Dang-blasted cooling pump for fridge!

[DayDream2]

Hey Hunter friends,
I bought this boat almost two years ago and have been through two freshwater cooling pumps for the fridge in that time.

The boat is a 2000 Hunter 420, and we love it. The pump is a submersible March pump. I'm not sure why they use submersible, it's totally sealed and should never see water that high in the boat. It's mounted under the floor in the galley, a good 12" above the top of the bilge.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Do you have any other suggestions on what I could use besides the $350 March pump?

Thanks!

 

[sailor420]

We also have a 2000 420. When we got it new it came from the factory with a fresh water cooled fridg. It was nothing but trouble. The small 12v dc pump would always burn out due to sediment buildup in the water line leading to the compressor. Finally got feed up and replaced the compressor with a air cooled unit. Has worked flawlessly for the last 15 years

 

[JamesG161]

have been through two freshwater cooling pumps

What was the failure of the previous pumps?
March magnetic coupled pumps are used for pumping fluids that shouldn't be "leaking" through a worn out pump seal.
I would suspect your old pumps have an easy fix if the motor is still good.
_________
Submersible pumps are "water tight" and are normally NOT self priming. Give us your old Model number, because the key to a replacement is flow rate needed and elevation of pump suction as related to your boat actual water line level.
Jim...

 

[kloudie1]

The pumps are "seal-less" , a good reason to use them.. I don't know which one you are using but something like this ? http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|2061076|2061077|2234240&id=2205939 can be a good bit less than $350. Note that the model 893-04 must be submerged for cooling..
March makes a high quality "brushless" motor driven seal less pump that might be much better for your application:
http://www.marchpump.com/pumps/series-893/893-07/
It appears to have an upper voltage limit of 14 V DC which could be a problem if it is running during high charge rates or equalization on shore power? A call to March to discuss your particular application might be in order..
A possible vendor: http://pumpbiz.com/manufacturer/march/893-12v-24v-dc-submersible-pumps-3gpm-6333
Hope this helps..

 

[Bill Roosa]

You might want to consider if it is really going bad due to poor design. On my 35.5 Hunter had the same type pump and it would loose prime on a port tack. the unit was drawing water from near the centerline of the boat but the pump was higher up on the port side. Heel over the boat and the pump goes above the water line. One cycle of the pump and it looses its prime. The compressor temp sensor then commands the pump on to cool the condenser and the pump runs till you figure out the reefer is not cooling. took a whole season of warm beer to figure it out. Occasionally the running pump would prime itself on a starboard tack but that required a pretty good amount of heel to make that happen.
moving the pump lower in the boat and closer to the centerline fixed the problem.
FWIW

 

[DayDream2]

Thank you all... I'll get the model number and report back. Grateful for your input.

 

[justsomeguy]

I'm not sure why they use submersible, it's totally sealed and should never see water that high in the boat.

From this old post of yours, just how high above the waterline is your pump?