AC raw water pump impeller replacement and source?

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Alright Clarkson, you were right again. $11 for a tiny little piece of cork - I feel abused. I know I have some in a box somewhere too...just have to hunt for it.Your next suggest will be met with, "Yes Cap'n...right away.

Cardboard will work in a lurch. Dismissed

[Briankinley2004]

That's a troubling argument in my opinion. What does ABYC have to say about marine electricals and equipment? What kinds of electric motors did Hatteras put in our boats (diesel or gas)? NTSB accident reports are replete with inspections that fail to take note of some pretty basic discrepancies. Saying it's OK because it passed inspection is awfully close to accepting a I got away with it mindset. Human nature, wouldn't you agree? I wonder how one would feel paying a contractor to fix a problem and discovering an installed component that wasn't rated for the usage. We don't have to wonder about an insurance company's position.

A 57' diesel boat caught fire and sank off Charleston this past week. We don't yet know the cause. We do know the insurance company will look for any reason to mitigate or deny their exposure. A 74' Hatteras (Inspected Passenger Vessel), at this marina, passed multiple annual inspections that'd leave a blind man scratching his head. I mean how does a boat with a rotten transom and paper thin thru hulls, sans, bonding pass?* The owners got away with that and much more for years. A change in sector command added emphasis to inspections and did away with the seemingly unlimited automatic two-week compliance extensions. That boat's certificate was jerked, and spent six months in a yard to try for recertification. The list of deficiencies was epic.

So, saying a repair passed inspection and is, therefore, an approved repair is kinda like troopers allowing 10 over the limit. You got away with it. Getting away with an extra 10MPH makes justifying another 5 that much easier.

I realize it's a gray world, and who doesn't want to stretch a boat unit?

* Since that boat left for the yard, my zinc life has almost quadrupled.

My only comment, if it matters, is if my a/c goes out because of the pump and I have guests on board or coming sooner than I can get a pump is that I am going to the Homo Depot and buying a swimming pool pump. Im not going to have them sit in this FL heat waiting on Oberdorfer to build me a pump thats going to take 4-6 weeks to get. I spent $400 on an obordorfer brass impeller bait well pump that was the exact one that came with the boat. While the pump looked impeccable the 32V motor they had attached to it was questionable. Didn't look like anything water resistant. Sure enough 9 months later, after the 6 month warranty expired, it crapped out. I bought a "cheap" 32volt Jabsco pump and its been running great for 3 years now. The electric motors Hatteras put on our boats don't look sealed in any way to me. Salt destroys the head motors as well as bait pumps. I haven't seen any stamps on them like UL or ABCY but maybe they are worn away. I know the starters are solid motors but cant say much for the rest of the electrical pumps. Also curious what type of 110V water pump everyone has on their boat. I have a Homo Depot well pump. Most everyone I know has a well pump. If they have caused any fires I don't know about it. I hope my engine room fire extinguishers, that passed inspection, work right cause it sounds like I am going to need them some day.

[Pascal]

Going to get a pool pump sounds fine until you realize you don’t have the fittings to make it work. Air con is a critical system and I always carry a spare pump ready to be swapped. The best setup is when you have two pumps installed with a selector switch and a couple of valves, it s not hard or expensive to rig. If one fails you re back in business and within minutes.

And yes I have a shallow well pump (flojet) plus a DC backup.