PDQ OWNERS FORUM

The maserator pump on Plush Toy is shutting off (the breaker actually trips) after it runs for about 15 seconds. It seems as if the outflow pipe is blocked. We jumped in the water to see if some marine life had clogged the outlet, but we couldnt find the through hull. Does anyone know where this is located? Any other suggestions on what we should check?

We are prepping the boat for a trip to Regatta Time in the Abacos, so any help would be appreciated.

have you removed the pump and checked the impeller? once the impeller is damaged the pump will never pump until it's replaced. if you remove the pump attach a piece of hose to the input side and put in a bucket of water. wire it temporarily and see if it pumps. if it doesn't take it apart (or see link below).

i believe the shutoff occurs because the motor is heating up. check for air leaks between the tank and the pump impeller housing.

we had never ending problems with macerator so we replaced with this diaphragm pump. 7 years later no problems.

http://search.defender.com/?expression= ... Trigger=ac

Ditto what John said. The more times you cycle thru the hi temp shutoff, the faster it will shut off in the future. I replaced mine with a diaphragm pump.

To answer your question the outlet is under the head, you will find a 1.5" thru hull shut off there but that is seldom the problem.
The standard macerator pumps have been a continuing problem on all boats. The quality of the pumps is poor and the failure rate is high. The recommendation to convert to a diaphragm pump is a good one as these seem to work well and seldom fail. There are not "plug and play" and some plumbing alterations will be required. Jabsco does make one that requires a minimum of installation effort. Going with a manual pump is also a good solution. The mounting bolts are already in place (forward on the underside of the deck) and they never fail !!!

Thanks everyone. We considered the diaphragm pump but took the easy way out and just replaced with a new Jabsco - took just a few minutes. Perhaps we will get bolder the next time around, but for now, I was very happy that it was an easy clean job. We leave for our first Bahamas trip early next week. Our plan is to live on the PDQ while racing our Corsair in the Abacos. If any PDQ's are in the area, come say HELLO.

Are we talking about the pump in the Jabsco Head, or the pump forward in the Starboard Front locker?

the pump in the forward locker which pumps the holding tank overboard where it's legal.

Yep, we have done that one!

With only limited use my second Jabsco pump has already packed it in. I would appreciate learning from anyone who has already switched to a diaphram pump what product you chose and what plumbing alterations were needed. The simplest approach is preferred, even if it involves going to a manual pump solution.

Thanks!

John

hi john,

here is one we switched to.

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/sealand- ... 2v--410878

shop around, you can get cheaper. this is an industry quality pump.

to install, you'll have to buy about 6' of 1-1/2" waste hose and a u shaped plastic vented loop (forespar ?). we have an early boat and i know they changed where things are, so i can't help there. general project is:1) find a place to mount the new pump. preferred orientation is vertical. 2) connect Y valve to intake on pump 3) connect pump output to vented loop 4) connect other end of vented loop to the 1-1/2" to 1" adapter (comes with pump) 5) hookup exiting wiring. took me a full morning to have operational.

we did the switch 8 seasons ago and have never had to touch pump! last season i checked and cleaned the duckbill valves "just because". they were in near perfect condition.

this one of those changes "that takes a beatin' and keeps on tickin'". you won't be disappointed.

Thanks for the information and description John. It will be very helpfull if we switch to the Sealand. Because these pumps are quite expensive in Canada ($500+) and we pump overboard infrequently, I'm also looking into a manual pump solution (e.g. Whale Mk5). Did you give any consideration to switching to a manual pump at the time you made the replacement?

no. we go to the bahamas and pumpout quite often.

physically, the whale and sealand are about the same size so everything i described still applies. you just have to make sure you that you have the room for the pumping action in the new location.

With some knowlegeable help, we managed to get our Jabsco macerator pump working again. This was done by removing the overboard discharge hose from the pumps's discharge fitting and filling the vertical opening with fresh water. After reconnecting the hose the pump started working as if there had never been a problem. It was my understanding that the Jabsco pumps were self priming, but in this case it's apparent that a loss of prime was the problem. So, if you experience a similar situation - lots of whirring but no pumping - I recommend trying this trick before giving up on the pump.

In the future I'll likely replace the Jabsco pump with another solution, but for now at least it seems I've bought some more time.

I also think loss of prime is the problem. I owned "Here"s 2 Life" for 17 years, and those pumps were always problem. About year 15, while trying to make it work, I discovered what may have been a design flaw. When you separate the motor from the macerator I noticed corrosion in the bottom of that empty space where the motors shaft goes through. I figured the the water that was there for priming had seeped through the shaft seal into the empty space. I cut a piece of rubber hose long enough to fit tightly in that empty space, filled it with grease, slid it over the shaft and reassembled it. The hose was squeezed tightly against the motor and the macerator housing. The grease inside the hose stopped the leakage, and the pump worked for 2 more years, and as far as I know is still working for the new owners in the Caribbean
I hope you could understand my rambling, Marc

John&Ria wrote:With some knowlegeable help, we managed to get our Jabsco macerator pump working again. This was done by removing the overboard discharge hose from the pumps's discharge fitting and filling the vertical opening with fresh water. After reconnecting the hose the pump started working as if there had never been a problem. It was my understanding that the Jabsco pumps were self priming, but in this case it's apparent that a loss of prime was the problem. So, if you experience a similar situation - lots of whirring but no pumping - I recommend trying this trick before giving up on the pump.

In the future I'll likely replace the Jabsco pump with another solution, but for now at least it seems I've bought some more time.

I

The standard macerator pump provided with the PDQ's to empty the holding tank is a very disappointing piece of equipment. After testing several manufacturers units I could not find one that was of good quality that we could recommend. However we did try several diaphragm pumps....all of which worked well for quite long periods (several years). If your macerator pump is giving problems I would definitely recommend switching to a diaphragm unit or, if you seldom use it, install the manual diaphragm unit. The mounting studs are already installed which makes the installation easy.