Is there a quiet/silent water pressure pump, or a way to make one quieter?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

. . . At night - after bed time - and at sea - unless it is 'shower day' - the pressure pump is switched off .....

It's very good practice to switch off the pressure water at sea, and another good reason to have a foot pump.


At sea you might not hear the pump running. And at the same time, in a seaway, there are a multitude of ways for taps to get opened accidentally.



Don't ask me how I know about this

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

A device called a pulsation dampener will take some of the hammer out. You can find a similar device which might work, which are used to take water hammer out of domestic pipe runs, in a plumbing shop. You need to mount them on the discharge of the pump as close to the pump as possible.

It's not hammer, the Marco is a variable speed pump that comes on and off gradually specifically to avoid hammer and the manual specifically states to not use a dampener, presumably because it messes with the speed/pressure sensors on the pump. No, it's the very distinct whine of the pump itself that gets transmitted through the plumbing for the duration of the time the pump is on.

[chris14679]

Hi everyone, thanks very much to those few who actually posted first hand experiences of quiet electric pumps, it sounds like some of the variable speed ones might work for me. I'd love to hear from anyone else who has tried the different models and any other pros & cons they have. I assume they are still really the same design as the other diaphragm pumps, just not so noisy because they run slower?

All sorts of nonsense is being said about noisy pumps being somehow a good thing in your mind. That's just going off on a tangent which does nothing to answer the question I asked.

If you think it is necessary to hear your pump then you've not thought very hard. You'll never hear it on a noisy night at sea when it matters to lose your water, you'll only hear it in a quiet marina where there's a hosepipe next to the boat to refill the tank. In the unlikely event I ever want to hear my pump then I'll wire up a siren to the pressure switch. With a manual switch to disable the siren at night!

On the whole though, I prefer just to have three isolated water tanks, a water maker and plenty of bottled water. I don't care too much if a tap gets left on. I do care very much if I don't get a good night's sleep because of pump noises.

As for foot pumps .... I often need to leave the washer-dryer on at night (it's almost silent compared to the water pump!) and I'm not staying up all night to pump on a foot pump for it thanks very much!

So let's keep it on topic - I'm looking for silent or very quiet electric pumps only please! Any more contenders and which is the best of those mentioned already?

[Gary S]

https://www.headhunterinc.com/produc...ressure-syste/

I have installed a number of these in new high-end motor yachts. It is nearly silent, and will shut itself down if run dry. It also will shut itself down to prevent flooding if it senses a leak. Pretty impressive pumps.

Is silence worth $1300 to you?

[chris14679]

Originally Posted by Gary S

Is silence worth $1300 to you?

Looks like just the thing I need. I'll go buy a lottery ticket.

[two-rocks]

$1300 is cheap if you have a problem sleeping. Honestly. Sounds like your pump is bad. If you washer/dryer is ‘silent’ - go figure.

Our faulty old variable speed was great. Could run a very slow water flow, no pump sound (but burned itself up-flawed design) - but still could hear the water through the faucet. Walking about the cabin floorboard noises, wife blowing her nose, the sound of toilet paper rolling off the reel as my wife tries to plug the head. Then of course the sound of the head flush, and again, and again - there not plugged, I know as I am now awake - but not from the water pump.

Our new variable speed Marco pump is good. We call it Arnold - sounds like the terminator when he was crawling with one arm. Pump kept going off last night. Turns out the stern shower was dripping.

You’ll fix the water pump, only to chase another noise. You then have reached nirvana, until the dinghy goes racing by in the middle of the night.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by redneckrob

It's not hammer, the Marco is a variable speed pump that comes on and off gradually specifically to avoid hammer and the manual specifically states to not use a dampener, presumably because it messes with the speed/pressure sensors on the pump. No, it's the very distinct whine of the pump itself that gets transmitted through the plumbing for the duration of the time the pump is on.

The water hammer or celerity of the pressure wave phenomenon in reciprocating pumps is inherent in the design and is caused by the acceleration and deceleration of the fluids being pumped within the pumping mechanism and the faster the pump transitions between cylinder fill and pump the more likely it is to occur.

If a manufacturer states that a pulsation dampener should not be used it's probably because a poor quality switch is being used which requires high levels of vibration to assist with reliable switching.

Reminds me of a story I heard about the introduction of jet engines in aircraft.

The instruments used in piston engine aircraft when used in the first generations of jet aircraft were prone to sticking because the jet engines operated so smoothly and consequently there was no vibration to assist in "unsticking" the mechanical components in the gauges. To fix the problem they flex mounted the instrument panels and mounted a motor driven vibrator on them.

Centrifugal and impeller pumps do not have the water hammer problem because there is no interruption of flow through them in their pumping action.

My boat has a number of older style diaphragm pumps which have a single large diaphragm and are noisy as hell and will wake the dead when they kick on. Whereas the newer ones have three or four smaller diaphragms and are far less noisy.

[Woodland Hills]

Originally Posted by Gary S

https://www.headhunterinc.com/produc...ressure-syste/

I have installed a number of these in new high-end motor yachts. It is nearly silent, and will shut itself down if run dry. It also will shut itself down to prevent flooding if it senses a leak. Pretty impressive pumps.

Is silence worth $1300 to you?

Plus one for the Headhunter! We love ours.....

[LoudMusic]

I have a run-of-the-mill Jabsco water pressure pump and sometimes I have to listen very hard to hear it run. It's just buried in the salon settee. I've actually considered adding an LED to the circuit so that I can see when it's running.

I think if you just bury it in the boat enough it shouldn't be a problem. I like others' suggestions of rubber bushing feet to isolate it from the frame of the boat. I wouldn't wrap it with anything because it might overheat. Having an accumulator is really helpful too.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

The water hammer or celerity of the pressure wave phenomenon in reciprocating pumps is inherent in the design and is caused by the acceleration and deceleration of the fluids being pumped within the pumping mechanism and the faster the pump transitions between cylinder fill and pump the more likely it is to occur.

If a manufacturer states that a pulsation dampener should not be used it's probably because a poor quality switch is being used which requires high levels of vibration to assist with reliable switching.

Reminds me of a story I heard about the introduction of jet engines in aircraft.

The instruments used in piston engine aircraft when used in the first generations of jet aircraft were prone to sticking because the jet engines operated so smoothly and consequently there was no vibration to assist in "unsticking" the mechanical components in the gauges. To fix the problem they flex mounted the instrument panels and mounted a motor driven vibrator on them.

Centrifugal and impeller pumps do not have the water hammer problem because there is no interruption of flow through them in their pumping action.

My boat has a number of older style diaphragm pumps which have a single large diaphragm and are noisy as hell and will wake the dead when they kick on. Whereas the newer ones have three or four smaller diaphragms and are far less noisy.

The Marco is not a reciprocating pump, it's impeller driven, and it does not suffer from water hammer, as I very clearly indicated! It does not use a poor quality switch, it's a pretty damn expensive pump and everything on it is very high quality, it's simply inherent on electronically switched variable speed systems that a pulsation dampener is number 1 pointless because there is no water hammer and number 2 can interfere with the logic of the variable speed sensor. And as someone who's spent a few thousand hours flying turbine and piston planes and helicopters, I gotta tell ya turbines ain't that smooth!

[desdestiny]

I have a solution to make the pump quieter - please contact me or email des@edgetec.net

[capt jgw]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Mount it in the Lazarette where you cant hear it.

I like hearing mine, it lets me know if we have a leak or the switch gets stuck or maybe someone didn't get the sink turned all the way off etc.

Right. Mines a little noisy but it's let me know about faucets dripping or hoses leaking many times. Wouldn't want it silent.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by capt jgw

Right. Mines a little noisy but it's let me know about faucets dripping or hoses leaking many times. Wouldn't want it silent.

What is up with you all and your inability to turn off a faucet or maintain a plumbing system on a boat? I feel like I'm missing something, 20 some years on boats and literally never had a problem with either of those. Come to think of it, 40 some years of turning off faucets when I'm through with them and nary a problem there either. Am I missing something here?

[RaymondR]

I used the term "water hammer" because it and the noise you hear from a reciprocating pump are basically the same phenomenon but whereas water hammer is usually just one pressure wave reflecting in a piping system the pump noise is many which are related to the speed of the pump.

Gear pumps such as the Marco produce the same phenomenon, as those familiar with them in hydraulic systems can attest, but the pulses are much smaller and of much higher frequency and express as a fairly high pitched screaming noise. However if they were made with very fine gears and run the pump slowly the pulses might be very small
and not result in a noisy pump.

I notice Marco also make vane pumps. If these were made for water service they would provide a high enough pressure, pulse free flow which would be very quiet.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by redneckrob

What is up with you all and your inability to turn off a faucet or maintain a plumbing system on a boat? I feel like I'm missing something, 20 some years on boats and literally never had a problem with either of those. Come to think of it, 40 some years of turning off faucets when I'm through with them and nary a problem there either. Am I missing something here?

guess you never have guests, visitors or crew on your boat, or perhaps you follow them around checking all the faucets that they use.

I salute your 40 years of perfection.

Jim