Re: T&T: AC WATER PUMPS
About a year ago I put a repair kit in my big Paragon AC fresh water pump;
this is the main one for the "house" supply, showers etc. The pump is driven by
the shaft of a big AC electric motor.
I have thought about getting rid of the whole set up and using a smaller pair
of DC fresh water pumps.
I spent some time this morning talking to Headhunter pumps in Florida; they
make a big AC pump called the Mark V and a big DC pump; I'm thinking I'm going
with the big AC pump; otherwise I have to run heavy four gauge from the DC
panel to the pump location with a 45 amp breaker; the big Headhunter AC pump is
$877.00 with a warranty and out of warranty they send you a new one exchange
for $375.00. All these pumps can use the existing accumulator tank; the AC pump
can use the existing AC wiring set up.
The Paragon pump is a pain; I'm told it is a "displacement" pump; very
strange inside when I put the repair kit in last year; supposedly they are more
likely to fail after a rebuild; the kit is $257.00.
The Paragon absolutely can never be run dry; the others are protected for
that; the Paragon pumps to a certain pressure, shuts off, then comes back on when
pressure drops to a set point. The Headhunters handle this by reducing RPM
and holding pressure at a steady point.
Seems to me the Headhunters are the better choice; and for me in AC not DC.
It's a bunch of money. I don't think I want to rebuild the Paragon again; I
could probably buy the whole pump assembly but I'd bet it's well over $400.00 and
still leaves it vulnerable to running dry or getting dry behind air in the
line; just not very robust and the Headhunters don't "cycle".
I have a DC freshwater pump that is handling things for now; low output; the
boat was set up when built with a small DC pump and the big AC Paragon;
previous owners ran the generator all the time, or shore power; I have a big
inverter and battery bank installed now so the AC pump is no problem.
Anybody got better ideas? Thanks. John
one problem with using an AC pump is that the day your inverter fails,
you're out of water and need to install a spare DC pump... or run the genset
everytime you need to wash your hands :-(
it's just another thing to worry about in my opinion...
My old Galleymaid sprung a leak a few months ago after running dry an entire
day... just the seal but i havent' rebuilt it yet. I had figured modern
is better and installed an electronic shurflo. yeah.. right... turns out
the electronic sensor doesn't like it when you turn off the battery charger
and the voltage goes down a little; it will stop if it was running at the
time and wont' restart... real convenienent. I guess the electronic measure
the amperage and the voltage difference affects that. have to go to the
panel, turn off the breaker for a while and then restart it....
I'm definitely goign to rebuild the galleymaid, that thing is nice,heavy and
overbuilt (a little noisy though). the seal is similar to the PSS dripless
shaft log, nicely done. And a simple phone call gets you to the helpful
folks who build these pumps... no computer menus, no bouncing from ext to
ext ...
pascal
miami, fl
70 hatteras 53my
----- Original Message -----
From: DosAbogadosIII@aol.com
To: trawlers-and-trawlering@lists.samurai.com
Cc: DosAbogadosIII@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, December 22, 2005 2:48 AM
Subject: Re: T&T: AC WATER PUMPS
About a year ago I put a repair kit in my big Paragon AC fresh water pump;
this is the main one for the "house" supply, showers etc. The pump is
driven by
the shaft of a big AC electric motor.
I have thought about getting rid of the whole set up and using a smaller
pair
of DC fresh water pumps.
I spent some time this morning talking to Headhunter pumps in Florida;
they
make a big AC pump called the Mark V and a big DC pump; I'm thinking I'm
going
with the big AC pump; otherwise I have to run heavy four gauge from the DC
panel to the pump location with a 45 amp breaker; the big Headhunter AC
pump is
$877.00 with a warranty and out of warranty they send you a new one
exchange
for $375.00. All these pumps can use the existing accumulator tank; the AC
pump
can use the existing AC wiring set up.
The Paragon pump is a pain; I'm told it is a "displacement" pump; very
strange inside when I put the repair kit in last year; supposedly they are
more
likely to fail after a rebuild; the kit is $257.00.
The Paragon absolutely can never be run dry; the others are protected for
that; the Paragon pumps to a certain pressure, shuts off, then comes back
on when
pressure drops to a set point. The Headhunters handle this by reducing RPM
and holding pressure at a steady point.
Seems to me the Headhunters are the better choice; and for me in AC not
DC.
It's a bunch of money. I don't think I want to rebuild the Paragon again;
I
could probably buy the whole pump assembly but I'd bet it's well over
$400.00 and
still leaves it vulnerable to running dry or getting dry behind air in the
line; just not very robust and the Headhunters don't "cycle".
I have a DC freshwater pump that is handling things for now; low output;
the
boat was set up when built with a small DC pump and the big AC Paragon;
previous owners ran the generator all the time, or shore power; I have a
big
inverter and battery bank installed now so the AC pump is no problem.
Anybody got better ideas? Thanks. John
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Aboard Ocean Lady I use a well pump purchased from Grainger and carry a new one as a spare. Additionally we have a DC (Groco) pump plumbed in parallel with two-way valves for when we're off A/C power. Only mods needed: a small, pressurized accumulator tank to absorb shut-off "bounce" and a low pressure cut-off switch.
George
M/V Ocean Lady
DosAbogadosIII@aol.com wrote:
About a year ago I put a repair kit in my big Paragon AC fresh water pump;
this is the main one for the "house" supply, showers etc. The pump is driven by
the shaft of a big AC electric motor.
I have thought about getting rid of the whole set up and using a smaller pair
of DC fresh water pumps.
I spent some time this morning talking to Headhunter pumps in Florida; they
make a big AC pump called the Mark V and a big DC pump; I'm thinking I'm going
with the big AC pump; otherwise I have to run heavy four gauge from the DC
panel to the pump location with a 45 amp breaker; the big Headhunter AC pump is
$877.00 with a warranty and out of warranty they send you a new one exchange
for $375.00. All these pumps can use the existing accumulator tank; the AC pump
can use the existing AC wiring set up.
The Paragon pump is a pain; I'm told it is a "displacement" pump; very
strange inside when I put the repair kit in last year; supposedly they are more
likely to fail after a rebuild; the kit is $257.00.
The Paragon absolutely can never be run dry; the others are protected for
that; the Paragon pumps to a certain pressure, shuts off, then comes back on when
pressure drops to a set point. The Headhunters handle this by reducing RPM
and holding pressure at a steady point.
Seems to me the Headhunters are the better choice; and for me in AC not DC.
It's a bunch of money. I don't think I want to rebuild the Paragon again; I
could probably buy the whole pump assembly but I'd bet it's well over $400.00 and
still leaves it vulnerable to running dry or getting dry behind air in the
line; just not very robust and the Headhunters don't "cycle".
I have a DC freshwater pump that is handling things for now; low output; the
boat was set up when built with a small DC pump and the big AC Paragon;
previous owners ran the generator all the time, or shore power; I have a big
inverter and battery bank installed now so the AC pump is no problem.
Anybody got better ideas? Thanks. John
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DosAbogadosIII@aol.com writes:
Anybody got better ideas? Thanks. John
Hi there,
on Island Eagle I put in two PAR Sensor Max VSD pumps. These are electronic
pumps which run at variable speeds depending on the demand. I ran a suction
line from the port tank to one pump and starboard to the other, with a
crossover valve for emergencies.
There are three things I like about this setup:
-
The pumps have been excellent. Lots of pressure, even with multiple
fixtures in use. They are quiet, too. -
If I need even more pressure I can run two pumps in parallel (handy when
there are lots of people on board). -
Best of all, I usually just run a single pump at a time. However I wired
each pump to a separate breaker, so I can choose whether I am pulling water
from the starboard or port tank just by flipping a breaker (easy) rather than
crawling into the shaft ally and moving valve handles (hard).
I did have one pump failure, which was quickly replaced under warranty (of
course, I have just used the pump to empty a full 750 gallon water tank...).
Scott Welch
www.islandeagle.net
"The person who makes no mistakes usually doesn't make anything"
Interesting thread. We rebuilt our Paragon Sr. pump after about 10
years of trouble free operation. It was hard to find the bits and they
were expensive (with shipping about $300).
But, this discussion has us thinking...why not just replace the 12-volt
pressure pump with a standard AC-operated shallow-well pressure pump? A
quick look at our favourite hardware store shows a whole range of these,
some as cheap as $200. We used to have one in our cottage and it was
tough as nails.
Of course, this suggestion assumes that one has an inverter to run it,
but they only have 1/3 to 1/2 horsepower motors, so the draw would not
really be that great. A little inverter to run it would only need to be
rated at about 500 watts; again, cheap to buy and easy to find. One
could carry a spare in case it failed and still be way ahead
financially.
Cheers,
Maurice & Louise-Ann
AKAMA