Fresh water tank pump melted !

[James Worsley]

Hi Everyone

Just purchased a California (used 2014) and all seems good apart from tap not working. On investigation it appears the water pump has overheated and melted !

Seems easy enough to replace the pump, however any thoughts on what has caused this ? - Running dry ? ie tap left on with tank empty ?

Also how do I know which fuse is associated with this pump ?

Just conscious I don't want to replace the pump and the same thing to happen again

Would appreciate any thoughts on this

Thanks

Jim

 

[Steve1]

Hi Everyone

Just purchased a California (used 2014) and all seems good apart from tap not working. On investigation it appears the water pump has overheated and melted !

Seems easy enough to replace the pump, however any thoughts on what has caused this ? - Running dry ? ie tap left on with tank empty ?

Also how do I know which fuse is associated with this pump ?

Just conscious I don't want to replace the pump and the same thing to happen again

Would appreciate any thoughts on this

Thanks

Jim

View attachment 91479

Hi,

I would've thought it must have been run dry, or with a very low tank at least. It is an immersion pump which runs fully submerged in the water. I wouldn't have thought it possible for it to melt like that if it was submerged, the water would carry the heat away from the case. As long at the switch in the tap is turning the pump on and off when you install the new one (you would hear it running if it didn't switch off) then I can't think of any reason it would suffer the same fault.
By the way don't run the new one dry even when testing it, they are not designed to run out of water and may suffer damage from overheated bearings.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Check that the correct size fuse has been fitted. The fuse should have blown before the pump melted.

(someone might have put a larger fuse in at some point, and forgot to replace it with the correct size when they got home )

 

[James Worsley]

Thanks Steve1 I will look for a replacement pump and give it a go.

 

[James Worsley]

Check that the correct size fuse has been fitted. The fuse should have blown before the pump melted.

(someone might have put a larger fuse in at some point, and forget to replace it when they got home with the correct size)

Thanks - How do I know which fuse corresponds to that pump ? Think it should be 5amp ?

 

[Steve1]

Thanks - How do I know which fuse corresponds to that pump ? Think it should be 5amp ?

I think that is one from under the left seat. Not sure if this picture matches your model or not but might look like this. Definitely worth checking it's the right value, but the fuse would only blow if an internal wiring fault caused it to get hot. If it just ran and ran until it overheated and melted that wouldn't nessecarily blow the fuse.

 

[KGCali]

I think that is one from under the left seat. Not sure if this picture matches your model or not but might look like this. Definitely worth checking it's the right value, but the fuse would only blow if an internal wiring fault caused it to get hot. If it just ran and ran until it overheated and melted that wouldn't nessecarily blow the fuse.

View attachment 91480

Not sure if you have a T5 or T6, my 2010 T5.1 under seat fuses look like this...you can buy the pump on Amazon or eBay, there's a link on the forum somewhere

 

[James Worsley]

I think that is one from under the left seat. Not sure if this picture matches your model or not but might look like this. Definitely worth checking it's the right value, but the fuse would only blow if an internal wiring fault caused it to get hot. If it just ran and ran until it overheated and melted that wouldn't nessecarily blow the fuse.

View attachment 91480

Thanks for your help. Really appreciated

 

[James Worsley]

Not sure if you have a T5 or T6, my 2010 T5.1 under seat fuses look like this...you can buy the pump on Amazon or eBay, there's a link on the forum somewhere

View attachment 91485

Mine is a T5.1 also - Thank you for your information. Really helpful.

 

[KGCali]

Worth a read, also mentions the pump on eBay...

Reimo Comet VIP Plus 12V dc submersible pump. caravan motorhome 20L/min 1M cable | eBay

REIMO PUMP. throughput: max. 20 l / min. inexpensive ‘manual’ syst em upgrade. Simple water system for caravans or boats.

www.ebay.co.uk

Thread 'How to Fix Kitchen Tap and Water Pump Problem and solution.' https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/thread...ap-and-water-pump-problem-and-solution.10211/

 

[Stoo24]

Looks exactly like my caravan pump after it ran dry. Taps were left open over winter and my wife turned the power on. Easy enough to replace and thankfully didn’t burn the caravan down. Stank of burnt plastic so I ran the system through with the sterilising stuff.

 

[Maxi-Mizer-T6]

I've had 3 different issues already with the water system in the California. I've learned a few things as I fixed all of them, including replacing the water pump myself, so I decided to document it all in case it helps others. Here's a first guide on how to identify which problem you are actually experiencing:

https://medium.com/@maxi-mizer/fix-vw-california-ocean-coast-kitchen-water-issues-43a19d0d893a

I hope it helps! I'll update this thread as I complete the detailed step-by-step guides (feel free to drop by that article and give me some claps and comments for motivation!)