Remote Water Pump Fix

[Gallivanters]

We were recently anchored in the remote Tuamotus when our pressure water pump failed. Upon examination the motor was kaput. The prospect of no pressure water for showers, galley & deck wash started weighing heavily since we were two weeks from port.

I did, however, have a spare shower drain pump of a different brand... but no pressure switch...

So - I ended up simply plumbing in the new pump right next to the broken pump, removing a rubber diaphram from the broken pump head (to allow it to sense pressure) and wiring the old pressure switch to control the new pump motor. And as they say here in French Polynesia... Voila!

It works like a charm!

To Life!

Kirk

[MMNETSEA]

And best of all :-

Everyone comes out smelling like roses

[Coyote]

It is a good idea to have as few different pumps aboard as possible even if that means you use more pump than you need for a given application. An old fishing buddy had the same pump for a washdown as for his bait tank, then plumbed his washdown so it could be changed to power the bait tank. Bait was important. If we lost a pump on a three day tournament we could still operate.

This concept isn't limited to to pumps either. Having as few different parts as possible reduces your need to carry spares. Any time you can use the same part in two or more places you have built-in redundancy.

Another friend had a 4x4 Mexico desert truck with a trailer. Even though it was vast overkill, he used the same tires on the trailer as the truck. That way he has up to three spares if needed.

[redbopeep]

Originally Posted by Coyote

It is a good idea to have as few different pumps aboard as possible even if that means you use more pump than you need for a given application. An old fishing buddy had the same pump for a washdown as for his bait tank, then plumbed his washdown so it could be changed to power the bait tank. Bait was important. If we lost a pump on a three day tournament we could still operate.

This concept isn't limited to to pumps either. Having as few different parts as possible reduces your need to carry spares. Any time you can use the same part in two or more places you have built-in redundancy.

Another friend had a 4x4 Mexico desert truck with a trailer. Even though it was vast overkill, he used the same tires on the trailer as the truck. That way he has up to three spares if needed.

redundancy is good, for sure. Our freshwater pump and saltwater pump are different Groco models but both use the same impeller and same motor That was great because within a few minutes of first using the salt water wash down pump...the motor failed. So, needing wash-down more than fresh water (we can hand pump that), we took the motor from one to the other. Then, later, put the motor back on the fresh water side. Um...I won't tell you what I did, but shortly after that I managed to run us out of fresh water on the tank feeding the pump and burn up the (hard plastic) impeller on the fresh water pump. So, now we're down to one pump with some parts on order, oh, yea, and hubby digging through his memory on how to re-wind the armature on the salt water pump motor so we don't have to buy a new one.

fair winds,