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Black95's avatar
Black95
Explorer
Dec 09, 2020

Water Pump

The 12 volt water pump in my DIY van conversion pumps too fast. Do any of you well versed in electronics know what type of resistor or rheostat I could use to slow the pump down. I was thinking of a rheostat that I could wire in or a resistor that I could wire in with a switch control so I could use it with a switch to have a fast mode and a slow mode. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
  • Runs too fast.....haven't heard of that before

    What pump are you using????

    That info will help with responses
  • K Charles wrote:
    I use the handle on the faucet to adjust the flow.



    ^ This
  • The pump I am using is similar to the one below. It is a small RV water pump that runs on 12 volt with a 1.7 amp draw. The manual pump handle was corroded badly so I replace lines the inside of the faucet above the sink with a small clear flexible tube and eliminated the pump handle and just use the 12 volt switch to run the pump. It runs too fast so now I want to add a rheostat or resistor to slow the pump down.

  • $18 pump.....1.1 gpm

    DC Rheostat will cost almost as much as that pump did

    Amazon
    PEMENOL Motor Speed Controller PWM DC 5V 12V 24V 150W Adjustable Speed Regulator with Stepless… $14.99

  • If you think you can slow the pump down by reducing it's voltage, you might try this:

    LM2596 Buck Step-down Power Converter Module DC 4.0~40 to 1.25-37V LED Voltmeter.

    It has an adjustment screw to adjust it's output voltage.

    They go for $3 to $4 bucks on eBay and should be able to handle 1.7 amps. I would get one rated for at least 2 amps.

    karl
  • Thanks for the suggestions. I used a step down voltage reducer that had a knob like a volume control with my pump and it is working much to my satisfaction. I knew you guys would come through with the info I needed.