I was draining anti-freeze out of my fresh water tanks today when pump stopped working. Any advice? Where is pump? Where is fuse? Specs for new pump? Pressure was always low. Difficult job to change out pump?
Where is water pressure pump on Catalina 320?
- Thread starter Ted10028
- Start date
When you said it stopped working, do you mean it stopped running entirely, as in no noise coming from it? If so the first thing I’d check (after finding it) is whether it’s still getting voltage. Use a multimeter for that, probing the wires or connector where they meet the pump. If you have 12+ volts something in the pump probably went bad - maybe the pressure regulator switch or the motor itself. I’d you don’t have 12V there check the breaker on the panel and try to see if there’s another fuse or way you can with backwards from the pump to see where the voltage stops.
If the pump is still making noise but not moving water, first check that the tank actually still has water in it. If so look at the supply line to see if it has an inline filter that may have clogged.
If the pump is still making noise but not moving water, first check that the tank actually still has water in it. If so look at the supply line to see if it has an inline filter that may have clogged.
Great information thanks! yes it just stop making noise completely. I see no obvious fuse or breaker. I will check to see if there is power at the pump. If there is I guess I will just change the pump. Thanks again
The switch on the panel is a breaker, they are all breakers.
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so then I guess it is not the breaker which probably points to the water pump. thanks for the help
You have 2 water tanks as you probably know. I consider the primary tank to be the one under the aft berth. The second is under the v-berth. There should be 2 valves under the aft berth port side that switch between the tanks. It's a PIA so some 320 owners have made a modification to put the valves under the sink with the access door under the nav table. You can read how it is done in the Cat 320 Association. It is not a good idea to open both tanks simultaneously. For some reason, the draw of water just doesn't work well. I think that drawing from 2 tanks simultaneously just increases the friction losses and can leave you with no water when you least expect it.
Not exactly sure what you mean by low water pressure. If you are getting low pressure at the faucets, it could be because the screens in the faucets are clogged. There should also be a strainer next to the pump and that may be clogged as well. Since you hadn't found the pump before, you wouldn't have seen the tank valves or the strainer, either. Perhaps you have an accumulator tank there, too. That device may also be affecting pressure. I didn't have an accumulator tank until I added one, so you may not have one - probably not a standard feature.
I found that water was restricted between the v-berth tank and the pump because the water delivery line is too small, the run is too long, and the installation included too many 90 degree fittings under the v-berth. I think that this is an inherent problem and it causes stress on the pump. Catalina uses 15 mm PEX tubing that isn't even 1/2" inside diameter. With the friction losses created by this installation, water delivery from the v-berth tank to the pump is inadequate. The pump isn't designed to suck the water out of the tank at the proper rate. The pump depends on adequate delivery by gravity and only provides pressure on the pressure side of the system. When water delivery is stunted, the pump suffers. It doesn't impact the primary tank because the run is very short and friction losses are far less. I couldn't increase the diameter of the PEX pipe without a major project but I did install 3/4" tubing at the exit from the v-berth tank (the restriction at the tank outlet is a big friction loss) and I eliminated all 90 degree bends that I could access with sweeps and/or 45 degree fittings. This improved my system. Catalina fell down on this system in my opinion.
You should easily find a replacement pump in-kind or similar. I replaced mine with a ShurFlo 4 GPM Aqua King. There are several other comparable models, just do some reading on the descriptions. Some advocate for a variable rate pump. Others claim that variable rate pumps are not reliable. The variable rate pumps are supposed to eliminate the need for an accumulator tank. I found that the smallest accumulator tanks don't add any real benefit to the system. But they do serve some benefit. Room for an accumulator tank is limited.
Not exactly sure what you mean by low water pressure. If you are getting low pressure at the faucets, it could be because the screens in the faucets are clogged. There should also be a strainer next to the pump and that may be clogged as well. Since you hadn't found the pump before, you wouldn't have seen the tank valves or the strainer, either. Perhaps you have an accumulator tank there, too. That device may also be affecting pressure. I didn't have an accumulator tank until I added one, so you may not have one - probably not a standard feature.
I found that water was restricted between the v-berth tank and the pump because the water delivery line is too small, the run is too long, and the installation included too many 90 degree fittings under the v-berth. I think that this is an inherent problem and it causes stress on the pump. Catalina uses 15 mm PEX tubing that isn't even 1/2" inside diameter. With the friction losses created by this installation, water delivery from the v-berth tank to the pump is inadequate. The pump isn't designed to suck the water out of the tank at the proper rate. The pump depends on adequate delivery by gravity and only provides pressure on the pressure side of the system. When water delivery is stunted, the pump suffers. It doesn't impact the primary tank because the run is very short and friction losses are far less. I couldn't increase the diameter of the PEX pipe without a major project but I did install 3/4" tubing at the exit from the v-berth tank (the restriction at the tank outlet is a big friction loss) and I eliminated all 90 degree bends that I could access with sweeps and/or 45 degree fittings. This improved my system. Catalina fell down on this system in my opinion.
You should easily find a replacement pump in-kind or similar. I replaced mine with a ShurFlo 4 GPM Aqua King. There are several other comparable models, just do some reading on the descriptions. Some advocate for a variable rate pump. Others claim that variable rate pumps are not reliable. The variable rate pumps are supposed to eliminate the need for an accumulator tank. I found that the smallest accumulator tanks don't add any real benefit to the system. But they do serve some benefit. Room for an accumulator tank is limited.