Fresh water pump pulsating - is it end of life

I never use the shore connection for FW. I just refill and use the onboard pump as most do down here, at least at our marina. Since I have 2 pumps at 4GPM (per hour would be pretty slow :grin:) I have flow at almost 8GPM and 55 psi. It is a real nice system along with the pressure tank.

If you are saying the dockside water is regulated to 35PSI, then someone replaced that with what I assume the wrong regulator. Mine is 50PSI I think although we don't use it I had to replace it a month ago because it was leaking.

Reasons we only use fresh water tank on board:
1) You can easily determine if you have a leak. If no one is using water and water pump cycles, guess what? You have a leak. You don't know where but you have one. This is how I found my water pressure regulator has a slow leak. My pumps kept cycling and it took me 2hours to find the leak, but I found it and now it is gone.
2) Boat won't sink if I burst a line. I hold 70 gallons of water and the only thing that will happen is I will transfer that 70 gallons someplace else. Water will not continuously run and flood the boat. These pumps will also not burn out if run dry, not that type of pump.

I've learned that FW pump is something I'd like to have a backup for. It really sucks when one goes dead and you have to wait 2-3 days for replacement.
3) I am continuously cycling water thru the water tank and it is clean. We have an ice maker and use ice for drinks and it is clean water for ice and anything else you want. We only use it to gray water and ice but if we had to, you could drink it no problems.

Good catch on the flow (GPM)....:lol: :thumbsup:

I'd say that 95% of the time we use on board FW tank for reasons you stated above.

I'm looking at the WM site and see only one 4GPM pump: http://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-marine--freshwater-system-pump-4gpm--14153266

After seeing that larger DBs have two pumps, I also thought of doing the same. However, the AMPs draw kind of pulled me away from the idea. My 5GPM pump draws 13Amps, WM 4GPM draws 12amps. IMO, 24AMPs just to have water running is waaaay too much, especially considering that we spend a lot of time on the hook.

The other thing I've noticed that WM pump is very different. It's half the price, which of course is very attractive. But, my understanding is that the new SHURFLO Aqua King II Supreme is replacement for what they used to call "Smart Sensor" extreme series, which is in $300 range. I wonder if this WM pump is sufficient at the rate of 4GPM and quite. On the other hand it's kind of silly to have $160 pump as primary and $300 pump as a backup.
 
These water pumps are probably not ignition protected, so you may want to rethink relocating it to the ER.

~Ken

Aha.......this is where we can see why the price difference comes in to play. Mine is: http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|51|2234226|2234231&id=2127569

lightgray_ll.gif


SHURFLO Aqua King II Supreme 5.0 Fresh Water Pumps deliver quiet operation and smooth performance while providing the ultimate in durability and reliability.
Features:

  • Adjustable by-pass fresh water pump for multi-fixture applications
  • Pump designed for general fresh water transfer
  • 4-chamber diaphragm pump
  • Intermittent duty, permanent magnet motor
  • Can run dry without damage
  • Thermal overload protection with automatic restart
  • Ignition Protection 8846, CE, IMCI Certified
 
Alex, regarding current draw I learned when I shut one of my two pumps off due to the pulsing, that one pump seems no different in pressure and flow if you are only doing one thing at a time. It's just fine for two people. Of course your family of four probably has a lot going on at once at times.
 
at the boat show this year, a jabsco rep had their new variable flow pump on display. It was VERY quiet, and smooth operation up through 2 faucets running wide open. I saw some older reviews were not so great, but it's been a while - maybe they have improved? He said this was the 'future' of their product line. THoughts?

http://www.westmarine.com/buy/jabsco--v-flo-variable-speed-pump-5-0--11898681
 
I don't have much to add here.

But I can tell you when I had issues with my pump, Shuflo customer service was great. They sent me parts while I was traveling and they answered all my questions.

It's nice to have this forum to ask other owner's advice. But, it's really nice to have a manufacturer stand behind their product.
 
I'm planning to give them a call, but I almost positive there isn't anything wrong with my pump. Just a nature of the beast. However, I'd like to hear their recommendations.
 
Just an FYI for those who's following this thread, I spoke with ShurFlo tech support, and just as I expected, they were puzzled and didn't have any better/different solution other than what I've planned on trying (sound shield or relocating the pump in ER).
 
Alex do you have just one pump or two? Where is your pump(s) located? I have two and they are mounted right next to one another in the far corner of the engine room right next to the starboard muffler.
 
Bill,

The major difference in our boats, in regards to FW systems, is that your FW tank is all the way at the stern inside ER. So, placing the FW pumps close by in the ER is no brainer.

In my case, the FW tank is sort of the in the center of the boat, under the STBD side bed in the guest stateroom. So, SR decided to place the pump (it's a single 5.0GPM) under the galley floor (where the washing machine is) accessed by lifting the stairs. The location might make sense from technical point of view, as it's the closest run from the FW tank to the pump. But, it's really not the best location from the user point of view. Since the older pump was noticeably quieter, it wasn't that much of an issue. But, having louder new pump has changed my view on this.

To relocate the pump I'll have to find a decent spot for it, and most likely it's going to be in "lazarette", near A/C pump. As you can imagine, this will require adding good 10'-15' of FW hose running from the tank to the pump. Then, I'll have to comeback to the main FW manifold that's located in another storage section, under the galley floor. ShurFlo tech told me that technically it shouldn't be an issue, as the pump is self-priming. He said, worst case scenario, I'll have few seconds delay on initial pressure. But, theoretically it shouldn't be the case, since the pump always maintains the pressure in the system.

I'm still debating which approach will be cost efficient. But, the more I think about the more I like relocation to ER option. Besides that it'll keep my salon and staterooms quite, it'll open extra storage room on the "shelf" where the pump is now.
 
Hey Alex -- question.... How loud/quiet is your Aqua King II compared to the stock Shurflo that came with the boat when you purchased it (if it was original). I am trying to understand if your expectations are already achieving 'quieter' operation, but not necessarily what you expected... Or, if the Aquaking II is louder than what you had before?
 
Hey Alex -- question.... How loud/quiet is your Aqua King II compared to the stock Shurflo that came with the boat when you purchased it (if it was original). I am trying to understand if your expectations are already achieving 'quieter' operation, but not necessarily what you expected... Or, if the Aquaking II is louder than what you had before?

My expectations were simple, I just wanted to have the same pump in exchange to the stock one that went bad. After learning that the new one is a variable speed, it gave me extra hope that the new pump will also save some juice (pulsating 12VDC demand in light usage vs. continues demand regardless of usage).

How much new one is loader? I would say in the neighborhood of 40%-50% louder. I don't know about you guys (who has/had the same smart sensor 5GPM pump), but even though I always heard the old pump go off, its sound was somewhat softly blending with surrounding noise. Even at night, when no other noise was present, we never hesitated using the water b/c of the pump noise. The new one, of course it's not extremely loud during the day, but when most of the surrounding noise is settled, it'll wake up whoever is sleeping in the guest stateroom.

Don't get me wrong, by all means I'm not steering anyone away from buying it. In fact, if it wasn't for the noise, I'd say it's a great pump. I really like the variable speed feature, as I'm a big fan of saving the juice (we're on the hook a lot).
 
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Alex, this doesn't help with your pump situation but in order to help with the low demand pulsing I installed an accumulator tank last year. It really helped the cycling of the pump. I installed the larger 1.05qt one. It doesn't change the operation once you are using water continuously but for those quick turning on and off of the water such as washing hands after using the head or washing dishes while trying to conserve water it really helps. It allows some use of water before the pump turns on and then once the pump turns on it allows the pump to run a little longer to store some pressure for the next use. It took me a little bit of time playing with the pressure in the air bladder to get it correct but once I did it works great.
 
I finally solved my original problem today. My pump is fine. The old style screen/filter housing had cracked at the threads. So the pump was sucking air through it when it was on and water was dripping out through the crack when the pump was off. I replaced it with the new style canister filter.
 
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Solution to the noisy pump; a couple pieces of sanitary hose....
 
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Solution to the noisy pump; a couple pieces of sanitary hose....

That's an excellent idea, Tom. Even though, the pump comes with rubber fillers on each of the four legs, I think adding extra cushion by using the hose may help. I'll definitely try it before moving the pump.
 
How about damping the area with lead sheet goods or vinyl sound absorption material.
 

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