Testing A 32V DC Pump

[Sparky1]

How do you do it short of hooking it up on your boat?

I bought what was advertised as a new Rule 32V bilge pump, but it's far from new. The boat's over 2 hours away, and I'd like to know whether or not this thing works short of hauling it down there.

I did buy a 32V charger from bigbill a while back and have yet to carry it to the boat. Is there any reason I can't hook a couple of leads to this charger and test the pump (and the charger for that matter )?

 

[captddis]

should work just fine.

 

[Sparky1]

Thanks Dave. I suppose it will be a matter of hooking up a discharge hose to test it under a load. Maybe I can duct tape a garden hose to it after dropping it into a big bucket of water.

 

[Brian Degulis]

No Don't do that drop it in a bucket of Ketchup. The thicker viscosity will simulate 6' of head on seawater. Oh wait a minute I forgot your in fresh water. Your going to have to use A1 sauce. Don't forget to check the RPM flow pressure and velocity and motor temp. If your not certain how to do that Krush can explain it to you.

Brian

 

[captddis]

No Don't do that drop it in a bucket of Ketchup. The thicker viscosity will simulate 6' of head on seawater. Oh wait a minute I forgot your in fresh water. Your going to have to use A1 sauce. Don't forget to check the RPM flow pressure and velocity and motor temp. If your not certain how to do that Krush can explain it to you.

Brian

Friggin engineers! The easiest way is to get up on a 6ft ladder with the hose in hand, then hold the end of the hose to the light then look directly into the hose and count. If the pump is good you should see the water in 3 seconds.

 

[Sparky1]

Maybe I could reverse the polarity and see what it will do with a golf ball.

 

[redneck joe]

why a 32V?

 

[SKYCHENEY]

why a 32V?

It's a Hatteras thing. You wouldn't understand.

 

[Sparky1]

ROFLOL!!! Gee Sky, you sound like a boat snob.

 

[34Hatt]

LOL

Good thread !

 

[Sparky1]

I actually posted it in the technical section, but it sorta got un-technical.

BTW, I realized I didn't have the wire that was necessary to hook up this new charger, so I'm going to have to stop by the boat on the way to Florida to check these pumps. I got the second one in yesterday that I bought on eBay, and it looks better than the one that was supposed to be new.

If anybody has a better way to test these pumps short of hauling them to the boat, I'd love to hear it. I had remembered this charger being the same as the manual unit that's on the boat now, but it has to be hard wired vs just being plugged in.

 

[ThirdHatt]

I actually posted it in the technical section, but it sorta got un-technical.

BTW, I realized I didn't have the wire that was necessary to hook up this new charger, so I'm going to have to stop by the boat on the way to Florida to check these pumps. I got the second one in yesterday that I bought on eBay, and it looks better than the one that was supposed to be new.

If anybody has a better way to test these pumps short of hauling them to the boat, I'd love to hear it. I had remembered this charger being the same as the manual unit that's on the boat now, but it has to be hard wired vs just being plugged in.

What about sacrificing a standard 120v extension cord and install it on the 120v in screw terminals on the charger, then plug it into the wall. Your charger is now "hard wired". I did this with some heavy guage wire on my battery charger just for the ability to unplug on occasion when I am working in the ER and need another 120v plug for a shoplight or a fan.

Your other option is to use three 12v batteries, connect them in series for 36v and test the batteries that way. A short blast of 36v will not hurt the pumps but will let you know if they work or not.

Other than that, I believe you may have to bring them to the boat where they will be quite easy to test. Those pumps, especially if they are Rule brand, are pretty reliable and I bet you can just install them and they will work just fine. In my experience the float switches go bad much more often than the pumps themselves.

 

[Mako440]

It's a Hatteras thing. You wouldn't understand.

I knew that was coming from someone! LOL

 

[34Hatt]

If anybody has a better way to test these pumps short of hauling them to the boat, I'd love to hear it.

Sure just stop by my work and I can put it on a power supply for ya

 

[Sparky1]

I knew that was coming from someone! LOL

Yeah, I knew that was coming too, and I had a 50/50 shot at correctly guessing who would say it.

Thanks for the input regarding my output Byron, but I do believe it will be simpler for me to test these on the boat. It won't take me that far off my path, and I need to check on things anyway. Hopefully I'll see some progress has been made on the rebuild.

 

[Mako440]

Bird,
Just bring them down with you and test them on "a friends" boat!
If you are going to test them on your boat, might as well just install them.

 

[Sparky1]

You know Eric, you're not as dumb as you look.

I guess I could carry them down to FLIBS and try them out on Al's or Paul's boat. Then again, they're a bit bulky and some TSA agent may make me prove they work before they'll let me on the plane. That would put me right back where I started.

 

[redneck joe]

It's a Hatteras thing. You wouldn't understand.

you might be suprised, but then again us Bayliner folk think differently...

 

[SKYCHENEY]

you might be suprised, but then again us Bayliner folk think differently...

Actually, many of the larger boats in the late 60's, 70's and early 80's had 32v systems. Hatteras, Chris Craft, and some others employed it so that they could crank those big diesels without huge cables and starters. It went out of favor in the late 80's as DC technology improved.

I think the reason Bayliner never used it is that most of their electrical engineers couldn't count that high.

 

[Trojan]

Your charger may not have enough amps to run the pumps alone. Give it a try.

BILL