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Whale Gulper Pump problem

DeanS

By DeanS
in Boat Equipment

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DeanS Veteran II

DeanS

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ello.

A fellow marina boater shower pump has stopped working.

I measured 14V at the pump inputs. (they were charging batts at the time)

The pump makes no attempt to even try and move.

It doesnt smell at all. (as in burnt out).

It makes no sound at all. (completely un-active)

 

Is there a way to fix, or do they simply go spend another £80 to replace. (ouch)

 

One thing to note....they dont have a fuse on the pump supply wiring. Could it have popped something in the pump (which a fuse would have prevented?)

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PaulJ Experienced

PaulJ

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One thing to note....they dont have a fuse on the pump supply wiring. Could it have popped something in the pump (which a fuse would have prevented?)

 

Hope you suggested they fit a fuse. Would be even worse if a fault caused said wire to burn out..

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Iain_S Influencer

Iain_S

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If it's got volts, not turning but not heating up either, it suggests an open circuit. Could be dirt on commutator, or a stuck brush, but could also be burnt out windings (Pump jams, stalls, takes its starting current for a few minutes, then something gives :( )

 

Iain

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DeanS Veteran II

DeanS

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The pump doesnt seem to have any inbuilt fuse etc...and the electronics all seem completely sealed inside of it....Am I right in saying that...there's not much I can do for them besides what I've already tested? What would there next move be ? I'm not the right person for stripping down pumps etc.

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DeanS Veteran II

DeanS

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Find the fuse it will be somewhere other than inside the pump

 

Nope. Someone installed their 12V switch console and it appears all 12V feeds go directly out...no fusebox. As far as I could make out the switch panel doesnt have any inbuilt fuses at all.

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Chalky Experienced

Chalky

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Nope. Someone installed their 12V switch console and it appears all 12V feeds go directly out...no fusebox. As far as I could make out the switch panel doesnt have any inbuilt fuses at all.

 

Are they switches or circuit breakers. Some panel mounted ones can look very similar to switches.

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

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Nope. Someone installed their 12V switch console and it appears all 12V feeds go directly out...no fusebox. As far as I could make out the switch panel doesnt have any inbuilt fuses at all.

Our shower pump has a fuse in an inline Car style fuse-holder, that took quite a long while to find when it blew as a result of the pump becoming clogged.

 

Just because you can't find a fuse doesn't necessarily mean there isn't - it may just be it is in a particularly stupid or inaccessible place!

 

(However our headlight and horn did prove to be on completely un-fused connections, so you can never guess what a less than thorough "electrician" has done in the past! :lol:)

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DeanS Veteran II

DeanS

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Our shower pump has a fuse in an inline Car style fuse-holder, that took quite a long while to find when it blew as a result of the pump becoming clogged.

 

Just because you can't find a fuse doesn't necessarily mean there isn't - it may just be it is in a particularly stupid or inaccessible place!

 

(However our headlight and horn did prove to be on completely un-fused connections, so you can never guess what a less than thorough "electrician" has done in the past! :lol:)

 

 

12V is reaching the pump.

It's a pump issue, not a elec issue.

Since I'm not going to open up a £80 pump and mess with motor electrics etc, would it be worth their while to get it serviced somewhere (who does these pumps?) or will they need to just buy a new one.?

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

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12V is reaching the pump.

It's a pump issue, not a elec issue.

I wasn't actually trying to suggest that 12 volts might not be reaching the pump.

 

Only commenting on the fact you said their seemed to be no fuse, and pointing out that sometimes fuses are there, just you haven't found them yet.

 

I assume someone has tried whacking the case of said pump with a "Birmingham screwdriver", to ensure that will not bring it back to life.

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smileypete Veteran II

smileypete

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12V is reaching the pump.

It's a pump issue, not a elec issue.

Since I'm not going to open up a £80 pump and mess with motor electrics etc, would it be worth their while to get it serviced somewhere (who does these pumps?) or will they need to just buy a new one.?

Sounds like a £0 pump at the moment, so probably worth a try on a 'kill or cure' basis :).

 

There's some info on the Whale site, IIRC there's 2 screws at the end that let you get at the motor gubbins. I'd expect there's a thermal cutout in there which should reset itself, maybe it's gone kaput.

 

Even if it's brown bread it's worth keeping the pump head and diaphragm bits for spares.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

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mrsmelly Veteran II

mrsmellyDonate to Canal World

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Nope. Someone installed their 12V switch console and it appears all 12V feeds go directly out...no fusebox. As far as I could make out the switch panel doesnt have any inbuilt fuses at all.

 

Is it possible to check the length of the wire? I have a circuit breaker board but also individual inline fuses to each of my gadgets, it may be overkill but thats how it was wired and I have kept up to this.

If pumps easy to get at why not just put two wires from a known source to it and try it or just remove pump and take it to battery terminals with a couple of wires just to try it out?

Tim

Edited by mrsmelly
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Radiomariner Rising Star

Radiomariner

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If power is deliverd to the motor is ok, there is no life and no smoke or smell of burnt motor, my guess would be an internal thermal fuse. These are not always auto-resetting, sometimes they are fixed so as to have good contact with a part of motor chasis that would get hot under overload, sometimes they are taped to the motor windings near the surface where they can easiliy be replaced. Often however, they are hiddin within the windings, when this is the case my successful repair rate is only about 20%. My policy would be to open up and look, see if there is a thermal fuse that can easily be replaced. If not get a new pump. Keep the old one and see if you can repair in your leasure. (May involve partly unwinding one of the motor coils). If you can you have a spare, if you cant you have spare parts!

Edited by Radiomariner
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