How long should fresh water pumps last?

importmonkey

Opinionated Member
Jul 9, 2015
1,056
Space Coast, FL
Boat Info
2005 260DA (sold)
2007 44DA (sold)
1989/2015 Hatteras 65c
Engines
12v92TA
Mine went bad this weekend when out at anchor. Was replaced when I bought it last year (07/2018) because it was having issues - it would run for 30 seconds then shut off, then run again and shut off.

Verified there was 12v going to the pump before replacing. Will test the low pressure switch today on the bench. But seriously! 12 months for a $200 pump that gets used maybe a dozen times per year? And you can tell this has happened before because the board its screwed in to looks like swiss cheese. At least 6 sets of holes - telling me this boat is on its 7th pump in 11 years.

P.S. I had WM price match from $210 to $117. :D love that they do that now. Although I did by some other things at their ridiculous markup so we'll just call it even.

Edit: forgot to mention it's a Jabsco 4gpm - 82400-0092
 
There may not be a problem with your pump. When a pump cycles on and off it normally indicates a leak somewhere in the system.
With the system pressurized, start checking all the water line connections looking for a leak. The size of the leak is directly proportional to the time between cycles.
 
There may not be a problem with your pump. When a pump cycles on and off it normally indicates a leak somewhere in the system.
With the system pressurized, start checking all the water line connections looking for a leak. The size of the leak is directly proportional to the time between cycles.

I've replaced a number of shark bite fittings for this very same reason.

My 1st leak was behind the toilet.... stepped in water a few times and thought my aim was off o_O ......... 2nd was a T fitting on the starboard side of the bilge beside the hot water tank ..... not a place a fat boy could reach very well..... and the 3rd was actually at the pump itself.

Check around your hot water tank at the fittings, pressure relief and drain valve. I've seen a number of post on here about valves leaking especially after dewinterizing.

Good luck on the hunt for your leak.
 
FWP.jpg


My first one lasted 12years. The second one in the pic lasted one season. I had the same problem cycling on and off. I thought the same thing a leak....ripped the boat apart to find nothing. Next time I am going to pressure test the system with compressed air before doing that again. I took the thing apart and pressure switch tested fine.
I ended up getting a rebuild kit to replace the bottom end including pressure switch and everything is fine now
I reached out by email to Shurflo twice on their customer service address ...as the thing should have been under warranty and got zero response.
 
sorry. i should have been a little more clear.

i don't have any leaks - well...that i know about. but that's not the issue i'm talking about. when i mentioned it would run for 30 seconds and then shut off - i meant the water. if you would run the sink or shower, there would seem to be great pressure and appear to work, for about 30 seconds - then the water would almost stop, then come back on for another 30 seconds or so (not the pump). this was the issue last year at survey. i had them replace the jabsco pump, and all seemed fine (up until this weekend).


the pump doesn't cycle. when we get off city water, i turn on the pump and it pressurizes and stays that way until the someone uses water.

on saturday, nothing was coming out of the faucets. no water. no air. no pump running at all. thought at first it was the switch or breaker. verified pump was getting 12V, so i assumed it was the pump. replaced the pump sunday and everything works great again.

bench tested the bad pump this morning. pump runs well when applying 12V directly to the pump (bypassing the switch). switch seems to pass the voltage through, but holds 200 Ohms across the contacts (more than i would expect for a contact closure). I'm going to try and get a new pressure switch for it and see i can repair this one. it'll be a good spare.

if this one goes...i'll be shopping for other brands (other than the Jabsco Par-Max Plus), as this one only lasted a year, and the one it replaced was the same one. both i suspect have low pressure switch issues. i use the first replaced one to clean my AC lines and it seems to work fine now.
 
so, after bench testing - and noticing the pressure switch was likely to blame, i started searching for a new one online. then i thought - what the heck - let's try to see if we can fix it. maybe it's just corroded?

took the switch off the pump and cycled the switch manually a few times. man, it's hard to press! there's a 1" round plate that activates the switch and sure enough, you need all of 60lbs of force to get it to activate. anyway, measured the resistance across the two contacts again and now it's down to .2 Ohms. much better than the 200 Ohms reading i was getting before! reassembled. tested. and she works!

not sure i need yet another spare on board, as i have the one from when i surveyed the boat last year. might just return this one to WM and tell them it had a faulty pressure switch and use that $117 for the cockpit tv upgrade. ;)
 
Some boats have an accumulator tank that drastically reduces the number of cycles the pump needs. Mine will hold about a gallon of water and will run for about 30 seconds to recharge the accumulator when it is activated. If no accumulator the pump will cycle on and off very often. Don't know why they aren't standard on all new boats.
 
Some boats have an accumulator tank that drastically reduces the number of cycles the pump needs. Mine will hold about a gallon of water and will run for about 30 seconds to recharge the accumulator when it is activated. If no accumulator the pump will cycle on and off very often. Don't know why they aren't standard on all new boats.


standard on mine.

and yes, according to the manual:

"Water system pressure is regulated by a pneumatic accumulator bottle (See figure 7.4.1) located inline on the cold water outlet from the pump. The accumulator tank smooths water flow and reduces on/off cycling of the pumps by lessening the variation in pressure and flow between the pump and the outlets in the system. The even flow of water gives better control of hot water adjustment at the faucet. The reduced on/off cycling reduces noise from the pump motor, and from shock pressures (pipe hammer). It also reduces battery drain, and gives longer pump life."

Edit: Picture added.
20170805_184654.jpg
 
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Make sure the accumulator still has pressure and is working. That shrader valve on the bottom will let you check it. Use a regular car tire pressure gauge. Factory ships them with 20psi (manual says no more than 40psi). There's a rubber bladder inside the tank and they can eventually get leaks and no longer do their job. A sure sign of failure would be water coming out of the pressure valve.
 
Actually the accumulator internal pressure should be set to no higher then the pressure that your pump comes on. You can find the pump's start pressure in the manual. In my case pressure of the pump is 55psi...start pressure is 30psi. So you would set the accumulater to no more than 30psi. If you do set it higher ...it just slows down the gpm.
My accumulators max pressure is 125psi. Everything you need to know if a shurflow is in both manuals.
 
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Have you checked your air vent? Fill your freshwater tank completely full so that water blows out your air vent.This will confirm no air vent blockage. Sometimes the spiders and bugs love to nest in there.
 
New one worked until we got to anchor.

Ugh!

Now it's pumping but low pressure. Just a trickle out of most faucets. Swapped with old one I thought I fixed. It worked for a few seconds and then crapped out again. Swapped back and now it's back to a trickle.

At least I have water to fill the toilets. Although they take a while.
 
I have also replaced the accumulator tank for low pressure and that fixed that issue.

Measured the pressure on the accumulator and it read 0. Pumped it up and same thing. Ordered another and will see if that works.
 
New one worked until we got to anchor.

Ugh!

Now it's pumping but low pressure. Just a trickle out of most faucets. Swapped with old one I thought I fixed. It worked for a few seconds and then crapped out again. Swapped back and now it's back to a trickle.

At least I have water to fill the toilets. Although they take a while.

If your boat has gone through 7 pumps I doubt the pump is the problem.

It sure sounds like a restriction of some type, air vent, water tank pickup tube, or a water line on the output side of pump. If it were me, at the time it can only produce a trickle, I'd unhook the output right at the pump and see how much water comes out. Don't shut the faucet off or the pump off, just unhook at the output side. Similarly, how about a temporary line at the input side into a 5gal bucket fed by your shore side water hose.
 
If your boat has gone through 7 pumps I doubt the pump is the problem.

It sure sounds like a restriction of some type, air vent, water tank pickup tube, or a water line on the output side of pump. If it were me, at the time it can only produce a trickle, I'd unhook the output right at the pump and see how much water comes out. Don't shut the faucet off or the pump off, just unhook at the output side. Similarly, how about a temporary line at the input side into a 5gal bucket fed by your shore side water hose.


I hear ya.

Flow is constant and plentiful out of the pump. Disconnected and ran water out of pump outlet and out of accumulator outlet. Feels more like a pressure problem. I can stick my finger in the outlet and the pump turns off.

Really hope it's not a pickup tube or other blockage. Will bypass accumulator and see if that helps. Getting new accumulator and new pump. Just ran out of time.
 
So, just to wrap this up...

I disconnected the pump from the water system and ran from (then back into) a bucket of water. Flow was brilliant, but seemed to struggle when putting my thumb over the end of the hose.

Then ran the pump from tank to bucket. Same thing. Good flow. Trouble building pressure. So not the supply.

Removed pump and did the bucket test again but with plugging into a 12v outlet. It ran somewhat better, which had me worried it was a wiring issue (current restriction), but it still seemed to struggle building pressure.

Ran the bucket test with new pump. Same great flow. Pressure was SO much better! Couldn't even put my thumb over the hose!

Installed the new pump and everything ran great all weekend. We will see how long it lasts.

Just another Jabsco pump having pressure switch problems. If it happens again, I'm going to another brand.
 

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