FW System on Searay (Upgrade??)

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brimanst

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Mar 27, 2003
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11325
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I have a 480DB searay, and would like to get better water pressure at my showers. The original configuration is two 3.3GPM at 45PSI Shurflo pumps in parallel. I do not think there is an accumulator tank.

I am thinking about putting in the newer variable speed pumps that put out 4.5GPM at 50PSI and restrict them down to 45PSI.

Will this solution be adequite and not require an accumulation tank? Will these newer variable speed pumps work well in parallel?

Thanks for any help with this. And then I will need to get quotes for the parts.
 
One of the problems you run into on a boat is the pipe size. Most modern boats use Qwest or PEX gray plastic pipe and fittings. This stuff isn't very big as far as the actual diameter of the inside of the piping. So you can get bigger and higher volume pumps, but only so much water is going to go through the piping, regardless of how big the pump(s) is/are. Increasing the pump size will help to some degree, but you aren't likely to get the pressure and volume that you get at home in the shower - unless you increase the size of the piping.
 
i've had terrible experience with the Shurflo electronic... not just an issue with 32v which led Shurflo into pulling the 32v version but the first one got a leak in the diaphragm/seal which filled the motor with water. apparently there is no drain bet the diaph. and the motor and the shaft seal can't hold the pressure...

They sent me a free replacement 2 months ago, non electronic, and now the pressure switch is acting up... not shutting down the pump. a few days ago i found a burning hot pump running slow with every faucet closed and a pressure gauge pegged at 100+ PSI ! Need I say that i'm grateful for Hatteras copper plumbing ? i dont' think the plastic tubing found in modern boat would have held...

i still have an old raritan press swith on my accumulator tank that's I've connected instead of the shurflo switch.
 
Pascal, is your Hatt one of the ol' 32 volt DC systems? That kind of limits your selection of available pressure pumps to replace it with. ShurFlo's quality seems to go back and forth in cycles - evidently they're on a "down cycle" at the moment.

The variable-speed Jabsco pump has been getting pretty good reviews lately, although I don't know offhand, if they make it in 32 volts.

Through the years, 32 volt DC equipment has been the bane of my existence. They just don't seem to hold up as well as 12 volt units. They are only on about 8-10% of the boats that are in the water, and they seem to give me about 30% of the problems that I run across. Then, every now and then I run across an old 32 volt POSITIVE GROUND system - Egad, I want to bury my head in the sand when one of them pops up!
 
32v positive ground ? i thought only the only positive ground "things" where old british cars... :-)

the Shurflo was not a true 32v... but a 24-32v unit. the tech at the Mia boat show explained that the higher voltages from chargers and the drop when they shut off woudl confuse the electronics and since the market was too small for a true 32v unit they pulled the 32v labelling.

it's not hard to find 32v stuff, a lot can be rebuilt anyway... i still have the original Galley Maid pump, i just need to rebuild the seals after it ran dry for hours but the motor is perfect... WM usually stocks a few 32v items like rule 2000s and 3600, some bulbs...

yes there are step down converters to feed 12 or 24v items of 32v systems but i have a larger 12v inverter bank which i use to power the electronics, a couple or shower sumps, etc... so i could use 12v if i had to.
 
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