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Post by millard1399 on Sept 27, 2012 12:03:33 GMT 10
G'day teflon...thanks for your kind words. G'day kiwijim...remember that battery I talked about that jolts my brain when I think about removing any cladding? Well, it's also wired up to give a jolt if I start thinking about painting the chassis under the van. G'day bobt...next road test is in October. ------------------------------------------------------------- Today's report, including a question for all the knowledgeable people out there... After changing the hose fitting on the drawbar to a brass connector, yesterday was the big day to hook up a hose and test the pipework and the kitchen tap. Pipework is good (no leaks) but tap is crap. Does anybody recognise this tap, and know what it is normally used for? It looks like a typical tap. It's got a spout, and a handle that you would normally think would be turned to shut the tap off... But, this tap can't be turned off. The guts of the tap are not like a normal household tap. The spindle doesn't turn in the housing like a normal tap. The spindle has got splines machined onto it, which line up with keyways in the housing... I'm thinking that maybe this tap is the sort that is used with 12V pumps (maybe on a boat?), and not with mains pressure water. But I'm stuffed if I can work out why it needs a spline joint if it is used with a 12V pump. Why so complicated in the guts? Anybody familiar with this type of tap? cheers, Al.
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Post by viscount6116 on Sept 27, 2012 12:57:54 GMT 10
Gday Al I had one of those in my old motorhome/bus and it was hooked up to the mains side of the system.The other one for the on board water tank was a standard caravan hand pump. I never had the assembly apart but I do remember that the operation of the tap was different to a standard house or garden tap in the fact that the spindle could only be turned on to 180 degrees from closed...maybe yours has been forced too far and may have damaged the spindle or the housing..not sure ? Also with regard to mains pressure I was always aware to regulate the pressure to a low value to save blowing out fittings or the pipework....some places I stayed had very high water pressure from on farm irrigation pumps Cheers Andy
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Post by kiwijim on Sept 27, 2012 17:25:23 GMT 10
Howdy Al, Sorry, I forgot about you wearing that battery, I won't mention again that....... "YOU SHOULD PAINT THE JACK LEGS"That tap you have is the same type that I bought from Camec and fitted to the Thomson. The center shaft should slide in and out on the spline to close the plunger, yours has probably seized up, they can be a hell of a thing to get working again, it may be quicker to chuck it in the bin and go pay a visit to Camec. kiwijim
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Post by millard1399 on Sept 27, 2012 18:55:11 GMT 10
I've looked at this tap every which-way, and I'm blowed if I can make any sense of it at all. There's nothing seized up. I've dismantled it, cleaned it, greased it, put two new O-rings in the top of the spindle, and a new washer at the bottom. The spline joint between the spindle and its housing slides easily together. The only way I'd be able to push the spindle down so the bottom washer makes contact and stops the water flow, is to take the circlip out of the top of the spindle... But then what would hold the spindle in the "down" position? What would stop the water pressure from pushing the spindle back up? Here's a couple of other close-up photos in case they help somebody figure it out. It's sure got me stuffed. CaravansPlus has got a similar tap listed on their website, and they say their taps are suitable for mains pressure... ...but I don't know whether the guts of theirs is the same as mine. I'm not gonna pay $39.12 and end up with the same tap as what I've got. cheers, Al.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2012 20:51:00 GMT 10
I believe the tap is from a toilet cistern,maybe cheaper from a plumbing supplier! Cheers hughdeani
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Post by millard1399 on Sept 27, 2012 21:16:25 GMT 10
A toilet cistern? How so? Do you mean the spindle and its housing don't actually belong to this tap?
If it was for the inlet side of a cistern, how would you turn the water off with this tap?
How this tap turns the water off is the real mysterious part of the whole kit and kaboodle. It's got a tap washer at the bottom end of the spindle, which would usually suggest to me that the washer sits against the main tap housing and blocks the water when the tap is in the 'off' position. Otherwise, why have the washer there??
And yes, I think I'll take the whole tap to a plumber's shop and see if they can explain how it works, or tell me if it's been "modified" and isn't the way it should be.
cheers, Al.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2012 22:21:42 GMT 10
The tap that comes through the wall where you turn the water off for the toilet,everyone wanted tall taps that could fill the kettle without putting the kettle in the sink,and these cistern ones did the trick! Then along came flickmixers,problem solved! cheers hughdeani
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Post by kiwijim on Sept 27, 2012 23:45:17 GMT 10
kiwijim
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2012 6:08:56 GMT 10
hi all. these taps came with filtered water kits cheers Gav ( they are crap i would change it AL )
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Post by millard1399 on Sept 28, 2012 18:25:24 GMT 10
First prize in the "Identify This Tap" Competition goes to .... (drum roll)... gav!! [Yay! Woo-hoo! *whistle*] ;D The tap is actually a dual-purpose tap. As I initially suspected, it can be used with a 12v pump to pump water from the caravan tank. By inserting the circlip in the spindle, the spindle is held up, and the tap is in the "always open" position. It can also be used in filtered water systems, which have very low water pressure. Removing the circlip allows the spindle to be pushed down or pulled up, which shuts or opens the washer at the bottom. The pressure from the filtering system is not enough to push the spindle back up when it is in the 'down' position. A free copy of "Ten ways to make scrambled eggs in a Viscount" is on its way to gav. Thanks, gav, for your entry. And obviously, this tap is not a mains pressure tap, so whoever went to all the trouble of fitting it has wasted the effort (the copper pipework under the sink looks fairly new, so I don't think it was done very long ago). cheers, Al.
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Post by bobt on Sept 28, 2012 23:11:23 GMT 10
Hey Al This tap thing Looks like fun. I thought I recognised it. Saw the exact same one in a Hallmark. Sorry that is the best photo I have. Then my now gone Windsor had a similar tap but a chrome handle. I pulled it apart years ago because it stopped working. Cannot for the life of me recall what it looked like. (the cardboard wine is not mine )
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Post by viscount6116 on Sept 29, 2012 11:12:48 GMT 10
Gday Bobt That first pic you posted was exactly the same setup as in my bus...right down to the same sink and manual pump.The same tap Al showed from his van was hooked up to the mains supply and had a pressure regulator inline before the tap (maybe that was the problem with yours Al).I had the bus for about 8 years and never had any problems with the setup and it was in use for probably over half of that time. Plenty of good party ups ;D ;D ;D ;D in this old girl...some days I wish I still had it because you could load plenty more gear into the bus than you ever could in a van !! Cheers Andy
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Post by millard1399 on Sept 30, 2012 21:15:06 GMT 10
G'day All, To fix the tap problem, I ended up pulling the sink out and repositioning the inlet copper pipe... ...and now we have a "big bazooka" tap fitted ... The tap was salvaged from our old kitchen when it was demolished a couple of years ago, and a new kitchen was installed. "She" wanted a new one in the new kitchen, so this old one got chucked in the shed. I like it because the tall goose neck makes it heaps easier to get the jug/kettle underneath it to fill up. The new one in our kitchen is too low and gives me the sh!ts. If there's ever a riot amongst the grey nomads in the caravan park, the police can commandeer the Windsor and use the bazooka tap as a water cannon! And just by-the-by, don't use galvanised plumbing fittings in your water pipes. I've already posted the rusty connection that was on the drawbar... ...and I discovered a galvanised reducing bush below the old fangdangled tap I took out... After repositioning the inlet copper pipe, I screwed a temporary fitting in place, to test the pipework for leaks. These rust flakes ended up collecting in the temporary fitting... Doesn't help the tap washer to last very long, with all those flakes clogging it up. cheers, Al.
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Post by viscount6116 on Sept 30, 2012 23:59:41 GMT 10
Gday Al Looks good Definately wont break that tap assembly any time soon ;D ;D Cheers Andy
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Post by kiwijim on Oct 1, 2012 4:22:42 GMT 10
Hey there Al, That "You Beaut" tap will come in real handy if, on your travels you are unlucky enough to be camped somewhere and you have one of those " Door-slamming Camper vans" turn up in the middle of the night. ;D kiwijim
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2012 9:31:25 GMT 10
Hey there Al, That "You Beaut" tap will come in real handy if, on your travels you are unlucky enough to be camped somewhere and you have one of those " Door-slamming Camper vans" turn up in the middle of the night. ;D kiwijim Those "Door-slamming Camper Vans" are great. Perhaps CP operators could hold a competition to see who can open & close the door the most number of times and annoy the most number of people.
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Post by millard1399 on Oct 1, 2012 12:38:30 GMT 10
Well, I've knocked over the final job on the current "to do" list. This morning I fitted the gas regulator on its stand, put the bottle in the bracket, and connected everything back up. I also fitted the spare wheel back onto its bracket, so we're now right to go in a week or so... I'll have a think about how to cover the regulator to keep it dry. I might end up making a canvas cover to go over the regulator and the spare wheel. ...but that's a job for another day in the future... cheers, Al.
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Post by millard1399 on Oct 3, 2012 14:25:30 GMT 10
I had a bit of a "free day" today (did the lawns yesterday ), so I cranked up the ol' jumbo Singer sewing machine and did a bit of craftwork. As you've probably read elsewhere on the forum, the dual gas regulators used on vans these days are not supposed to be exposed to the weather... So I dug into my stash of canvas offcuts, and found a suitable piece to make a cover for the regulator... The cover ties off at the bottom, so it can't come adrift. I had enough canvas left over to make the cover bag for the tow plug and camera cable... It was a good bit of practice for the shadecloth walls I'm going to make for the roll-out awning on the van. cheers, Al.
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Post by bobt on Oct 3, 2012 22:00:47 GMT 10
sweet cover on the regulator, sweet cover for the plug. Still love the sewing machine of yours. If only I could find one of a similar calibre. Then I would not have any excuses not to do it.. (the latest request from swmbo) Now how about a cover for the spare wheel and the gas bottle. Bit of bug bear having to pull the sink out to fix the tap. It will pay well for you in the future. bobt
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Post by millard1399 on Oct 4, 2012 12:30:21 GMT 10
G'day bobt, I've actually got the genuine original Windsor cover that came with the van ... But after 20 years, the vinyl around the "skirt" is fairly brittle and cracked... The vinyl face and the Windsor logo are still in pretty reasonable nick, so I might restore the cover by just making a new skirt for it. cheers, Al.
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Post by bobt on Oct 9, 2012 22:35:11 GMT 10
You just have to love the Windsor logo on the spare wheel cover.
Treat it with kid gloves. I suspect it might be difficult to get a replacement with the same logo
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Post by kiwijim on Oct 10, 2012 4:34:30 GMT 10
Howdy Al, A question for you, I am wondering if that Marine Bracket you bought for your T.V. aerial will be strong enough to stop the wind turning the pole, this could be a problem if your aerial is the Directional type. Have you tried to turn the pole with the bracket done up tight ? and can you reach the tightening wing nut, with it being attached to the top of your caravan ? I see the brackets are still available on EBay so, if your reports are favorable I just might invest in one my self. ;D kiwijim
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Post by millard1399 on Oct 10, 2012 8:09:37 GMT 10
G'day kiwijim,
I'll let you know in a couple of weeks how it goes. Hopefully the pole is clamped in the bracket fairly tight. These brackets come with a nylon "insert" which changes the diameter from 1-and-a-quarter inches down to 1 inch. I bought one of those stubby holders made out of wet-suit rubbery stuff, and cut it up and glued a strip around the pole where it clamps into the bracket. The diameter around that strip is now about an inch-and-a-half, so when it's jammed into the clamp it's pretty snug.
I use the old ladder I cut down to a shorter height, to reach the clamp, but I reckon you could use one of those collapsible plastic steps to reach it. The clamp has got stainless steel fittings moulded into it, and the wingnut unscrews pretty easily on mine.
I'll give a report when we come back from the trip.
cheers, Al.
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Post by millard1399 on Oct 11, 2012 10:59:32 GMT 10
G'day again, kiwijim, These marine stand-off brackets are sold in the USA under the name of " Shakespeare 408-R " brackets. If you search the internet for variations of 408-R or 408R or "marine stand off bracket" or "antenna stand off bracket", you'll see this particular bracket for sale for as low as $12 US dollars. (We're getting ripped off in Oz). For the dimensions of these brackets, click hereFor the website of the Oz Ebay seller, click hereTo download the one-page installation instructions for these brackets, click hereBut before you buy, wait for me to come back and tell you whether mine is any good or not. cheers, Al.
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Post by kiwijim on Oct 11, 2012 15:23:04 GMT 10
Howdy Al, Thanks for the info on the aerial bracket. Just shows you, shop around and save a bundle, $12.00 odd in the States and the one I saw on ebay here was $32.00. I'll wait for your report on your return and if the thumbs are up, I will have a hunt around for the same. Below are some pics of what is on my Coromal at present. Note the slot headed screws holding the bracket in place both Top......... And the same at the bottom, not a bit of sealer in sight...... So, with no sealer behind the brackets, here is the result on the inside wall........ "Not Happy Jan" cheers, kiwijim
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