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Electrical help with bilge pump wiring, please

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Hi,

My Jabsco bilge pump sounded very sluggish and then stopped working. Not being familiar with the pump, nor very handy, I took it apart carefully, starting at the top. I found the two copper brushes held in place by springs (very annoying to get them back in place later!), then the main wiring/armature, I think, and at the bottom, accessible via four screws, the impeller. Everything looked slightly corroded, so I cleaned it all up and put it together again, attaching the hoses in the same way as before. Also, the 15 amp fuse had blown, so I replaced it.

The pump works nicely now, except that it blows bubbles rather than suck the water. I'm not sure why it's doing this as the hoses are attached in the same manner as before, and I think I put the pump together in the same way as before--there only seemed to be one way.

I am guessing that for some reason the motor is turning the opposite way from before, so the impeller pulls air from outside and blows it into the bilge creating bubbles.

How do I correct this? I am considering cutting out the splices on the wires going into the pump and reversing them in the hopes that the motor will turn the opposite/correct way, but I don't know if this will solve it. I would appreciate any explanation for why this has happened and any advice on how to fix it.

Thanks,
Frank
 

newpbs

Member III
?? Reverse the wiring

I have no experience with that specific pump, so I cannot address your specific situation. However, I can add that if you switch the electrical wires the motor will reverse it's rotation. That will most likely not change the way the pump moves water. Try it, it would help you to understand what it wrong. I would look at the way the pump actually functions with specific attention given to the check valves. The check valves keep thewater moving in the proper direction.

Good luck

Paul
 

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Thanks, Paul. I don't think this pump has any check valves. It's just the copper brushes at the armature, the armature windings and the impellor. I am hoping that reversing the wires will change the rotation of the motor and therefore the impellor so it sucks water rather than blow bubbles. I am still at a loss as to why the motor would be going in the opposite direction, as it only seemed to come apart and fit back together one way.

I am also wondering if I might have reassembled the impellor housing so that what used to be the input hose is now the output hose. The impellor housing is a symmetrical square, so it may be that I reversed it after cleaning it up. I am thinking that the position of the cam inside the housing in relation to the input/output might be a factor.

I'll try reversing the impellor housing, and if that doesn't work, I'll change the positive/negative wires tomorrow to see if it helps.

Thanks again. Any other explanation or advice would still be welcome, so I don't do unnecessary work or do damage to the pump.

Frank
 
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Guy Stevens

Moderator
Moderator
Is the A Par Jabsco with the belt on it, kind of looks like a sewing machine?

If it is then you have the two fittings that come into the box in the wrong place switch them back. One of them has a check valve in it.

I don't have one in front of me, but I think the standard orientation is that the right one if looking at the side with the fittings on it, is the one with the check valve.

Guy
:)
 

E33MikeOx

Member II
This sounds like the same Jabsco pump that was original equipment in my 1982 E-33. It gave me fits! Would bind up and stall. If I greased up the impeller, it would work for awhile, then not. The pump was factory mounted in absolutely the MOST inaccessible location! My solution was a new multi chamber diaphram pump relocated to a highly accessible loction. The new pump outputs probably twice the water. It works for me!

Mike O.
E-33 JP Foolish, hull #25

P.S.: If anybody wants the old pump, it's your for the cost of shipping! MO
 

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Thanks for the replies so far. I think it is the standard Jabsco pump that came with Ericsons. It looks like the current Water Puppy, not like a sewing machine as Guy asked. It doesn't have a belt on it and looks like a simple armiture housing and below that, the impellor housing with a cam and an inlet and outlet for the 3/4" hoses. The pump is all metal, no plastic. It has worked fine for the last six years I've owned the boat, and probably before then, so I would like to keep it if I can get it working properly again. (I'm also on a budget and would prefer not to spend money on a new pump, given other priorities). Also, given that the motor is running fine again, I think it's still serviceable, I just need to get it sucking the water out, rather than blowing bubbles in the bilge.

Any further suggestions would be much appreciated!

Frank
 

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Solved this problem, might help others...

Hi,

So having repaired my Jabsco bilge pump the motor worked fine but it pumped air into the bilge rather than sucking water out. I thought that maybe reversing the positive/negative electrical wires would reverse the motor and fix it, but I found in the manual that this could damage the motor, so I didn't do it.

I did solve the problem by reversing the impellor housing by 180 degrees, ie. the input became the output and vice versa. I guess it's easy when taking the whole pump apart to put the motor housing on the impellor housing either way, as it is symmetrical. There is a 50/50 chance of getting it right or wrong.

So if your pump blows air rather than sucking water, just remove the two bolts at the bottom holding the impellor housing, turn the housing 180 degrees and reinstall, and the pump will suck properly.

I guess they made it this way so it could be mounted in either direction on various bulkheads.

Hope that helps someone down the road....and my pump works properly again without spending more money.

Frank
 
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