bertram31.com

Like many of us, I've been through a lot of washdown pumps - they just don't seem to last real well. Mine has been under the back deck which is not a very dry location, but still, I've coated them, put 'hats' over them, all kinds of stuff and they fail in a year or so. Sooooooo, I'm trying another tack......Northern Tool has a Shurflo agricultural diaphram pump, 3 GPM, 45 PSI pressure switch, 12 vdc, on sale for $80 with free shipping. I just got mine, and its waaaaay better and heavier than their 'marine' versions in the same capacity and half the price. I'm going to mount this one in the stb. engine box where it will stay dry. This pump will self prime to 8 feet and has a built in check valve so ought to do the trick. Specs on it say its not 'rated' for potable water, whatever 'rated' means.

I'm building some TSL type tuna tubes that will fit into an ice chest and plan to use this new washdown pump as the water source for them too.

Speaking of TSL, they still use their own version of a washdown pump - a plastic bucket.

My take is any time we can get a good product without the damned "marine" label we can get better stuff at half the price.

Northern Tool item #52063-4101.....the 'key code' for this discount catalog with the $79.99 price is 130702....that is also called the "blue number" as its printed in a blue box on the back of the catalog.

UV

Mine is up under the gunnel on a block I epoxied to the hull behind the liner. I made a PVC manifold and valves for mine that provides hot and cold salt water or cold freshwater. The hot salt water out of the Sendure really cuts the fish guts and blood well!!

Ive also had a lot of problems with washdown pumps...
One of the quickest ways to kill one is to use it as a continuous pump as in bait pump? JMO.
Wayne

i use the extreme pump from shureflow cost appox $200 puts out 5.5 gals pm, i run this pump constantly for my bait well and have a y valve for wash down. this is the only pump that i have found to hold up to my use, just replaced after 5 years of use on the last one. what finnally killed my last one was the salt water running down on top of it, (have mine mounted in the rear hatch. i put a piece of rubber matt we use at work over the top of the pump. see if it helps down the road. also put in a inline filter before the pump.

Mine are under the stairs. Dry. Have lasted for years no problems.

A captain I've mated for over the years that runs approximately 350 trips per year (including some 2/day) said he no longer uses Sureflo. During the summer he runs his pump up to 17hr/s day for multiple large barrel livewells. I can ask him what brand he switched to. He fishes more trips than anyone I know and really pushes these pumps to their limits.

I'm thinking it might be Jabsco... I'll get back on this.
-Joe

I spoke with Captain Greg. He said the pumps are made by Johnson Power or Johnson Controls, something like that. A quick search turned this up:

http://www.johnson-pump.com/jpmarine/pr ... index.html

http://www.johnson-pump.com/jpmarine/pr ... wer16.html

Nobody uses washdown pumps more than Greg...

face
thanks, ill save this link for the future,but were does it state gpm or am i missing somthing

Good question, first time I've seen this site. If you click on some of the pumps, the following chart comes up comparing Head Psi/Bar to Lit/Min and Gal/Min.

http://www.johnson-pump.com/jpmarine/pr ... 0curve.swf

The Johnson pumps are Swedish....I've had less than good luck with them over the years, but maybe they are better now.

I ripped out my old washdown plumbing over the weekend, having to break out the heavy calaber stuff.....sawzall, torch, air chipper, etc.....40 year old pipe fittings are tough. Anyway got it all out and cleaned up. I've decided to mount the new pump on a small platform that will sit on top of one of the 8-D batteries - these are sealed batteries so any little spills won't matter and its a nice open flat spot.

In reflection, you guys are right that the conventional diaphram washdown pumps probably are not gonna last in supplying water for live wells and tuna tubes. I have a spare 120 v. Jabsco flex. impeller pump I may mount to supply the live well as I run the genset all the time anyway, with a 12v backup......and to add suspenders to the belt, maybe put a "Y" with valves to divert water from the 120 v A/c pump as an additional back up?

I may email Carlos Alvarez at TSL and see what kind of livewell pumps they use and how they last.

Thanks.

UV

Vic,

I chartered a boat out of Destin years ago called High Cotton and they had a giant live well in the cockpit that they had flowing the whole trip. They told me they used a pool pump to supply huge amounts of water to the well. The bait, including small bonita, stayed happy all day. Like you, they had the generator running the whole trip to supply power to the pool pump and run the A/C.

JR

No THAT makes sense!