[Ronnie Bryce]

Right, just to confirm. These wee cheap controller's really do work a treat, someone somewhere is boxing these in a plastic case and making a killing out of us.

Even if you only get a few month's out of it, at £6 you can't go wrong.

[stuart mc]

good stuff ronnie, been out all day or I think I would have phoned you reading the replies on here, I can see clear as day on how it should be done in my head

[stevieg]

Does this switch on/off as well?

[Spruce]

Got it working now, cheers Ben and Spruce, many thank's. It may have been my fault in not understanding electrics too well but it seem's to be as it should now following that 4 wire description you both gave.

The pressure switch takes longer to come on once I turn the tap off, is this normal?

No - its Tosh's fault - blame him 

Glad you got it working.

The pump will take longer to reach the cutoff pressure as you have reduced the motor speed and it won't be pumping as much water.

[CleanClear]

Right, just to confirm. These wee cheap controller's really do work a treat, someone somewhere is boxing these in a plastic case and making a killing out of us.

Even if you only get a few month's out of it, at £6 you can't go wrong.

Good one. The one i got is only a few quid more and includes the box, but yeah them little motor controllers are great.

[Ronnie Bryce]

Does this switch on/off as well?

You have to add your own off /on switch, even I could do that. I used an old switch from an old electric guitar.

[CleanClear]

Does this switch on/off as well?

You have to add your own off /on switch, even I could do that. I used an old switch from an old electric guitar.

The one i linked to does switch off.

[ben M]

Got it working now, cheers Ben and Spruce, many thank's. It may have been my fault in not understanding electrics too well but it seem's to be as it should now following that 4 wire description you both gave.

The pressure switch takes longer to come on once I turn the tap off, is this normal?

you're welcome Ronnie, i am pleased for you,well done mate 

[CleanClear]

Sorry guys, the one i got has burnt a small hole in the plastic housing !!! It still works fine though, so i don't think its up to it really. Spotted this one from same supplier............
 http://r.ebay.com/hbjPun   (£16.99) seems a liitle bit higher spec, well more watts and amps capacity. Anyone any thoughts on it ? Or any thoughts on why the other one melted a hole? Controller not up to it, case to small to cool etc ?

[Tom White]

Corking post, CC, maybe I was wrong about you.  Apologies.  It's nice to see someone helping others out like this.

Ready made flow controllers are just over-engineered bits of tat that aren't robust enough for the job.  I've had two different ones, both about the £100 mark and all they did was mess me around and then conk out before they made it to their first birthday.

[ben M]

Sorry guys, the one i got has burnt a small hole in the plastic housing !!! It still works fine though, so i don't think its up to it really. Spotted this one from same supplier............
 http://r.ebay.com/hbjPun   (£16.99) seems a liitle bit higher spec, well more watts and amps capacity. Anyone any thoughts on it ? Or any thoughts on why the other one melted a hole? Controller not up to it, case to small to cool etc ?

look good,Does this switch on/off as well?

[CleanClear]

Sorry guys, the one i got has burnt a small hole in the plastic housing !!! It still works fine though, so i don't think its up to it really. Spotted this one from same supplier............
 http://r.ebay.com/hbjPun   (£16.99) seems a liitle bit higher spec, well more watts and amps capacity. Anyone any thoughts on it ? Or any thoughts on why the other one melted a hole? Controller not up to it, case to small to cool etc ?

look good,Does this switch on/off as well?

Cheers Tosh ! 

Ben, i'm not sure, havn't ordered one. I do have some reservations about it, mainly that them open fins would allow water/moisture into it and probably shorten its life.
 I'm guessing here so i'm hoping for input from someone more knowledgeable. My feeling is the one i got is upto the job but the small case on it is no good for prolonged use , resulting in the burn hole in the case. i.e a bigger case shouldn;t have this problem. I'm going to try the one that Ronnie and Tosh got next, i just need to source a box for it.

[Tom White]

If you've got an old flow controller, see if the box fits the DIY one, like this:

I've deleted the pic since it messed up the post.

I had to cut a slot so the dial would fit.

I still haven't gotten around to fitting it though; I'm happy working without one.

[R.C Property]

Sorry guys, the one i got has burnt a small hole in the plastic housing !!! It still works fine though, so i don't think its up to it really. Spotted this one from same supplier............
 http://r.ebay.com/hbjPun   (£16.99) seems a liitle bit higher spec, well more watts and amps capacity. Anyone any thoughts on it ? Or any thoughts on why the other one melted a hole? Controller not up to it, case to small to cool etc ?

look good,Does this switch on/off as well?

Cheers Tosh ! 

Ben, i'm not sure, havn't ordered one. I do have some reservations about it, mainly that them open fins would allow water/moisture into it and probably shorten its life.
 I'm guessing here so i'm hoping for input from someone more knowledgeable. My feeling is the one i got is upto the job but the small case on it is no good for prolonged use , resulting in the burn hole in the case. i.e a bigger case shouldn;t have this problem. I'm going to try the one that Ronnie and Tosh got next, i just need to source a box for it.

yer you are right, that one isnt water resistant, if any water got into that it could cause it to short.

good place to have a look at boxes is maplin. they do soome good ones!

[Spruce]

Surely having a water resistant box is a little academic isn't it?

Whatever box you mount it in will loose its water resistance as you need the controller k n o b on the outside to adjust the flow and turn the switch off. If it was on the inside of the box then you would need to unscrew the lid each time.

IMHO the unit would be better mounted down in the box as any water would tend the drip away and not find its way into the electonics board as in Tosh's unit. But it's more difficult to get to and wouldn't get an award for best design. If your van is dry (not dripping water), does it matter?

I wonder how many times a day Tosh actually adjusts his flow rate now his controller is 'part of the furniture'.

As regards the other question from Cleanclear - yes the higher the working amperage the better. The first controller you have would be fine for a low current draw pump such as one used in a backpack. But going for a higher amperage like that starts to put the cost up into the realms of the purpose built units.

They say that the max a larger Shurflo pump will draw is 6.2amps delivering water at 100psi , but that is running the pump  'flat out'. I don't know if the current draw would change if the motor is expected to do the same thing at a slower speed. I would think it would. There must come a time when a stalled motor under load becomes a 'short'.
If it didn't then we would never have a burnt out or cooked motor.

I appreciate that our motors haven't got field coils but use magnets, but the armature or rotor has got windings. If you put too much current through them they will heat up. This changes the resistance of the wire and and causes the motor to draw more current. Maybe the burn on this controller is evidence of that, but maybe it could just be the controller's weakest spot.

Nat Jones always suggested that part of this controller installation is to reduce the pump's max delivery pressure by adjusting the pressure switch. I agree with this advice. Nat has his adjusted at 65 psi. This will reduce the electrical stress of the electronics having to push the cutoff pressure to 100 psi every time.