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water pump being weird

doratheexplorer

By doratheexplorer
in Boat Equipment

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doratheexplorer Veteran

doratheexplorer

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This is all very helpful knowledge. I’ve never converse on matters of accumulators before. And I’ve learned many new impressive sounding acronyms. 

 

I bow down before the gods of the forum. Now can I finish this bottle of wine?

4 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

8 - unlikely if it blips every 5 minutes as Dora claimed in the question. Not even if every 10 or 20 minutes - even without an accumulator.

 

One of the leaks far more likely.

It might be every 20 mins. It is 24/7 though. 

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Sea Dog Veteran II

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6 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

Aha!!  What pressure should it be?

I wouldn’t know. 

Someone said 15psi earlier Dora - I think I recall mine being 12psi so you won't be miles out with that sort of figure. Enough to know if your bag (inside the accumulator) is about right or if it's gone flat anyway.  Get yourself a foot pump with a gauge on it from a car accessory shop, then you can both check it and pump it up if needs be.

 

Before all that though, turn your pump off (or pull the fuse) then open a tap - water should flow for a few seconds (silently!) if your accumulator is doing its job.  Similarly, when the pump is switched on, turn on a tap so ypthe pump runs constantly - when you then turn the tap off, the pump should run for a few seconds sounding like it's working harder and harder til it stops.  If it doesn't do those things - do the foot pump thing!

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rusty69 Veteran II

rusty69

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3 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

I bow down before the gods of the forum. Now can I finish this bottle of wine?

No Dora, you must explorer

more-er before tomorrer. 

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rusty69 Veteran II

rusty69

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Posted (edited)
2 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

It’s a Jabco 1.9. 

 

The accumulator is hard to get at behind the cauliflower so a foot pump won’t reach I think. 

I’ll be the judge of that. 

Oh, ok. 15 psi is ok for the 1.9 too. But tge accumulator is usually near the pump. The cauliflower may have an expansion vessel too (not sure what that should be set too) 

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Dr Bob Veteran II

Dr Bob

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I am not convinced the tap thingy will help that much....in theory it should. Example:

 

6 months ago my ailing Jabsco 2.9 was giving up. I bought a new one and a week later a second new one as a back up. Both from the same source. First one connected up. Great. Accumulator working well ( looks like a 10 ltr one). Turn of the pump, open a tap and about a liter of water comes out. Tap off, pump on and the pump runs for a minute to repressurise. 

About a month later, I had a problem with the switch to the water pump and switched over to the second pump before I realized about the switch. Anyway, with the new pump in circuit, turn off pump, open tap and a squirt comes out. Turn pump on, tap off and it's up to pressure in a second. It's though the accumulator wasn't there. I ran it like this for a few weeks but got fed up of it so put the first pump back in and the accumulator is working fine again. I guess the second pump is set at a lower pressure and I need to twiddle with the pressure screw. I will do that when it is called into service again.

The point of all this is that the accumulator may be fine even if the tap test doesn't show it.

My accumulator is placed strategically next to the pump but with top next to the bulkhead so can't get a pressure gauge on it.

Not sure this helps Dora at all. If I got my water pipes a makeover, I would put a tap after the pump/accumulator and one after the kitchen/bathroom so I could isolate the cauliflower to check for leaks in the different areas.

 

Thinking again about Dora's problem, if access to the accumulator is a problem and it was like my system, increasing the pump pressure would cause the accumulator to work so instead of a one second burst of pump every 20 mins, it would pump for a minute twice a day which then gets lost in the daily usage.

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philjw Proficient

philjw

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10 hours ago, doratheexplorer said:

The accumulator is hard to get at behind the cauliflower so a foot pump won’t reach I think. 

Are you sure that that one is the accumulator for the cold water system and not an expansion vessel for the hot water?  Most commonly the accumulator is close to the pump (but they can be anywhere in the cold supply.

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MtB Veteran II

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No-one has mentioned so far a critical point.

 

When both checking the pressure in the accumulator and when recharging it, first the electricity to the water pump must be turned OFF and the a hot tap opened wide. Only then will you get a meaningful reading at the Schrader valve. 

 

The pressure will ideally be set to a shade below the cut-in pressure of the water pump switch which for a Jabsco 2.9 is about 1.3 bar. So 1.1 to 1.2 bar is perfect (16-18psi).

 

I predict the OP's pressure will read zero once the pump is off and the hot tap opened, so will need pumping up. When pumping it up to 1.2 bar a large quantity of water will be expelled from the hot tap, this being the water inside the expansion vessel which shouldn't be there. While water is still coming from the hot tap as you pump, the pressure will refuse to rise. One the water stops being expelled, the pressure will start to rise then stop pumping when it gets to 18psi.

 

Now shut the hot tap and turn the electricity to the water pump back ON. The pump will run for 30-45 seconds then turn itself OFF, and the problem will be solved.

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MtB Veteran II

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10 minutes ago, philjw said:

Are you sure that that one is the accumulator for the cold water system and not an expansion vessel for the hot water?  Most commonly the accumulator is close to the pump (but they can be anywhere in the cold supply.

 

This is a moste goodly point. 

 

The accumulator will usually be next to the water pump, if there is one at all. The boat builder may not have fitted one as the Jabsco claims to work without one. They do however work a helluvalot better WITH one, and if there isn't one, I'd suggest fitting one. 

 

If there isn't one, this fault is probably being caused by the non-return valve in the water inlet to the cauliflower letting by. A trivial fault which will be masked by having an accumulator on the water pump. 

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rusty69 Veteran II

rusty69

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15 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

 

The pressure will ideally be set to a shade below the cut-in pressure of the water pump switch which for a Jabsco 2.9 is about 1.3 bar. So 1.1 to 1.2 bar is perfect (16-18psi).

 

 

OP has a jabsco 1.9

7 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

This is a moste goodly point. 

 

The accumulator will usually be next to the water pump, if there is one at all. The boat builder may not have fitted one as the Jabsco claims to work without one. They do however work a helluvalot better WITH one, and if there isn't one, I'd suggest fitting one. 

 

 

I may have alluded to this yesterday before passing out in a drunken stupor. I can't remember, its all a hazy blur (is that a band?) 

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MtB Veteran II

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3 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

OP has a jabsco 1.9

 

 

I had no idea they made such a weedy pump!

 

Cut-in pressure is probably still the same though, but check. 

 

 

4 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

I may have alluded to this yesterday before passing out in a drunken stupor. I can't remember, its all a hazy blur (is that a band?) 

 

Who reads the whole thread here anyway before jumping in with both feet?!

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rusty69 Veteran II

rusty69

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1 minute ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Can you check if you checked?

I could check, if i checked through my browser history, but being in a drunken stupor evening last, i may come across other stuff in the history best forgotten. 

 

It would be quicker just to look. 

Screenshot_20180721-100302.png

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MtB Veteran II

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2 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

I could check, if i checked through my browser history, but being in a drunken stupor evening last, i may come across other stuff in the history best forgotten. 

 

 

 

I'm puzzled. You write as though this is not your normal state of affairs....

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