Pressurized fresh water pump triggered every 2 hours

[Duece]

Hope y'all don't mind I ask for help with my fresh water issue.

When I switch power on to fresh water it draws 10 amps for 20 seconds even though I don't hear it pumping. If I release the pressure before I flip the switch, it will only run for a couple of seconds but continues to draw 10 amps for about 20 seconds. All my lights have been converted to LED so it takes only 0.2 amps to run the light in the head near where the fresh water pump is, but I see it flickering the entire time that the pump is drawing 10 amps. If I turn on additional lights in the forward cabin where the pump is, they all flicker the same.

Another thing that is curious, the switch panel has led indicators which lite when the switch is engaged. All the others go off immediately when turned off. The fresh water indicator light takes a few seconds to "bleed down" as if it were a battery/capacitor losing power. Is that normal?

Any feed back would be appreciated!

[Lepke]

Amp draw doesn't just happen. If the draw continues after the pump stops it could be the motor is failing in some way. Maybe a bad bearing gets hot and freezes, stopping the motor. Or the motor itself has problems in the windings. You could have contact points sticking and the pump doesn't have enough power to start when the plumbing is at full pressure. And so on...

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by BrettB

For the last few weeks, our pressurized fresh water pump is being triggered every 2 hours or so for about half a second.

So far I have yet to find a leak. Could this be a sign of another issue besides a leak somewhere?

It could be a sign that the check valves in the pump leak so that the water works its way back into the tank. This is common. The only reliable way to fix it is to replace or overhaul the pump.

[Duece]

Lepke,

The amp draw is consistent & 20 seconds each time, & during that time the lights in the head (LED) flicker lightly (barely noticeable) as if the pump was idling, but I don't hear it like when it is pumping. Also no lights flicker when it is pumping normally with faucet open & water flowing.

Jammer,

It never looses pressure. I turn it off every time I leave & I can go down to the boat a week later & turn on the water & it releases what looks like full pressure. Turn the faucet off, switch the power on, it pumps for a few seconds, stops, but the current remains 10 amps for 20 seconds every time, then goes to 0 amps & as I said above lights flicker.

Any thoughts about why it takes a few seconds for the switch indicator light to bleed down?

[rmez]

Another, and even more likely possibility is that a small amount of air is getting into the system. Sources include connectors not being tight enough (or not having plumbers tape wrapped around the threads of the connectors) or a small crack (in one case I had a small crack in the filter before the pump that didn't drip but was letting air into the system. Air is compressible, unlike water, and slowly the pressure drops and the pump cycles. In any event you won't see any drips. So try tightening everything

[Robert Tilbury]

I had a pump cycle every 4 hours then it started 2 hours then every 15 minutes ,, i pulled my hair out for months ,,, i found the problem ,,
The Pressure switch .
As it was going bad the spring inside was getting weaker , i had changed near every pipe and fiting even the bladder ,,

$20 switch . Oh well everything is new should last another 30 years ,
Good luck and let us know ,

[Simi 60]

Ours did this
Replaced pressure switch and it still did it.
Several weeks later it did it more often
Then it started getting hot and died.

Replaced and carry a spare.

[Djarraluda]

I searched for 2 months, replaced bits left right and centre but still did not find the problem.
Then found it - the hot water clarifier was heated by the sea water cooling the engine. Replaced the calorifier and it is now plumbed to the fresh water cooling. Issue resolved.

[TheOffice]

Had a bad relief valve on a hot water heater.

[Djarraluda]

Originally Posted by TheOffice

Had a bad relief valve on a hot water heater.

I did not even have a relief valve on the old one. Perhaps that is why something popped!
I actually wondered how the tank was being depleted at the rate it was when there were no apparent leaks. It was all going to the engine cooling water! New engine and it was now pushing bright green coolant into the bilge, without the engine running, so the source was now obvious.

[US1Fountain]

Whenever mine cycled every so often like this, its always been the diaphram in the pump. Sometimes its get a a small dirt in it preventing it from sealing good, or its aging and becoming stiff. In that case a simple rebuild is in order.

You can test the theory if it an internal leak by simply closing the water valve going to your water tank. If your pumps check valve is leaking, water will not be able to go back into the tank, dropping WP and allowing your pump to cycle on. If your pump still cycles with the valve closed, you have an external leak of some sort on the output circuit side of the pump. At least it will point you in the right direction without any effort

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by Duece

Hope y'all don't mind I ask for help with my fresh water issue.

.................

Any feed back would be appreciated!

It would be more polite to start a new thread for a new, unrelated, problem rather than hijacking someone else's thread.

[thunderhoof]

I vote for a problem with the pump itself. Either there is a crack in the diaphragm or some debris is lodged in a critical place. Have you tried running the pump at maximum rate (open a few faucets) to clean out the pump?
When I had an issue of this sort I found the slightest drip from a faucet directly into a sink drain so there was no wetness visible.

[elandra65]

And another possiblity.

I had 2 symptoms which I didn't put together until the middle of the night in a dream.

My pump was cycling like yours about every hour for half a second. Looked everywhere but couldn't find a problem. At the same time my engine was creating coolant which overflowed slightly onto the top of the heat exchanger from the cap. I don't really believe in the engine gods bestowing me with free coolant so I gave it a lot of thought. Turned out the fresh water heater tank internal pipe which piipes the hot engine cooling water had a pin hole leak. The pressure from the fresh water pump (approx 50psi) was greater than the internal pressure limit of the heat exchanger cap (about 7psi) hence the overflow.

Unlikely but a possibility.

Good luck

Andrew

[BrettB]

Coolant theory is interested. I was bestowed with a little extra coolant about a month ago.

Also interesting. We use to have a similar occurrence of the pump when we left our transom shower on at the valve but off at the handle. Well, I installed a new transom shower a few weeks ago. I decided to try leaving the new transom shower on at the valve(off at handle) and this issue stopped! And now I have a convenient transom show that I just press the handle anytime rather than having to bend over and turn on a valve... I haven't bothered to turn the valve off again to repro the issue, because I think we are better off now than we were before.