Washdown Pump Issue

[5-Salt]

Re-occurring washdown pump issue.



1. OEM pump crashed two years ago. Replaced with same pump as it was clearly trashed and time for new.

2. Replacement crashed after one day of use. Thinking I had ground problem, I chased down and all appeard fine. Same time swapped in new panel switch as it seemed to be intermittently failing (not entirely certain). Had the replacement pump warranteed and re-installed.

3. After about two day of use the warranteed pump crashed.

4. Replaced with different brand and added water filter after bench testing the warranteed replacement. Checked all intakes, lines, fitting, hoses for breakage/blockage - all is 100% clean.

5 New Brand pump crashed, again after one day use (@#$%)

6. Now I am completely confused and not quite sure what gives. New Brand pump worked for about 10hours before crashing. Water inlet filter is clean and clear so no issues there. This pump did revive itself for about 20mins at some point last fall but dead since then.

Gotta to be an electrical issue...I think. All connections soldered in waterproof casings so no issue there. I never left the pump switched on while towing home so no failure there. Never a circuit breaker/fuse popped. Just dead and the wash down switch light shows does not light up when turned on.

Before I run new wires from panel down to pump etc....I thought I would reach out for some advice on how to check continuity. As well wondering if I require a switch to bench test pump or can I simply connect directly to battery pos/neg?



Thanks for help

 

[Doc Stressor]

All connections soldered in waterproof casings so no issue there

That could be your problem right there. Soldering is not a good idea for marine applications. Soldering defeats the purpose of marine grade wire. The extra strands provide flexibility and vibration resistance. When you solder wire, the solder flows between the strands and makes the wire brittle. You might have a partially broken wire inside of one of your waterproof casings. I would replace the soldered wires and use marine grade heat shrink connectors.

 

[Pez Vela]

Just a thought.

For many years I was able to enjoy a reasonable service life mounting a popular brand name washdown pump in the bilge below the water line, per the instructions. In recent years, I found that the seal(s) which are supposed to prevent water from moving up from the pump into the motor just were not doing the job, as the motors were wet, crusty, and rusted in a matter of weeks. I got a clue eventually and re-plumbed the system so that the washdown pump is now mounted above the water line. I've had no problems since then.

 

[bc282]

sounds definitely electrical related.
i too agree that sodering is not a great idea.
along with marine tinned copper stranded wire and marine connectors, quality adhesive lined shrink tubing and dielectric grease are your friends.

if you've taken a meter and measured for voltage and find you are getting 12v then it might be the problem i'm having too.
I recently ran into a problem with not enough juice to the devices i have hooked up. i've added a bunch of stuff (i thought not that much of an add on) and found my macerator pump for the head no longer worked. After doing the "shitzy" job and replacing the sub-mac pump and finding the old pump still worked and the newly installed did not. I trouble shooted that the cable feeding the fuse block was too thin for all the demand. I'm planning to replace the 10 gauge wires with a 6 gauge set. it's like trying to push a golf ball thru a straw.

FYI, i found lots of dealer (and factory) wires not up to par on my Grady. Lots of "automotive" grade connectors and wire that is not tinned. I'll be replacing much of this when i upgrade the fuse block and feeder wires.

 

[5-Salt]

Same electronics as installed for past 9years. Only addition is elec-start 8hp kicker motor connected to battery switch. Maybe the kicker is causing surge in system - will connect directly to battery.

I will fiddle with connections etc... to see what I can sort out.

 

[BobP]

What did you do with all of the pumps that crashed, hope you kept them, sell on ebay.

Did you verify each pump is actually dead, say by hooking up to car battery under hood ?

The voltage drop as was stated is the likely culprit, have to measure voltage at motor connections same time power is turned on, and if too low, go backwards oin circuit piece by piece to find it.
Is there a button breaker feeding motor? if not, get one.
All motors on button breakers.
Might as well run a new feed to motor from bridge, use 14 AWG if Grady used 16AWG.