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Water pump leaking a lot


5arahj6yne

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Hi boat brain! So my water pump has just decided to start leaking considerably.. I went to go and check since my taps started playing up & spluttering quite aggressively. When I checked the pump a steady stream was leaking from circled area on my picture. I’ve switched everything off, pump & water. What do I do - replace the filter (is it a filter?) 

 

thanks in advance 🙏

0D10064A-127B-4702-AD93-F0637F92B001.jpeg

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It's a strainer (filter).

 

The tabs often break. Until you get a new one, if you are desperate, remove it, and connect the pipe directly to the pump if it will reach (isolate the water tank first if possible) 

 

We have a plastic water tank, so don't bother with a strainer at all. Probably more important if you have a steel tank 

 

Eta. It may have just come loose. iirc, the strainer is made from two parts, they are held together by pushing one into the other and turning clockwise until the tabs, engage. It may have an O ring that has come unseated. 

 

Looks like an old style shurflo strainer and a jabsco pump. 

Edited by rusty69
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Thanks for the advice everyone! 
 

I seem to have popped it back into place for now & no dripping. 
 

May look into to get a back up one (I have a steel tank) - but good to know I can just ditch if necessary. Will also look into replacing hose… inherited that from last owner. 
 

Thanks! 

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For the future, It would be a good idea to place the entire pump and filter in the tinfoil, or other waterproof tray. The pumps usually fail by leaking from the pump body, so this will catch the water and prevent it staining your wood floor. Provided you notice in time! New Jabsco pumps seem to come with a strainer in the kit that clips straight in to the pump intake and is locked in by the blue slidey things on the pump. As has been mentioned, it is a good idea for the bit of hose to be suitable for potable water. It is also a good idea to have a length of hose on each side of the pump. Intake and outlet. Can't tell from the photo if yours has it on the outlet.

Jen

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1 hour ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

For the future, It would be a good idea to place the entire pump and filter in the tinfoil, or other waterproof tray. The pumps usually fail by leaking from the pump body, so this will catch the water and prevent it staining your wood floor. Provided you notice in time! New Jabsco pumps seem to come with a strainer in the kit that clips straight in to the pump intake and is locked in by the blue slidey things on the pump. As has been mentioned, it is a good idea for the bit of hose to be suitable for potable water. It is also a good idea to have a length of hose on each side of the pump. Intake and outlet. Can't tell from the photo if yours has it on the outlet.

Jen

 

Great advice, especially if used in conjunction with one of these.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/b/water-sensor-alarm/bn_7024905969

 

I also use them in the cabin and engine bilges.

 

Don't forget to test and to  change the batteries periodically.

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3 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

Great advice, especially if used in conjunction with one of these.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/b/water-sensor-alarm/bn_7024905969

 

I also use them in the cabin and engine bilges.

 

Don't forget to test and to  change the batteries periodically.

Good point. I have something similar, but home made, which warned me when the previous water pump was on its way out. I once had a water pump that leaked a lot in to the cabin bilge before I noticed, because the pump leaked on the low pressure side and I didn't have any warning from the pump occasionally pumping.

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The circled item is not your pump. It is a separate component which is screw mounted onto your water pump, hopefully the input side 

It is a simple strainer comprising three main parts. One part attached to the green hose/white connector. One part, the cup shape with the label. Sandwiched in between is a metal filter disc.

The two halves bayonet fit together. If your picture is of the filter as was ie leaking I'd suspect it was not correctly assembled. See that tab at the ten-o-clock position next to a cutout? Grasp the end next to the pump while moving the tab/this end clockwise. That should tighten the two halves together. From what you say you may already effectively have done that if the leak has eased. 

I used to have one - never liked it. Need to take it out of circuit to clean it and always lost a fingernail or two trying to split the two halves.

REPLACE IT!

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1 hour ago, Opener said:

I used to have one - never liked it. Need to take it out of circuit to clean it and always lost a fingernail or two trying to split the two halves.

 

Fascinating. Did yours get clogged up then?

 

In all the many boats I've ever owned, I've yet to find more than the occasional single speck of crud in a water pump inlet filter. Not even in the boat with the open-topped, rusty galvanised water tank! 

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10 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

For the future, It would be a good idea to place the entire pump and filter in the tinfoil, or other waterproof tray. The pumps usually fail by leaking from the pump body, so this will catch the water and prevent it staining your wood floor. Provided you notice in time! New Jabsco pumps seem to come with a strainer in the kit that clips straight in to the pump intake and is locked in by the blue slidey things on the pump. As has been mentioned, it is a good idea for the bit of hose to be suitable for potable water. It is also a good idea to have a length of hose on each side of the pump. Intake and outlet. Can't tell from the photo if yours has it on the outlet.

Jen

 

One of the jobs on my ever expanding list is to install a shallow tray underneath my water pump, with a water leak detector/alarm inside it.  I think I pinched the idea from one of your posts.

My water pump is sited under the front steps, and it started leaking about 2 weeks after I got the boat. 

I only found out about the leak because the water spread along the plywood floor, under the steps, and into the carpet I had at the time. 

The carpet was due to be replaced anyway, but I've put vinyl plank flooring down instead, and unlike the carpet, it will not show any signs of water leaking underneath it. 

The water pump will have been less than 6 years old (as was the boat), and it seems that kind of period is not uncommon as a lifespan for these pumps. 

It might be under more stress because I don't have an accumulator in my system, and I do usually run the water at a slow rate, which means the pump goes on and off every second or so. 

My other job will be to install an accumulator and perhaps reduce the stress on the pump, but I think installing a tray and a leak detector is something that will at some point in the future save me from a lot of mess and hassle, lifting the floors, sucking the leaked water from the bilge, and all the other unpleasant hassle involved with a leaking water pump that goes undetected for a while. 

After that, I'll be putting leak detectors in the bilges. 

Edited by Tony1
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I think my tank was a bit neglected until a couple of years ago when I spend a number of jolly hours sitting on a cushion in the dark (in the tank!!). Used to get bits of crud - never enough to obstruct flow but I like such things to be clean. Replaced it well before tank refurb though. New filter has a transparent bayonet crud chamber so easy to clean.

No crud in your filter? Maybe YOUR rust was in better condition than mine 🙄.

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