How's your pump workin' out?

[Christian Van H]

Hello all! If you all have time, could you post what types and brands of 12V washdown and freshwater pumps your boats use, and how you feel about them? Please note any bad experiences you've encountered with past pumps. Thanks for your time, Chris

[David M]

I go through a washdown pump maybe every 2 to 3 years. I have tried all the brands. I don't think it makes much difference. Right now I am using a Shurflo. It works fine.

[delmarrey]

I'll second the Shurflo! They've been around a long time and rebuild kits are readily available.

[Nauticatarcher]

Use Johnson for freshwater and washdown two pressure switch failures in 3 years, next boat if I have room I'm using AC domestic pressure pumps, eg Onga or Grundfoss, especially for deck wash as they move much more water are much more reliable and easily inverter driven

[Lancerbye]

I have a Shurflo with the quick disconnect connectors and carry a spare.

[MidLandOne]

Potable water, grey water sump pumpout and deck wash pumps are all Flojet multiport diaphragm pumps over 12 years old. Usage - usually on the boat 2 days per week, cruising for 6-8 weeks per year, and one year lived aboard for 9 months. Had no problems at all so far; I carry a spare potable water pump and spares kits but have never needed them.

Freezer condensor sea water pump is a small Johnson centrifugal meant for fresh water only (I swapped the mild steel casing screws out for ss ones) and again no problems so far.

[Christian Van H]

Thank you all for your replys so far! I was, and probably still am considering Johnson, Shurflo, or Flojet pumps. My 42' motorsailer has two sinks and a shower/tub, plus Newfound metals washdown connectors fore and aft. I didn't want to spend a fortune, but wanted reliable gear, and I'll be carrying spares...have you seen the price of spare pressure switches?!!!!!

[bstreep]

We put a Jabsco Sensor Max (I think these are the same pump as the FloJet) VSD and this is DEFINATELY the way to go for FW. These pumps eliminate the accumulator tank, and we get PLENTY of flow. Fairly quiet too.

[btrayfors]

Here's another vote for the Flojet pumps (NOT the Shureflo pumps).

Over the past 25 years (17 as liveaboard) I've gone thru just about every pump on the market, including the expensive Raritans, the belt-driven pumps, Shureflows, and others. After a few years, my dockbox was full of the carcasses of failed pumps and pump parts.

Nothing has even come close to the Flojets. They're not bulletproof -- nothing is -- but in my experience they are very reliable and last much longer than anything else in their price range.

I have three Flojets aboard my present boat, 2 bilge/sump pumps and one FW pump. The VSD Flojet is a good unit, indeed (put one on my son's 42' sloop last year), but the regular single-speed Flojet FW model is good, too. I have one with an expansion tank.

Only thing you need to be careful about is not getting them immersed...they are not waterproof.

I've found their quick-disconnect feature for the hoses to be very useful, also, both for routine maintenance and, occasionally, for dual uses, like attaching another pickup hose to empty something.

On a scale of 1 to 10, my ratings would be:

Flojet 9 (have had only 3 failures in over 20 user years on total of 6 pumps)
Shureflo 3 (had one which didn't last a week)
Raritan 3-4 (had 2 of them; one worked OK for a year or so, but very noisy)
Belt-driven 6 (fairly reliable, but clunkers and not much flow)
Waterpuppy 2 (a disaster; have had numerous ones fail over the years)

Pumps, generally, are a problem. My live-aboard boat had a total of 17 pumps, including those on the engines and generator, bilges, fresh water, toilet, macerator, pumpout, washdown, etc. Seemed I was spending my life maintaining pumps, until I installed the Flojets; immediately some of the maintenance chores were reduced markedly.

Recently stuck one of the little Rule automatic bilge pumps in my dingy (the one which checks every minute or two for resistance against the impeller). Was betting it wouldn't last very long. It failed after 3 months. Since they have a "2-year limited warranty", it'll be fun to see what they do when I return it.

Bill