Rebuilding Erickson 32

[madurama]

Hello all,

Recently I started rebuilding an Erickson 32 1979 and I'm curious about that hull pump in my boat, someone can tell me what is that?

[Knotical]

Looks like a sump/water pump, what do the hoses lead to?

[TrentePieds]

It's a pump of a type called a diaphragm pump. Such pumps are often used to pump water. Trace the hoses to wherever they lead in the boat, and that will tell you what this particular pump was meant to do. Often such a pump was used in olden times, back in the 1960s when the Erickson 32 was first built, as bilge pumps, and this one seems to sit above the deep bilge in your boat.

The electrical wires that are not, now, connected may have led to a "float switch" that automatically would turn the pump on when there is water in the bilge.

There were also other uses for such pumps, however, so as I said: Trace the hose runs - then come back to us.

If you would like to talk about the proper installation of bilge pumps, we are here to help.

Trente Pieds

[madurama]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

It's a pump of a type called a diaphragm pump. Such pumps are often used to pump water. Trace the hoses to wherever they lead in the boat, and that will tell you what this particular pump was meant to do. Often such a pump was used in olden times, back in the 1960s when the Erickson 32 was first built, as bilge pumps, and this one seems to sit above the deep bilge in your boat.

The electrical wires that are not, now, connected may have led to a "float switch" that automatically would turn the pump on when there is water in the bilge.

There were also other uses for such pumps, however, so as I said: Trace the hose runs - then come back to us.

If you would like to talk about the proper installation of bilge pumps, we are here to help.

Trente Pieds

Actually the oldest owner removed the holding tank and cut the wires, looks like there are many years without using this. Now I know what's its this and I can remove that. I'm anxious about to work at that boat.

I think it's gonna be a long long time here on CF

[madurama]

Originally Posted by Knotical

Looks like a sump/water pump, what do the hoses lead to?

The oldest owner removed the holding tank and cut hoses

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by madurama

The oldest owner removed the holding tank and cut hoses

Perhaps so, but that type of pump isn't used in conjunction with holding tanks. It is a high pressure/low volume sort of pump, most often use for domestic water pressure. They were noisy but long lived, and were standard issue back in the 70s and thereabouts. We had one on our previous boat and it was still working when we sold the boat at age 29.

Holding tank pumps tend to be combined macerator/flexible vane types... much higher volume and not subject to blockage or valves sticking (cause they don't have any). They also generally have larger hose sizes... 1 to 1 1/2 inch.

You do see diaphragm pumps similar to yours used in the bilge or shower sumps nowadays, mostly to get the last bits of water out from places where the typical centrifugal bilge pumps struggle for access. They are good at that, but have much lower flow rates than the centrifugal ones.

Jim

[Bycrick]

Those old style PAR pumps probably go back to the 1930s. I’ve still got two of them on the boat from 1982. They still work just fine. With the designed mounting feet, which rust away and are $40/set, the pumps are so quiet that you need lights to tell they’re running. Another failure point is the threaded-in hose barbs. They age and then eventually break. But they’re not the commonly available tapered thread, they’re a straight thread. If you replace with a Home Depot NPT hose barb, you can crack the case.

Parts are still available, if somewhat high priced. Keep them dry, repaint the motor every few years, oil the ball bearings, and they’ll probably outlive both of us.

[antoha]

I used to have one and disliked it. Had to rebuild it every year, and my location was not as accessible as the OP’s, so I had to disconnect the hoses first, then remove it from location, then rebuild: usually it’s the pulsation dampener that would need to be rebuilt. Rebuild kits run ~$100 new if memory serves, and if you buy on eBay you can get it much cheaper but rubber doesn’t age well.
There was a thread on “are there freshwater pumps that aren’t terrible”.
Anton

[madurama]

Originally Posted by antoha

I used to have one and disliked it. Had to rebuild it every year, and my location was not as accessible as the OP’s, so I had to disconnect the hoses first, then remove it from location, then rebuild: usually it’s the pulsation dampener that would need to be rebuilt. Rebuild kits run ~$100 new if memory serves, and if you buy on eBay you can get it much cheaper but rubber doesn’t age well.
There was a thread on “are there freshwater pumps that aren’t terrible”.
Anton

Do you replace for an another model? Which one

[mvweebles]

Sureflo, Johnson, and Whale all make similar water pumps that are direct replacements. Here is a Whale - I have a pair, one for fresh water, the other for saltwater wash down.
https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1&id=4061921

Peter

[Bycrick]

By comparison to madurama experience, my two old PAR pumps are almost 40 years old. Both use as cleanup bilge pumps in very deep bilges. One had a consistent problem breaking a hose barb; problem solved by rerouting the hose. The mounting feet have been changed because they rusted. Both pumps have had the ball bearings at the drive connection replaced once. That’s since 1998. But neither has the vibration dampener which seemed to cause him problems. They’re big, ugly and can be noisy if you don’t mount them correctly. But they mostly just keep on tickin'.

[antoha]

Pulsation dampener (I think that’s what they call it) is the rubber piece that lines the two compartments behind the pulling and pushing valves. The one on the vacuum side buckles in after a while. I have deep bilge tanks so the lift is about 5 feet.
I replaced with a Marco pump, please search the threads, this has been discussed (and I posted on that one also, so you can look up threads I contributed to).
The new Marco pump is less than a year old, so I can’t attest to its longevity. I’m pleased with it so far.
Anton

[Bycrick]

I know what the pulsation dampener is. But I think that it wasn’t used in all versions of the pump. In any case, the one pump I took apart once upon a time didn’t have one. Your experience just makes me happy that it didn’t. I suppose my point would have been that, without some compelling reason, I wouldn’t replace it because it’s old and ugly. If I had a reason, I’d certainly look at the Marco pumps, about which I’ve heard good things.

[madurama]

I'm worried about how much work I have to throw the sailboat into the sea, but at the same time in anxious about how that challenge could give an opportunity to increase my DIY skills.

I tried to put plans on the paper, I do not try to reinvent the wheels here, so I going to put my ideas here to find the best way.



My steps:
0 - Clean and remove unnecessary items, furniture, amenities, and unreliable stuff
1 - Pipes System
2 - Electric
3 - Motor
4 - Painting
5 - Sails



I drew the pipes and pump system how I imagine that works, so please tell me if I'm going the wrong way.

[antoha]

For what it’s worth, my boat doesn’t have running sea water (it’s only plumbed for raw water intake for the engine). So I only have freshwater on a pump. And I only have two fixtures: galley and head; separate shower and faucet on a 32 foot boat sounds unlikely, although I don’t know your boat of course. On mine, shower is the same faucet as for washing hands, it pulls out to go overhead (but because it makes such a mess, there’s no dedicated shower stall, we seldom use it this way).