Hi all! I am a new proud owner of a conway cardinal 1996 folding camper but have a couple of questions. 1) the water. I can't seem to find a water pump anywhere. It does seem to all be wired in electrically but surely you need some kind of pump. Also maybe I'm just being paranoid but the winding mech does seem to get a little stiffer (still easy enough to turn) at almost full extension. Is this normal? I've checked the wood underneath the camper at this point and it feels solid enough! Is there any other way to check? Any information or advice would be great! Thankyou
Hi there. On the winder front, can't speak for the Cardinal, as I've not worked on one, but I have experienced a similar thing with a Conway Tardis, so I'm guessing that's normal, but I'm sure someone else on here will know for sure.
With regard to the water pump, I'm guessing your Cardinal is setup like most folding campers of that year are, for an external pump. Most Conways and Pennines have either a manual foot pump, which you have to physically pump to draw water, or they have an external 'Whale' style pump. If yours is wired up internally, then it's almost certainly the latter. On the outside of the camper, you should have a socket like the one in this picture: External Water Container with External Pump The pump submerses into the external tank, then plugs into the socket on the side of the camper. The socket not only allows the water in, but also powers the pump. If you do need one, they are easy enough to get hold of, and range from about £35 - £50, on average.
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Yup. That'll be it then. As you can see from the description, it says there are a couple of electrical connections on it. That will be to power the submersible pump.
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I assume so (as I say; not worked on a Cardinal, so I'm used to seeing a tap on the front of the unit, or a floor based micro switch) but I'm not aware of anything else that would be on there. When you say 'the pump is in there' I presume you mean the switch for the pump, as the pump, itself, will actually be in the external water container.
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The switch for the water pump on my cardinal 97 model is on the
Floor in front of the sink ,a round button . Plug the whale pump in
Outside put into water barrel .make sure you have power battery or mains off you go .hope this helps.
Ahhh I understand now! I thought the connectors on the external inlet were just normal screws + the camper didn't come with an external pump assembly so I couldn't match them up. Thank for that you have been extremely helpful! As far as the wind up mechanism I just didn't want it to go twang s it is quite tight at the top!!
No problem. As I say, in my experience, the mechanisms do do that, but, hopefully, someone will correct me if I'm wrong, as I'm less familiar with those. The submersible pump assembly looks like this; Whale Watermaster Pump And the white part is the pump that goes into the external tank, as in the first picture. There are different models, so the one in this link may not be the exact one you need, but it will give you a guide as to what they look like.
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Just noticed Pix daddy's comment too. The floor mounted button is where I'm used to seeing them in most Conways and Pennines, but I have also seen taps on the front of the unit, and micro switches next to the tap, as well. Whatever switching unit you have, they will all have the same external pump.
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I have owned two Cardinals in the past and they do seem to be stiffer to turn as you come to the highest point. We never had any problem with the winding mechanism on either of ours so assume this is normal. And our 1998 model did have a submersible pump.
Thanks pix daddy and blue sky pennine! To pix daddy , do you have any light to shed on winding mechanism? As I say it seems steady enough and the floor is solid, just seems to be a bit of tension on the pulleys towards full extension!?
Hi the winding does get stiffer as you get to the top stops you over winding. Also when when closing up when the top is down tighten it
Back to tension it,stops the wires coming off the guides.
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Topic: Conway cardinal question (or 2)
