need new ac pumps. suggestions?

[Pascal]

Air con pumps are never self priming. Once primed they usually don’t loose prime unless you have an air leak on the suction side but being under water line you d see it. I assume you installed the pump under water line, right?

It sounds to me like a wiring issue where the pump is only activated by one or two units. When that reaches temperature, compressor turn off, shut off the pump and all the others go HP

With seven units there is really no point in having triggers. Since you will always have at least one running. Try connecting the pump directly to the power source so it runs all the time and see what happened.

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

If the pump is above the waterline it will not work.

[Shayne]

Well i put the pumps in the same place as before but added a 1.5 inch base to absorb vibration and prevent the motor from being submerged in the event of a leak.&nbsp; I wonder if this is the problem.&nbsp; i also determined that if I try the units individually i get the PS error but if i put all the units on at the same time i don't get the error.<br><br>I did notice that the pumps are above the sea strainers. see attached.<br><img src="https://www.samsmarine.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=32980&amp;stc=1" attachmentid="32980" alt="" id="vbattach_32980" class="previewthumb" style="margin: 1px;"><img src="https://www.samsmarine.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=32981&amp;stc=1" attachmentid="32981" alt="" id="vbattach_32981" class="previewthumb" style="margin: 1px;">&nbsp;<br>What i have to figure out is if the pumps are also above the water line.<br><br>I checked the priming screw and water rushed out so i figured it was not a priming issue but now that i think about it the water may have come from the manifolds which are higher in the gene room.&nbsp; I'm going to try these steps one at a time:<br>check if the pumps are below the water line,<br>remove the 1.5 inch base and see if that helps.&nbsp; <br>direct wire the pumps.<br>add check valves.<br>call an ac guy.<br><br>Thank you so much.<br>&nbsp; &nbsp;

[Pascal]

Direct wire the pumps first. Run the system for a while. . Turn off the ACs and pumps, wait a few minutes and restart the pumps. See if you have flow.

Check the height relative to WL. Pretty easy to do.

To avoid priming issues you want the pumps higher than the strainers to avoid any high points on the intake side, this is what causes priming issues after a haul out or a strainer cleaning.

[dottieshusband]

I may be reading your post incorrectly. Sounds like your pump relay could be an issue. On my boat, I have 2 relay boxes for the 7 units. The relay boxes are wired to match the breaker assignments in panel 1 and 2, 3 units on one relay, 4 units on the other relay. Each AC calls for the pump independently, so and one unit reaching temp and shutting down, won't stop the pump if another unit in the same relay box calls for it. I'm suspecting that your triacs are all not working, so the one that does work would shut the pump down, and the pump wouldn't start for the units with bad triacs. My relay boxes have manual override switches for the pump in case of a triac failure. Frankly, I just leave mine on manual override. Triac failure is common, and it's a pain to troubleshoot and R/R. As far as being self priming, my pumps are below the water line, as is the thru hull and strainer, so no priming is required.

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

AC pump installation on Aslan.

IMG_9460.jpg

[jim rosenthal]

Another view of the spotless engine room. Sigh. I wish mine looked like that, but I'm too damn lazy.

[scottinsydney]

Following this thread closely.

I have just replaced all the 1" rubber hoses from the two pumps to the two water manifolds in the the genset room. (This is running as another thread at the moment.) Your strainer/pump set up replicates ours. The pumps are under waterline.

Eighteen months ago we had replaced all rubber hoses from the first four aircon coils to manifold and then to overboard. This left the rear three coil hose sets for when the two main 1" water delivery hoses were replaced last month. I have also received the PS in the Owners Stateroom meaning to me water restriction.

Replacing all 7 sets of hoses on the coils has improved the water flow enormously when pumps are running. The 1" water delivery hoses are just below water level and water will naturally flow up towards them. No more PS. Perhaps there is an obstruction in the water manifolds or hoses? Perhaps you could prime the hoses from the manifolds so the pumps are well primed.

I've replaced two triggers in the past three years. (There in another recent thread from me on triggers). If two compressors are running from the same box, then the pump will still run if one of the compressors cycles off. I have no experience with Triarcs and are still wondering what they actually do.

I also replaced the dodgy wiring connection job at the pumps a while back with clean wire and better connections. I hope this helps.

I am on sckool holidays with dear wife and delightful children 8 & 11. We are 400 miles south of Sydney at the snow (yes, Australia has a skiing season). Funny how in quieter moments my mind constantly reverts back to this Hatteras forum.

[q240z]

Another view of the spotless engine room. Sigh. I wish mine looked like that, but I'm too damn lazy.

I know...don't you just hate that guy? lol

Shayne, you've got strainers hanging off of the thru hull valves, which Hatt, Chris Craft, et al did back in the day, but ideally you wouldn't have that mass attached that way. On my Chris Craft 42, the RW pump is barely low enough. I can pull the hose from the output side of the pump when it's off without worrying too much about the boat being flooded. Meaning, it's just barely below the waterline. And every time I take the boat out, I have to re-prime the pump when I return to the dock because air gets in the line and it's not installed so it bleeds air automatically.

racclarkson's fabulously irritating picture shows how to do it right. With the pump installed sufficiently below the waterline, it'll automatically burp any air that gets in the pump. With mine, it won't. If you're on the bleeding edge (like mine), raising the pump 1.5" lifts it clear of the waterline...it'll never prime.

[Pascal]

I really hope you were able to source a BRONZE nipple to attaché the strainer to the sea cock and NOT a BRASS nipple.

Personally I will never use strainers for water makers and air cons, instead external South Bay strainers work much better