Fresh water pump acting up

[magnawake]

I finished my job in Homestead and now heading to Key West, and possibly Dry Tortugas and as luck would have it my fresh water pump is running longer than usual pressurizing the system. I noticed this after a 2 1/2 month lay up for the summer. We have spent the last two days and nights at Boca Chita harbour fighting mosquitoes and gnatts when now my water pump is running longer and laboring (rpm's slowing down) before cutting out with good pressure. However it starts real fast but slows with the pressure increase. I almost was thinking my batteries were low but I dont think they were really low because the inverter was still working (>50%). I did have a large load on it such as refrig, coffee maker and lights all at the same time. So do these impellers need replacing periodically? I felt the wires and they werent hot, just warm to the touch. Air in the system? What gives?

[cb48lrc]

AC or DC ? What make and mod number.

[Finalee]

If it is cycling much sooner than before as well, I would check the accumulator tank. It may have lost it's charge or need replacing.

[magnawake]

It is a 12V DC pump that has a label that says Marine water pump. Thats all. Its not short cycling. It used to short cycle and yes, I did replace the tank which made a world of difference. Now it runs for a long time, prolly10-12 seconds before shutting off. Now it seems to run longer and boggs down right before shutting off. I would hate to be caught out at the Dry Tortugas without a water pump.

[Fanfare]

You should have a second pump anyway. Buy another and swap it out.

If your old one is a diaphragm pump install a rebuild kit. The one-way valves can go bad or get some grit stuck under their lip making pumping inefficient.

Plumb both pumps in parallel so you can switch to either one.

[magnawake]

Man, that sounds like mucho grande work. I really dont have the room and time to do a project is hard. With all this working I've been doing I can barely have time to go cruising. It doesnt look like a diaphram pump. It has a large motor with a shaft and small housing that the impeller is and a priming cap on top. This 43MY has limited storage and we have been living on it most of the year so space is very short supply.

[Artzco]

As suggested , check your accumulator tank. Mine was cycling and my tank was leaking and had to be replaced.

[magnawake]

As suggested , check your accumulator tank. Mine was cycling and my tank was leaking and had to be replaced.

Nah its not short cycling, its coming on normally when we use all the acc. tank water. It runs too long filling the tank back up. It labors before it shuts off. it should just shut right off at the proper pressure. The rpm's slow down before cutting out. I just replaced the tank and it worked great. If the system is solid, then it will short cycle. Its not doing that at all.

[bigbill]

buy another pump just like that one so it is easily replaced..... keep a spare and the original one will work forever, just like insurance that you never use.

[Pascal]

Boca Chita in mid October? You re a brave man!

Seriously what kind of pump do you have, at least post a picture so we can figure it out... Based on your short description it sounds more like a galley maid pump but who knows..

Usually if a pump starts fast and slows down taking a while to build pressure, it could be a pressure switch problem or voltage being too low.

The one item that Will bring any cruise To a screeching halt is the water pump. Get yourself a spare, and preferably install it with a couple of valves to switch over on the fly.

Going to the dry tortugas withouth a spare pump is just plain silly.