Hand pumps anyone?

[francene]

Some trailers seem to come with a 'hand pump' faucet, in addition to a two handled traditional sink faucet. I'm wondering if it's a good idea to install a hand pumping faucet during the restoration of a Compact II.

Those that have the hand pumps, do you find you use them much? Do they work well? The Valterra Rocket hand pump looks good, but are there better ones?

Thanks for you opinions!

Fran

[Dana T]

My Compact Jr came with a hand pump and that's the faucet we'll be using. I'm trying to avoid battery-operated stuff (like water pumps) where reasonable, and I used handpump faucets when I was a kid, so they're "normal" to me.

Ours is a "Rocket Hand Water Pump" -- I'm surprised they didn't spell it Rock-it or some such. It's been working well so far.

[Gina D.]

I had both a hand and electric pump in my 13. I found the hand pump a great asset while boondocking if I was trying to conserve power.

I intend to install one in my 17 as well.

The hand pump can be a pain when washing hands.. it's hard to rock the lever and wash at the same time, but for filling sinks or a quick squirt to rinse something, they are good.

[Connie M.]

We installed a Valterra Rocket to replace our old, leaking hand pump. It works quite well.
Since it's hard to rinse and pump at the same time, we keep a small bowl in the sink to fill for hand washing.

[Jeff Peterson]

We like the idea of a hand pump, but the stock model that came with our '08 Scamp 13 is less than satisfactory -- it takes a lot of pumping to produce a stream and the action works so hard that it flexes the fiberglas countertop to which it's attached. So I think I'll be checking out other styles...

One of the best bits of advice I've heard for water useage is to fill an old dishwashing liquid bottle with water for rinsing dishes. Works great!

[Larry C Hanson]

Hand Pumps - - These little guys work great. I reinstalled one on my Trill as the previous owner had taken it out.
Here is a little trick that improves the operation of these pumps. Between uses the water in the supply line can
run back down to the tank causing the need to pump for a while to get the water. If you install a check valve in
the line the water comes out first push of the lever.

Check valves are available on line for a couple of dollars.
I think it cost less than $10 to have 5 sent to me via USPS.
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/variant.a...ariant_id=64049

Larry H

[Kevin K]

This is a GREAT idea.

Only $.78

[Raya]

On the boat, I used "manual" pumps all the time - didn't even have electric pumps (noisy and not as friendly to water conservation). However, I put "manual" in quotes because... have you ever tried to wash your hands while pumping with one hand?

So, I used foot pumps. You mount these either on the floor or in a cabinet adjacent to the floor (depending on style of pump), and then just pump with your foot to get water. Works very well and you have good control of the water flow. I guess they are "pedual"

The only problem I ever had with them was that when I moved ashore I found myself walking up to sinks and doing the foot version of "air guitar"

The Whale "Gusher Galley Mark III" is a very good, very robust pump that pumps on both the up and down stroke; that's what I had in the galley (kitchen). Then a smaller, slightly less heavy duty one that pumped less volume in the heads (bathroom), a Baby Whale (now called "Babyfoot"). I think the latter one would be the right size and water flow volume for a trailer, and I will probably install one at some time in my Boler. Luckily I have one on hand that I can set in place to try out. I'm hoping it will tuck in under the "toe kick" on the Boler kitchen

There is also one ("Tiptoe pump") that pops up from the floor when you want to use it, and then tucks back down flush when you aren't using it - that might be handy depending on your layout.

Here are links to the pumps, all made by Whale. I note that they now have an RV page (they've always been a marine supplier), but not all the pumps are on the RV page - still, you can always look up "whale pumps":

Larger one probably not well suited to an egg (Galley Gusher Mark III):

http://www.whalepumps.com/marine/product_list/1/13/

Babyfoot that I think would work well:

http://www.whalepumps.com/marine/product_list/1/15/

Here's the Tiptoe:

http://www.whalepumps.com/marine/product_list/1/40/

A nice spout for the business end of a manually pumped water supply is this one by Fynspray, which is a New Zealand company. Very good quality and swivels out of the way (Hmm, I see they are almost at half price; I hope they are not being discontinued - I'd better order one now!):

http://www.imtra.com/product/pumps_tanks/f...ws66_spouts.htm

Raya

[Dana T]

... Here is a little trick that improves the operation of these pumps. Between uses the water in the supply line can run back down to the tank causing the need to pump for a while to get the water. If you install a check valve in the line the water comes out first push of the lever.

Not all hand pumps require check valves to maintain the prime.

Our Rocket hand pump has a label at the base which tells us to leave the lever at the far left to let the water drain back to the tank, or to the far right to maintain the prime.

Why would we ever want the water to drain back? If the temperature may get down to freezing you don't want water in the line. If you install a check valve make sure you provide some way to empty the line if you will encounter freezing temperatures inside the trailer.

[Larry C Hanson]

Our Rocket hand pump has a label at the base which tells us to leave the lever at the far left to let the water drain back to the tank, or to the far right to maintain the prime.

Thanks, should have bought a Rocket.... Reason for check valves in first place is that I was going to leave
the electric pump and install the hand pump. Well, they would suck air back from each other so they did
not function properly. Hence, the check valve. Then decided to take out the electric for now.
Freezing... I live in the mountains of Arizona where it only freezes in winter.
I always use the RV antifreeze to winterize my trailers.
Thanks for the tip. Larry H

[francene]

Thanks for all the responces on this! Sounds like it's a good idea to install a manual/foot pump.

So I can install both the rocket pump and a kitchen faucet going to the same water storage tank, right? I will be re-installing a Shurflo 12v pump that came with the trailer.

The kitchen faucet will also be plumbed to 'city water' inlet on exterior.

This set-up is feasible, right? I don't know how to run the tubing yet, but would welcome a reference diagram if anyone knows where to find such.



Fran
74 Compact II

[james kent]

Just a hint when installing your new pump. Use food grade plastic pipe and you'll not get that plastic taste in the water. The "Previous Owner" of ours had used a section of garden hose and what a horrible taste it gave. Since I re-plummed it with clear plastic from CTC the water has been palatable once again, and I can see what's happening when operating either pump.
Our 12V electric pump is in line with the hand pump and is self priming if the hand pump is in the "ON" position and when in the "OFF position the water does not flow back into the tank.

[francene]

Good point, James. I'll look for food-grade clear plastic tubing. When I'm ready to install the water system, I'll probably have another question or two, but these answers have made things a lot clearer.

Thanks,
Fran

[Heath G.]

Hi Francene, As I was killing time in my RV parts store the other day I spoted a hand pump/city water faucet for $48. in other words free up space on the counter by haveing only 1 faucet for both. looks like a greate idea to me. I will check it out and get back to you on the brand name of it. I am thinking of one of them for the compact jr.

[kentj]

You might be interested what I did with my rocker pump http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/index.ph...c=30530&hl=

[Joy A]

The original hand pump in my Scamp leaked at the handle within a year, plus it was pretty flimsy plastic. I changed to a Rocket pump. I love the Rocket it throws a lot of water with one small pump. I was tempted to put in a water pump when changing the faucet but decided I'd be a lot more frugal with a hand pump while Boondocking than with a water pump.

I only have a single faucet for city water. The original factory installeds spout was so short I could hardly get any thing under it to fill. I purchased another single faucet with a little longer spout and moved it closer to the sink. Just recently I was in West Marine returning something and getting a store credit, so I picked up a catalog and started thumbing through it. I found a wonderful single faucet with a swivel spout, purchased it and installed it. It's wonderful.




Here are the rocket on the left and swivel on the right.




Swivel on the right move slightly over sink. I can get anything under it, just wonderful for the coffee pot.

[JenPB]

Francene - When I got my trailer, only half the plumbing had been completed, and didn't include any potential for pumping, electric or manual. So I installed a manual pump. I like that it doesnt' use the battery, but it IS a hassle on that washing hands (or any other two-hand task). Since the installation, however, I've learned about the floor pumps (thanks, Raya, for the links to even BETTER setups). If I had it to do over again (hey! I do!), I'd go with one of those, so long as the foot pedal didn't stick out into the very limited walkway. That would also preserve the limited counter space.

Jen