school - learned soldering. They are ugly, but work.


Jumper wires in place on existing pump switch. Tape it to prevent short between hot and pump on line.

Jumper wires at back of new switch. Hot out jumped to LED and white wire tied to ground. I later found I had to reverse the LED connections.


Absolutely outstanding. Light is on, pump is on, and even better LED light on nautilus panel is on. Now I did not check the light on the inside at the panel, but I am assuming it would be on too. I did not want to run the pump dry except for a few seconds. Maybe I will temp wire it in again and have the DW look. So I now can start cutting and running wires - I know what to do and have pictures to remind me.

The only down side to wiring the third switch like this is if the pump is turned on in the bath, it can only be turned off using the bath switch. However the light on the convenience panel will be turned on to remind you and when that switch wont turn it off you will remember its the bath switch.


Ill post more later on the final install. Just want folks to know it can be done, and fairly easy to do once wires are identified.

Keith

[Yoda]

OK part II
I used my stud finder on the bath wall to check for structure and carefully taped and cut the paneling with an exact o knife being very careful to follow my layout lines. I chose a spot next to the light switch. Note below the light switch is a 110v GFI outlet and the wires run up, just to the left of the light switch, so caution is needed in cutting into this wall. Your unit may be different.


Now I did run into a slight problem, the stud finder missed a 1"x 2" pine member that was mostly blocking the hole. The stud finder missed it as there was a 1/4" gap between the stud and the paneling. I got out my multi tool and cut as much away as I could, then used a small hand saw to trim the rest. final trim was with exacto knife. I made sure to stay away from the 110 wiring.

I then ran down inside the wall and came out and into the cabinet/sink base staying high to avoid the drawers.

I then ran across the back an into the sink base where I ran down the sink pluming.


Using zip ties I followed the sink pluming into the basement.

[Yoda]

Its hard to see but the wiring is following the sink plumbing back toward the rear of the trailer to get behind the basement wall.


I then ran across toward the nautilus panel using the step framing as a path.

Then turned the corner above the nautilus panel.

At this point I used a screw in clamp to hold the wiring and cut into the existing switch lines as determined in the first part of this post. I used butt crimp connectors. I really like my new crimper. Last thing I did was zip tie the wiring up and out of the way.


And it works. Also the other indicator lights on the nautilus panel and the main panel by the door light up to show the pump is on. Also if the switch is off and the other pump switches are on the light is on to show pump is on. The only down side as mentioned before is if the pump is turned on with the GD original switches, the pump cannot be turned off with this new switch.

Thanks everyone for the help.
Keith

On edit - I forgot one thing - I had better go back and clean up my mess and put things back together before the DW see it. Anyone disagree ?.

[tgodrich]

And it works.

Looks like a clean install. Maybe I missed in the post, but what was the driving need to add this switch? I typically leave mine on at the control panel until done in the trailer.
Tony

[Yoda]

Looks like a clean install. Maybe I missed in the post, but what was the driving need to add this switch? I typically leave mine on at the control panel until done in the trailer.
Tony

Thanks Tony
The reason is I normally keep my water pump off unless needed. If I am on city water I turn that off at night too and when we are away from the trailer. Too may leak stories. I wanted a switch there so if I get up in the night and need water, I can turn it on there and not need to go down the stairs to the control panel.
Thoughts?

Thanks Keith

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Having had water issues with another trailer, I too keep the pump off when not in use.
This would alleviate the calls of "Turn on the pump please!" that I hear from time to time when I'm in the living area...lol
I will have to keep this mod in mind come spring/summer. Good job Yoda

[Yoda]

Having had water issues with another trailer, I too keep the pump off when not in use.
This would alleviate the calls of "Turn on the pump please!" that I hear from time to time when I'm in the living area...lol
I will have to keep this mod in mind come spring/summer. Good job Yoda

Yep that is the other reason - but I did not want to mention it

Keith

[Festus500]

Brilliant work. Thanks for sharing

[Yoda]

Brilliant work. Thanks for sharing

Thanks and Welcome to the forum