Let the Games Begin !

[Herbseesmoore]

Day three on the boat and so much to learn. Well thats what we are here for, right? We are happy with our "new" 1980 Pearson 424 and she is in pretty good shape. Just a few survey items will get fixed, couple hoses, short piece of fuel line and so on.
Wait a minute the dang potable water pump just quit, hoping it is pressure related since it was pumping about every 30 minutes and I found a small leak on day one, needed to hand tighten a fitting/nut under the galley fawcett. Then we ran a tank out, switch to port tank, but pump didn't quiet sound the same. This morn pump stopped outright, it has electric, but no go. Its a shurflo 45 psi diaphragm

Will check pressure then open up if ness. Please chime in if you can contribute, no funnys, this is serious, seriously.

Stay tuned.

[sabray]

Is there an filter before the pump? Are the vents fir the tanks clear. If the pump has juice but is not running could be pump motor or brushes.

[Pblais]

Will check pressure then open up if ness. Please chime in if you can contribute, no funnys, this is serious, seriously.

If the pump runs when the tap isn't open it means you have a leak. Could be the check valve or it might be an air leak in the pump or a water leak some place. There can be air trapped in the line too. It happens. Such is the way of a new to you boat. Things look pretty good but there are things short of perfection. It's that way because it is and you just need to work through them finding new things as you go. Not to panic it's what we all do. It's amazing how fast you can learn. The adventure still continues even tied to a dock.

Lots of tips and tricks to help you here and someone has done it before I can assure you. Finding all the little problems is 100% your job alone.

[Herbseesmoore]

took hose off pump out side, still won't run, so its not blockage. just took it apart and can't see anything obvious, no foreign objects, all diaphragms look healthy. maybe it is the motor after all.

when I put it back together and put juice to it, does it have to be fed water or will the motor run without the intake................

[Herbseesmoore]

no filters b4 pump, vents are clear.

[sabray]

Are you checking voltage at the pump motor or at the pressure switch. If voltage is at the pump motor my thinking is the motor.

[Herbseesmoore]

while i had it apart put the wires to it and the motor did spin, of course that was without a load, and just reassembled and the the motor still works.

now the fun part, back under the sink to reattach hoses.......... we'll see what happens

[Herbseesmoore]

Hey it works, pump is pumping, some air in the lines,
Going to check the tanks top off and make sure they are full.

So happy, another small victory in the cruising forum,

Thanks guys. Appreciate the help.

[Ex-Calif]

So we had a Gremlin? Or we had corrosion?

Good result.

Many more "games" ahead I am sure.

[Pblais]

Crap in the check valve can do it. The only thing else I would have done is to connect it up when uninstalled to a couple hoses and see how much head it can self prime. Some pumps can be difficult to prime if the level in the tank gets low and you lose the prime yet when full prime easily and hold it until the tank is empty. Priming at the low water level takes the most lift to self prime. It would be the first sign the pump was going south and you might not see anything when apart. An air leak on the supply side can rob you of lifting ability yet the pump will work perfectly I had a cracked fitting do that to me for a whole season. Drove me nuts finding it.

[Herbseesmoore]

Gremlins no doubt, opened faucets ran the air out, took a shower and then nada the floshur was flono again. At least it didn't quit in full soap mode. So after coffee the gremlin must die.
Supply side is suspect, as we started having this problem shortly after starboard tank was empty and we switched to port tank.

Never driven nuts, just a short walk ..... really.

[Herbseesmoore]

Ok back at it and this is acting weird, relieved pressure nothing, bled filter, then delayed reaction and ran for about 2 qts worth in to the sink. Stop running. tinker tinker, nothing. Took hoses off, nada, gave it a good rap on the floor, (didn'tt have a hammer nearby) starts running, of course, will put all back together one more time. Have an old accumulator, Par, is this just an empty chamber or could there be a blown membrane. Don't see how that would matter.

[Pblais]

When you prime, open all the taps you can to have the least pressure for the pump to push. Could be a big air lock and the pump will pump water far better than air. Water in the line has to be pushed with air so all taps open will help work it out if that is a the problem. If you pull it out again do some testing with it uninstalled.

The accumulator tank has an inner bladder. The air on the other side sets up the pressure. If the pump starts as soon as you open the tap you know the bladder in the accumulator has a hole. It needs air on the outside of the bladder to store pressure. You should notice that one open tap restarts the pump on a cycle. So many seconds and the pump stops and so many seconds and it starts.
It should always be the same for the same tap. If it comes on too soon or does not shut down you got an air leak. The air leak can be on either side of the check valve or the check valve itself. I'll assume you would see a water leak but they can be in those dark places.

An air leak on the supply side will do what you see too. I am assuming you have both tanks full now? It is easier to work air pockets out with full tanks.

The accumulator isn't the source but it could still be a problem You can have more than one problem at a time you know. Makes it more of a challenge.

[kb79]

if a "rap on the floor" got it running again, i'd suspect the motor - if there's poor or intermittent contact between the brushes and the commutator, sometimes the slightest turn of the armature will get things back in contact and moving again. then when it turns off, it may or may not work the next time depending on the position that the armature is in when it came to rest.

this can be easily verified by checking continuity across the pump leads when it's not working.

[sabray]

The old par pump motors and a few others you could take apart and clean the brushes and contacts. Spray them up with a good coating of your favorite electrical contact stuff cant remember what i used last. Well maybe and it may not hurt. Contact on the pressure switch might be screwed and as mentioned full tanks help especially if you have an air leak ughhhh hole somewhere.