Kamparoo electric water pump

chiplee

New member
So we realized on our first outing with the (new to us) Kamparoo that the manual water pump was really inconvenient. It didn't really allow for hand or dish washing. I didn't even want to take the camper back out until this was resolved, so I did some research and came up with a pretty budget friendly option. Assuming you've already added 12v power it's a snap.

Parts list.

$47-Scandvik Folding Cold Water Faucet with Acrylic Knob
$25-Favson Diaphragm Pump DC 12V Fresh Water Pump 4.0 L/min 100 PSI Self Priming Pressure Pump (or shurflo if you don't mind the extra $40, just get an on demand pump that can dry prime and start automatically when you turn on the faucet)
$9-LDR 516 B3810 Clear Braided Nylon Tubing, 3/8-Inch ID (Specific to my pump choice)
$7-SHURFLO (255-213) 1/2" Twist-On Pipe Strainer
$14-2x Universal Connector Kit x 20 in. Faucet Supply Line Braided Stainless Steel
$2-2x male 1/2 NPT to 3/8 barb nylon (to connect faucet supply lines to in and out on pump)
$1-1x male 1/2 NPT to 1/2" barbed nylon (to connect pump in to tank out with with faucet supply line)
$1-Washers to mount Scandvik faucet to Kamparoo faucet mount

This is the old style Kamparoo kitchen with hand pumped faucet that's really kind of useless. Using one hand to pump water means you have no chance to run both hands under the water for washing your hands, no ability to scrub a pan with one hand and hold it with the other. Kind of silly, really. I don't know why running water wouldn't be standard equipment on a trailer like this with so much empty space in the front right corner of the camper for a pump and strainer and water lines.
Kamparoo%20kitchen_zpsshvy60z2.jpg

I was shooting for under $100 in parts and I missed that goal by about $5. This little $25 pump had good reviews and I don't expect it to see much wear and tear mounted inside the Kamparoo. It draws 3 amps.
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With a couple of large washers the Scandvik faucet bolts right up. You'll want to play around with the angle a bit so that it folds out of the way easily and points at the sink as squarely as possible. It's not "perfect" but it's very functional.
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I won't write up how to assemble the parts because it's pretty intuitive once you have everything in front of you. Square peg in square hole kind of stuff. Flow direction arrows on pump and strainer make sense. The pump has a red wire for hot and a yellow wire for ground. I ran it constant hot since it'll only run on demand. I have a connector to disconnect my battery at the battery box when it's not in use, so there's no chance of the pump running due to a leak.
C58AA059-346B-4F29-94E6-F8C8C91242B1_zpsqcuambet.jpg

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Pump location
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That's it. I'm sure most of you could do this in your sleep, but I think there are enough first timers to warrant a quick write up. I'll post a video of the faucet running in a bit.
 
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Vinman

Observer
Good timing with your post, I have a Kamparoo Weekender as well and an elecetric waterpump is on my to-do list before camping season.
 

chiplee

New member
Good timing with your post, I have a Kamparoo Weekender as well and an elecetric waterpump is on my to-do list before camping season.

Glad to hear it. I hope it's useful. I'm sure you could find a way to do it all with nylon tubing, but I wanted the braided sink lines for durability and flexibility since the sink slides in and out and the camper sees heavy off road vibrations and such. No leaks so far. This approach also gets it done with standard size adapters from Home Depot or Lowe's for ease of replacement/repair in the future if necessary.
 

chiplee

New member
Thanks for posting! I just bought the materials to install on my Kamparoo.

Great. Post up with any thoughts you have on improving the install or anything. I was able to lift and prop the bed to access the front right corner (area closest to factory water pump stowage) to mount the pump. Meant to post a picture of that and didn't get around to it, but there's tons of unused space in there.

Oh and you'll need thread tape for the threaded (non-gasket) connections and 1/2" to 5/8" clamps for the barbed connections as well. Think I left those off the parts list.
 
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Semi-Hex

Enfant Terrible
You didn't mention how many gallons of water you carry but it seems that a lot of people are running out of water without realizing it when they are camping. Whether you have 19 or 32 gallons, you have to be careful with how you use it. We went electric pump and have looked back.
 

chiplee

New member
You didn't mention how many gallons of water you carry but it seems that a lot of people are running out of water without realizing it when they are camping. Whether you have 19 or 32 gallons, you have to be careful with how you use it. We went electric pump and have looked back.

I think the kamparoo tank is 16, and I carry 10 more on the truck. I've had it out twice, both 3 day trips, one with three people and one alone. Didn't make a dent in it either time, but it was hard to use with the hand pump. This pump flows 1.4gpm, so I guess we'll have to use it carefully.
 

alia176

Explorer
Yeah, let's see some more pics!!!

Here's my setup using a Shurflo fawcet and a Shurflo pump. The manual hand pump was indeed a joke.

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adamhoward

New member
Good timing with your post, Thanks for posting. Its a really very informative for me.
I just bought the materials to install on my Kamparoo.
 

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