Water pump (or rather no more water pump)

[paulam]

Hello to everyone,

 

I'm new to boating and this is my first post, more of a cry for help.

 

So I spent 4 full weekends and long hours after work to get the boat ready to move in this weekend (I'll be living aboard full time) and then yesterday as I was doing the last bit of cleaning the water pump stopped, as simple as that, the little pump thing went silent and running water stopped. At first I thought maybe I ran out of water so I topped up the tank but... still nothing. I had a look at the little thing under the sink but couldn't see anything obvious (faulty wires, loose pieces, smell) and that's how far I could go as I have **no clue** about these issues (I'm planning on learning though). I also considered it could be a general electric problem but the 12v system seems to be working fine in general.

 

The model is a Flojet R4305-500 - like this one: http://www.jabscoshop.com/flojet-marine-products/flojet-water-system-pumps/r4305500a-pressure-controlled-pump.htm

 

So here is my question: is there anything obvious/simple that I should look at? I wish there was a reboot button... =/

 

If I can't fix it myself today (very unlikely) then I'll get someone from the marina to look at it although not happy at all with this idea, they have already gave me absolutely insane quotations for work that I ended up doing myself or in other places.

 

Many thanks in advance for reading my message, any help will be much appreciated.

 

Cheers,

Paula

[bottle]

fuse?

 

If you have a volt meter/multi meter check whether the supply is there, work your way back along the wiring (you will lose most of it) to the battery.

[Robbo]

I would check the fuses first. It helps if you have a multimeter (even a cheap one) just to confirm if the pump is getting electric.

 

Edit, looks like Bottle beat me too it!

 

PS. A cheap £5 multimeter is a very worthwhile investment for find faults in electrics!

Edited June 24, 2012 by Robbo

[grahame r]

Welcome to the forum. As others have said its best to check if there's an electrical supply to the pump. If you had run out of water the pump would run continuously and you would need to switch it off at the panel of switches usually by the rear door, check that it hasn't been accidentally switched off already. If not then open a tap and try hitting the pump with a screwdriver or similar, not too hard. If all else fails it's time to introduce yourself to your new neighbours.

[ditchcrawler]

Welcome to the forum. As others have said its best to check if there's an electrical supply to the pump. If you had run out of water the pump would run continuously and you would need to switch it off at the panel of switches usually by the rear door, check that it hasn't been accidentally switched off already. If not then open a tap and try hitting the pump with a screwdriver or similar, not too hard. If all else fails it's time to introduce yourself to your new neighbours.

Caution, not all boats have switches near the rear door and there could well be a switch local to the pump that has been switched off

[bizzard]

Caution, not all boats have switches near the rear door and there could well be a switch local to the pump that has been switched off

Agreed they can be anywhere,depends on the fitterouterer.Sometimes near the pump,sometimes near the galley sink, in the corridor next to the bathroom door,and sometimes as Grahame says up at the back on the main control panel.

[paulam]

The fuse! I didn't think of that, I'm buying a multimeter tomorrow to check this, the switch is also beneath the sink, very close to the water pump so it shouldn't be too hard to find out if this is the problem.

 

Thank you all for the help and advice, the whole boat adventure feels now a little less scary.

 

Cheers,

Paula