River Water Washdown Pump

[Lenny and Louise]

The last couple attempts to run the pump have been frustrating. The pump works for a few minutes then shuts down. If i turn the switch off and wait a few minutes, then turn it on, the pump starts again, but shuts down again. No apparent pattern to how long it runs or how long it takes to "rest up."

The first thing that came to mind was heat. However the pump should not get hot in a minute or two of operation. Nor does it sit idle in the on position. I rig my hose, turn on the pump, and start discharging at once.

I am not resetting a breaker, just turning the switch off and on. As i understand, the pump is protected by a fuse and there is no breaker in the circuit.

Thanks for the help!

 

[jcarrdive]

Mine just quit working alltogether last weekend. Fuse looks good. light goes on when it is in the ON position too.
Have to dig into the system this weekend to troubleshoot. Will let you know if I find anything out that will help you.
jeff

 

[joempo]

Is the pump actually shutting down, or is it just not pumping water? Have you checked the raw water inlet, strainer and hose? Is there a possible blockage in the hose? I'm thinking a lack of water could cause the pump to overheat and stop working until it cools. Just a thought.

 

[knotflying]

You did not explain if the pump is stopping electrically or not pumping water. If it is stopping electrically, clean all of the connections to the switch and also clean the contacts in the fuse housing as well as the end of the fuse. This area is very susceptible to corrosion. As a regular practice every time I work on an electrical component I use a little Corrosion Block. This product comes in a spray can and is available at Napa auto parts. It is not cheap, but does an excellent job. It will work its way up the wire insulation and will also impregnate into the metal. I believe, for those of us familiar with Corrosion-X as a protectant from airframe corrosion, that this is the same or similar product.

 

[nzfisher]

I had problems with mine. The switch is iffy. the pump really pulls more current than the switch can cover if you believe the amps on the pump. I cleaned off my contacts and the problem cleared up but bought a replacement pump for the inevitable failure.

Good luck

 

[Lenny and Louise]

To be clear, the problem with my pump was that it shut down electrically, even the pilot light went out. After resting, it would start, but only for a brief time.

Kenny Marrs made a couple of suggestions that were right on point – thanks Kenny!

Yesterday afternoon, I went to the boat with a thermos of coffee and proceeded as follows:

Made sure there is no oil in bilge. Whatever I do next is likely to put some water in there, and I don’t need to pump oil into the marina if the auto bilge pump starts. Flushed head, to make sure I had at least one raw water pump working. Closed sea cock. Pumped head till pump pulled hard, indicating strainer was empty and sea cock was tight. Opened and cleaned strainer, although nothing seemed to be in it.

Looked at strainer on raw water pump. It is clear plastic and nothing seemed to be in it. Too tight to open cap. Drank a cup of coffee and contemplated. Removed strainer from pump, hose drained back into open main strainer. Pumped dry through head.

Took raw water pump strainer to galley and flushed in both directions with fresh water. Water flowed freely and no “gunk” came out of filter. Drank a cup of coffee and contemplated. At this point I didn’t think I fixed anything, but could find nothing wrong. Shrugged my shoulders and reinstalled filter on pump.

Examined wiring inside space under rear seat. Everything appeared tight and clean. Removed, cleaned and reinstalled fuse.

Closed main sea strainer. Opened sea cock. Checked for leaks. Filled sea strainer by pumping head. Checked for leaks. Opened discharge valve on raw water pump and turned it on. Considerable flow into cockpit. Shut down pump and attached hose.

Opened a bottle of beer. Ran pump intermittently with no problem. Left pump running while opening and closing nozzle on hose. Allowed pump to run several minutes, discharging through hose. Repeated all these steps until beer was empty, and declared problem solved.

Started main engine to see that I had cooling water discharging over side. Inspected all raw water fittings that I touched one more time for leaks, shut down engine and called it a day. I am not sure what I did to fix the problem, but it’s gone now.

 

[Helgerso]

I think it was the beer Lenny 🙂

 

[Just Limin']

Probably a stupid question, but "where do you see cooling water pumping over the side."? The only thing I ever see is water spitting from near the exhaust rubber cover.

 

[knotflying]

The spitting water out the exhaust that you see is what he is referring to.

On the raw water pump it sounds like you had an electrical contact issue if the indicator light was going out. Hopefully the cleaning of connections did the trick.