replacing fresh water pump 1987 3607

[mjk1040]

Yep! That's the puppy I replaced my Shurflo with. So quite!

[bud37]

Got a question for you guys with this type of pump......
This recirculating bypass pump allows you to just have a tap cracked open without the pulsing....I get that, so if the tap is off and you open it for just a short time does the pump come on , or does it act like an accumulator as well and allow short water runs with no pump on ??

Looks like a nice pump.

[Midnightsun]

It will turn on even if you crack it.

[Viper]

Qr Bbpost.....I had put in one of the "smart sensor" pumps and that was a BIG mistake.........

I agree. I don't like them. Thought they would be good upgrades despite the price tag but have had to deal with too many failures. Some things are just best when they're a simple design...less to go wrong than the over-engineered stuff.

[RGrew176]

I think my boat has the competitors pump. Since I do have an accumulator tank I have no real issues. That Seaflow pump is very quiet running too. That's nice.

[Midnightsun]

Qr Bbpost

Qr Bbpost.....I had put in one of the "smart sensor" pumps and that was a BIG mistake.........

I agree. I don't like them. Thought they would be good upgrades despite the price tag but have had to deal with too many failures. Some things are just best when they're a simple design...less to go wrong than the over-engineered stuff.

I have had multiple failures on previous boats with smart sensor variable pumps. Amazon ratings and forums also concur they are not great at all in terms of reliability. Oddly enough the same variable pump I speak of came factory with my Carver, no issues yet (10 years) however I do have a Seaflo as shown above on standby as there is nothing worse than having the water pump go south when you are out for the weekend or on vacation as it sure puts a damper on things when you cannot use water which in my case also means the heads.

This damper is somewhat eliminated since I installed the lake water draw selector/conversion last season which draws from a separate wash-down pump. See here. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3204&p=21171&hilit=solenoid#p21171


I got into a rather hot debate with Jabsco regarding the last failed variable pump (previous boat). They refused to warranty it due to it being installed where there is an accumulator tank even though I do not have one. Get this, they asked me if I had a water heater on board to which the answer is yes as it would be on 95% of all installations, "This is the same as an accumulator" they said and therefor no warranty! They finally did send me a new unit however I switched the pump with my wash-down pump where there is no "accumulator" and that same pump is still running fine today on my previous boat.

[bud37]

Qr Bbpost "This is the same as an accumulator" they said and therefor no warranty!

Hans, did they elaborate on how this accumulator effect damages their pump. A p.d. pump needs to put the pressure somewhere or there is trouble, but this seaflo appears to use two strategies to deal with it, bypass recirc and variable speed......almost makes it a centrifugal while the bypass is open....I wonder if it would be tricky to get the pressure setting right so it would shut off properly ?

[Midnightsun]

No they did not, their engineers would never give info that could tarnish their product. Web is much to informative nowadays. Bottom line is you cannot install this pump if you have a water heater. Well I guess you could but you just forfeited the warranty.

My issue was I am cheap so I ordered it through eBay US for much less and therefor needed to go through the local CDN distributor for warranty. I presume if you purchased it through a local marine store they would except the return no questions asked. I did find out what the issue was through my discussions with Jabsco though.

If they would mention this caveat in the documentation I suspect nobody would buy the pump with exception to some smaller boats and some blow boats. Then again this is a high volume very expensive pump.

[km1125]

The "water heater is an accumulator" argument is absurd. That means air is trapped in your water heater which means you're not getting full use of the water heater and risk burning out an element. If there is some trapped air in there it will eventually be absorbed by the water and work itself out of the system. That is why real accumulators need a bladder so this does not happen. When the water heater is full it is the same as just having longer lines around the boat, so their argument really should be "our pump can only be used with one faucet" or something like that. Just stupid would be my impression.

[Midnightsun]

The "water heater is an accumulator" argument is absurd

I agree however never try to argue with an engineer. The only thing a water heater may do is affect the pressure by increasing it as the water gets hotter due to expansion until the point that the relief valve on the heater may relieve a little pressure. This is not an accumulator.