AC pump not working

[Pilot]

Launched this week, AC Pump not working, Seacock is open, but still see the strainer is full of pink. The fan comes on OK. Breaker seems OK, wondering if the pump is bad? Worked fine last year.

Suggestions?

Thanks

 

[electricaldoctor]

air lock? take it out for a ride and it may just prime itself.

 

[K-DUB]

air lock? take it out for a ride and it may just prime itself.

X2 :thumbsup:

 

[mrtopgun]

What I have done is unhooked the hose on output side of pump, watch for water to pump out. Turn of A/C. Connect hose back to pump. Disconnect the hose at the A/C turn on a/c water should pump out turn off a/c when you see water . Connect hose back to a/c and watch water pump overboard when ac is on. Easiest way i have found to work. An old mechanic taught me how to do it. Hopefully it helps.

 

[Madifonzo]

I just used a funnel to put water in the outlet...primed it and it works great.

 

[ZZ13]

Here's the simple question - Are you turning the temp down in the cabin to turn on the compressor?

 

[Pilot]

Here's the simple question - Are you turning the temp down in the cabin to turn on the compressor?

Yes, way down.

 

[Pilot]

Thanks for replying. I will try this as I haven't taken it for a spin yet this year. But, would vapor lock prevent the pump from coming on as well?

 

[JimFromMD]

Thanks for replying. I will try this as I haven't taken it for a spin yet this year. But, would vapor lock prevent the pump from coming on as well?

Air lock will prevent the AC from working for sure, because it's not a self priming pump (like your engines or generator). Taking the boat out for a quick spin will force water up through the tube. In fact, if you look over the side while on plane, you sometimes will see water squirting out the AC cooling water discharge even though the AC isn't on. It does on my boat when on plane, and spooked me the first time I saw it.

 

[cruiser]

If you are saying that the pump itself doesn't come on, I had the same problem with my Cruisair unit. The fan and compressor would kick on and turn right off with no water flow, turned out to be a bad "trigger relay". I think the part was like $50 or $60 and very easy to replace.

 

[bmac]

No, vapor lock (or an air bound pump) will not prevent the pump from running. If the pump is running try cracking open the top of the sea strainer until water is flowing out. If that still doesn't help, take the hose off the discharge of the pump, that should help to prime the pump. If that still doesn't help, turn the unit on Heat and turn the set point to 80 degress. If the pump is not running AND you can hear the AC compressor kick on you may have a bad trigger. Not sure if your boat has two zone AC but try the other unit to see if the pump runs. If it doea you definitely have a bad trigger. Good luck.

Thanks for replying. I will try this as I haven't taken it for a spin yet this year. But, would vapor lock prevent the pump from coming on as well?

 

[Pilot]

Thanks will do that and see what happens. Sincerely appreciate everyone's advice and input on this.

Pilot

 

[ReLAXin]

I had similar problem last month when restarting my ac pump. After trying all the above remedies, it turned out that my pump needed to be cleaned out. It had black river muck that was causing the problems. I do remember last year having some really low tides at our marina. Now I have flow better than ever .

 

[dpmulvey]

With the system off and seacock open, put a garden hose to the pee hole and let it run. You'll see bubbles coming from under the boat. When the bubbles stop, the system is primed and ready. This has never failed me with an operational system.

 

[Bucit]

You can also use a shop vac. Put the hose up to the pee hole for the AC. Turn it on until water comes out. You're now primed and ready to go.

 

[Pilot]

Thanks all:

It was vapor lock,, took it out for a spin finally and the water flowing through fixed it. Tried it then and now the pump runs, all is good. Vapor lock did prevent the pump from running.