Another Answer to The Question......

...."What do you do all day?"

While looking in the dark recesses for a suitable home for our new temporary back stay adjuster I came across a spare water pump. I had originally thought it was for our shower sump,which we never use anyway, but it is for our pressure water system. Bonus! Since our pressure water pump was displaying symptoms of needing service; spitting air and running on longer than normal, I decided to switch it out.   A couple of hose connections, two wire connections four mounting screws and some physical contortions, I said this shouldn't take long! ( Note to self: don't even think that! )

You will note in the first photo that the pump ( notice how new it looks) came equipped with nylon barbed fittings. One of which has a small valve to prevent back flow. The nylon fittings lying beside the pump are what was in use on the existing installation. Note that they are threaded. Which necessitated the removal of the other fittings lying there.  

Now for a bit of history. At the beginning of the season we had a water issue that led me to snug up the valved fitting. It snapped off at the pump with very little effort. Fortunately I had one spare which was carefully installed. Since this was the second to be replaced in two years I immediately set about finding replacements. No need to guess, there were none in St. Lucia and none in Le Marin, Martinique. What to do? Go online of course. There are lots in the U.S. but shipping would be a hassle and they are just for spares besides Cat Tales is coming down through St. Martin, the mother lode of all parts nautical! There are none in St. Martin!! No cause for concern. 

Back to the project at hand. You can probably see where this is going. I managed to get the new pump installed but broke the last of the threaded valve fittings and therefore had to modify the installation to accommodate the barbed fitting. The pump is ready to go. I had already tested the motor so with great confidence I threw the switch, the motor whirled, the pump jiggled, the water refused to flow? The instructions (yes I used instructions, after I had it installed mind you) suggested that air was getting in through a loose connection. So with nut driver and wrenches I went to snug up the connections. (See note in history regarding snugging) SNAP, the other fitting this time.  Fortunately a spare was at hand. Still no joy. By now it is Sun Downer Time, work is done for the day. Just have to sleep on it! Patience was in a bit of a deficient as well. We have a foot operated pump so we could get water just inconvenient.

Well, next day a plan is in place to get some brass fittings and hose and modify the installation. I also have a spare diaphragm to repair the old pump. It's off to town we go but first a stop at Salt Scar III (John and Sue from Toronto) is in order to say hello and welcome them back from their "vacation" in Vegas and Mexico. (It was Sue's sister's 60th birthday and they did it up well!) As we step aboard John remarks that he heard we were having pump problems and offered to let me rummage through his spare parts. (There are no secrets in the world of VHF radio communication) Wouldn't you know, John is better stocked than all the chandlerys in the Carribbean! His pricing was exceptional as well since he no longer had that style of pump aboard. So for the price of raising his water line we were all set. But now my plumbing supply box is too small for all my new spare parts. 

Back to the boat, new diaphragm in old pump, convert to barb fittings, heat hose and press on to nylon valved fitting, carefully thread into pump body, use brass barbed fitting on intake side, contort self to install assembly, connect electrical, throw switch, watch water flow, magic!

This photo shows the final installation. By the way, the black hose is the sink drain which had to be removed to do all this. Besides stinking,the gasket was in pieces and needed to be replaced. I was prepared to make one but John has one of those too! Bless Him!

This gives you an idea of the space available.

Just to wrap up this saga, I disassembled the new pump and could not find anything amiss. The only anomaly was that the diaphragm was somewhat thinner than the used spares that I have.  So I swapped it out and bench tested the pump.  It threw water all over the cockpit! Back to storage it goes.

Brian