[RPCCS]

I now have the pump working correctly in the van, I need to get a new battery to operate the pump but I tried to operate it last night with  jump leads from the van.
This is a problem, with jump leads completely on the pump connectors and the van battery it wouldn’t switch on at all, tried 2 different sets of jump leads it was still the same.
 However running jump leads to the battery of our car worked perfectly, so can anyone explain  easier to me though, why the battery doesn’t operate the pump from jump leads,  and  can it be operated by a switch relay to charge when it’s power is reduced? Thanks in advance as I’m just waiting for dvla to send my licence back before I can insure the van and start working again after 3 years off sick.

[martinw]

Is it fused? If so have you checked the fuse?  Also if you are directly running leads to pump with no luck then you will need to check pressure switch by bypassing it. This should work. This is on assumption that no controller is wired in circuit. If pump is dead by connecting it directly you will need new one.

[Spruce]

I now have the pump working correctly in the van, I need to get a new battery to operate the pump but I tried to operate it last night with  jump leads from the van.
This is a problem, with jump leads completely on the pump connectors and the van battery it wouldn’t switch on at all, tried 2 different sets of jump leads it was still the same.
 However running jump leads to the battery of our car worked perfectly, so can anyone explain  easier to me though, why the battery doesn’t operate the pump from jump leads,  and  can it be operated by a switch relay to charge when it’s power is reduced? Thanks in advance as I’m just waiting for dvla to send my licence back before I can insure the van and start working again after 3 years off sick.

If your pump is working using jump leads from the car battery, then there is nothing wrong with the pump or the jump leads.

The only thing left is the van battery or a bad connection at the battery with the jumper leads not making a good connection. A flat battery could well explain why the same setup works on the car battery but not with the van battery. You have given so little information. Is the van battery you are refering to the starter battery or the leisure battery?

If there is an internal fault in the battery, then recharging it won't help. The starter battery also needs replacing.

If you are using a Spring controller, the controller will switch off if the voltage is below 10.4v. It was the same using a Varistream.

When using a split charge relay, the Van's starter battery needs to reach a certain voltage before the split charge relay is activated to charge the leisure battery. Newer vans from 2015/6 need a different leisure battery charging approach if they have a smart alternator.

[RPCCS]

Right the  jump leads work perfectly, I tried both sets yesterday, but when two sets are joined together the pump will not work with either the van or the car.
 I tried to work it earlier this evening, this time two sets of leads attach to the car battery don’t work, moved the car so it would reach the pump connectors with one set of leads and it worked fine.
 The van battery has a small electric box about as big as a  about  4 matches on top each other, it’s a 2016 Vauxhall Vivaro  with something to do with charging the battery.
 I can add a photo tomorrow and add of it helps anyone.
I am just total confused of what is going on, all the switches on the van work perfectly, all lights indicators fog lights, heater fans., interior lights, but I just don’t know how it works.
Can it be fitted with a switch relay or will it be necessary just to charge the pump battery  every couple of days.

[RPCCS]

Here is the battery on the van. It shows the box on the negative pole on the right of picture. Can  anyone  tell me what’s happening now please?

[Don Kee]

Just so I can get my head around this before throwing my two pennies worth in…

You’re trying to connect your pump direct to your actual van battery (using jump leads) and it wont run?
But it does run when you connect it (using jump leads) to the car?

My first question would be, are you using a digital controller for the pump? And if so, have you checked the battery level when the controller is on?

Personally, if it works when connected to the car but not the van, it would suggest to me there is a connection or power issue when connected to your van.
Ie it has too low a voltage that the controller (if you use one) wont let the pump run (controller protect batteries with low voltage by shutting them down).

I’m also not sure if it’ll make a difference but what jump leads are you using? ie are they rated for a diesel engine vehicle?

[Smudger]

Im with you DonKee - not sure why the jl's need to be used - just put the pump wires onto the terminals and see if it operates

sounds like a connection issue - but without knowing all the details we are really shooting in the dark

[RPCCS]

Just so I can get my head around this before throwing my two pennies worth in…

You’re trying to connect your pump direct to your actual van battery (using jump leads) and it wont run?
But it does run when you connect it (using jump leads) to the car?

My first question would be, are you using a digital controller for the pump? And if so, have you checked the battery level when the controller is on?

Personally, if it works when connected to the car but not the van, it would suggest to me there is a connection or power issue when connected to your van.
Ie it has too low a voltage that the controller (if you use one) wont let the pump run (controller protect batteries with low voltage by shutting them down).

I’m also not sure if it’ll make a difference but what jump leads are you using? ie are they rated for a diesel engine vehicle?

The leads or for both petroleum and diesel engines, the pump will work to car on ONE   set of J leads, put two sets together the pump will not work either if j l to van battery or the car battery.color=red] One set of j leads isn’t long enough to run from pump battery connections   to the van ,  that’s why I join 2 sets of j leads together, but if car is parked next to back doors,  the pump works fine on one set of j leads.It will not work from van battery  pump connectors with 2 sets of j leads.

[Don Kee]

Firstly, scrap the jump leads and just get some wiring that will just be a continuous length.
Just cut it to the length you need.

(I’ll find a link and post it here in a few)

The problem I’m having with the “connecting to the van” issue is that you’re trying to connect 2 jump leads together.
When you connect to the car, one jump lead works but two doesn’t.
Well my logic would tell me that if two isn’t working on the car, it wont work on the van…?

You know that one continuous cable works (on the car battery), until you try one continuous cable to the van battery to compare then it’s hard to pinpoint the problem.
There’s going to have to be a process of elimination I’m afraid…


(You’ve also still not  said if you’re using a controller)

[RPCCS]

Before I had this van, I had a mk2 CitroenDispatch, I had the van battery wired to a second battery that was also charged via the relay. With this van  having some sort of charging the battery with something that is on the negative terminal, I don’t think it’s a simple way to get the pump control box  to just add a relay to the second battery.
I’ll ask when I take it for the MOT and see what the garage can do.
I still don’t know how long I’ll be waiting for dvla to send the blasted licence, we went abroad for the last week but the licence still hasn’t been send once we came home.
 After a rang to Swansea today, they can’t tell me when it will be finished and send to me, in the meantime I’m perfectly ready to go back to work, but insure companies won’t insure me because  after I came out of hospital in  October 2021, they dvla asked me to surrender my licence as I was still on treatment, so  as far as insure companies are concerned,  I’m not licence to get insure on the van,I can’t even get insured on the family car. This is  so frustrating when I’m fit enough to work, but can’t get insure until licence arrives .

[RPCCS]

Firstly, scrap the jump leads and just get some wiring that will just be a continuous length.
Just cut it to the length you need.

(I’ll find a link and post it here in a few)

The problem I’m having with the “connecting to the van” issue is that you’re trying to connect 2 jump leads together.
When you connect to the car, one jump lead works but two doesn’t.
Well my logic would tell me that if two isn’t working on the car, it wont work on the van…?

You know that one continuous cable works (on the car battery), until you try one continuous cable to the van battery to compare then it’s hard to pinpoint the problem.
There’s going to have to be a process of elimination I’m afraid…


(You’ve also still not  said if you’re using a controller)

I was using a separate battery to work the pump, but it got chuck out as it wouldn’t get charged up while the van was standing with no work while I was on long sick, which I still am, I can’t get the licence from dvla, I’ve been on to them twice and I can’t get the van insured even though I’ve still got permission from dr to start back to work.
 It took dr 5 weeks to fill in the form to dvla , but until the dvla have finished with sending the licence,I can’t insure the van at all.
This is just more hassle I can’t keep  off. I can get the son or wife to take it for MOT, but I have no idea when I will get licence .