Anyone added a second switch to water pump?

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Anyone added a second switch to water pump?

August 19, 2017, 11:59:37 am

My 2004 MB has only 1 switch to turn on/off the water pump which is at the monitor panel over the stove. I'd like to add another switch in the bathroom. Has anyone done this?
I'm not at the LD so don't know how the switch is wired up and what would be needed to add the second switch.
Thanks

Re: Anyone added a second switch to water pump?

Reply #1 – August 19, 2017, 12:53:03 pm

It is pretty likely that the switch is SPST, which means single-pole, single-throw. It makes or breaks contact in just one wire of the circuit. You can remote another switch by connecting in parallel, but then the operation will change slightly. If they're both off, turning on either one will turn on the pump. If they're both on, you have to turn both off to turn off the pump... which means if one is on and one is off, the pump is on. So yeah, you could remote one in the bathroom for umm... well, "doodie duty," but if you leave it on, turning off the original one won't turn off the pump.

If there are more than two wires on that particular switch, the above will need to be re-sussed. You could go to a relay-based circuit, or a timer on the remote switch, but both would be unduly complex. We check the switch on the way to the loo, and turn it off on the way back. The traffic flow of at FL makes that an easy task.

If I just had to have a project to occupy my time, I'd make an aux. switch that enables the water pump when the bathroom door was closed. But then if you close the door when you have company, or when you're underway, it's on again...

Chip

Re: Anyone added a second switch to water pump?

Reply #2 – August 20, 2017, 01:16:23 am

I have been thinking adding one. Tap a second wire to the fuse block to switch to pump through the vanity. They share some common panels.

Re: Anyone added a second switch to water pump?

Reply #3 – August 20, 2017, 08:21:53 am

Getting the wires to the bathroom is not a problem since the forward wall is shared with the kitchen cabinet where the power panel is. In doing research it looks like I need 3 wires to the original switch at the monitor panel and there is only 2.
Is it common for LD to have a couple spare wires? If so I could use one of those for the 3rd wire. Or could I make the new switch in the bathroom the primary with 3 wires then use the existing 2 wires at the original switch?
Basically what I want is 2 switches that work similar to 2 way light switches as used in a house.

Re: Anyone added a second switch to water pump?

Reply #4 – August 20, 2017, 12:03:15 pm

Well. You could rewire the circuits with SPDT switches as indicated in the attached.

Good luck

I have wanted to do that but mine is now located in the see level panel and adding a remote panel in all its glory in the can doesnt make sense. I haven't bothered to go any deeper to resolve it.

lydia

Re: Anyone added a second switch to water pump?

Reply #5 – August 20, 2017, 12:10:24 pm

"what I want is 2 switches that work similar to 2 way light switches as used in a house."

Two-way light switches in a house work well because it's obvious when the light is on, so it doesn't matter that the switch positions are inconsistent (e.g., up may be either on or off). But from the bathroom, it's not obvious when the water pump is on unless you run some water. A better scheme is to provide a water pump indicator light in or near the bathroom switch, as Lazy Daze does in the range hood panel.

I made this modification to my midbath. As you noted, it's not hard to get wires from the kitchen to the bathroom. I mounted an automotive-type 12 V toggle switch in the angled panel below the sink, in a location chosen so that it would not likely be accidentally tripped. I could have used a switch with built-in illumination, but wasn't able to find one that I liked, so instead I mounted a small green LED pilot light just above the switch.

You'll need three wires to do it this way. Wire one goes from a 12 V positive source in the kitchen to one side of the SPST switch. Wire two goes from the other side of the switch back to the water pump's positive wire, and also to the positive side of the pilot light. Wire three is a ground wire from the kitchen to the pilot light's negative side.

I found it very convenient to have a water pump switch in the bathroom. Combined with a largish accumulator tank that I plumbed in under the kitchen sink, it let me leave the water pump off for most of the day, only turning it on when showering.

Re: Anyone added a second switch to water pump?

Reply #6 – August 20, 2017, 06:23:34 pm

In our '83 I added a 3-way switch with a monitor LED in the bath by the toilet. It was very convenient, but was more necessary in that model with its problematic polybutylene plumbing. Our '04 with PEX plumbing instills more confidence that we can leave the pump switched on. I do remember it was a large bundle of cabling needed to add that switch with many 10 gauge wires to handle the pump current over that distance.

Steve

Re: Anyone added a second switch to water pump?

Reply #7 – August 21, 2017, 08:22:16 am

This diagram looks like what I'm looking for. I'll just need to find a 12V+ source at the monitor panel to power the switch or find a spare wire which can act as the other traveler to the new switch. Hopefully LD left a spare wire in the bundle.
The light at the monitor panel may not work so I'll probably add a light in the bathroom. Maybe with a couple diodes I could get the monitor panel light to work?

Re: Anyone added a second switch to water pump?

Reply #8 – August 21, 2017, 12:07:25 pm

Twenty years ago, LD used plastic pipe that was prone to breakage, unlike today's PEX.
I have seen so few plumbing problems in the new rigs, outside of pump leaks, that I don't worry about turning the pump off when not actively being used.
Do you do this at home too?
It is good practice to turn it off when leaving the rig.
When we are in the rig, the pump is always on.

Still dry
Larry

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