May the Cal Pump rest in peace

[jrohrbaugh]

I found my a/c raw water pump heating up and actually cutting off. I chalked this up to the feels like 100 degree temps we have been having in North Florida.
Upon closer inspection, I found some oil under the pump and learned that that is the cooling fluid.

Fortunately I was able to find a replacement on line for $180. delivered. With only three wires and two hoses I installed the new pump myself.

CAUTION: the power at the panel and a/c switch did not turn off the 110v on my boat. I unplugged it from shore power while changing the wiring.

When I called the manufacturer they said the pump will naturally be hot to the touch. However, leaking oil is a sign of a failed seal and there is no repair kit as the seal is pressed in by machine at manufacturing.

Installation is complete and all systems are working properly.

Stay cool!

Jamie
S/V Soixante
Sail #444

[TBOT422]

Jamie,

Do you have a part number for that CAL pump?

I believe our pump is also bad. So far I have found 2 possible (500 gph) replacements:

Dometic PML 500 L $425
March LC-3CP-MD $290
CAL ??? $180

Does anyone else have any experience with the quality of any of these brands? They seem to have a pretty wide price spread for what appears to be the same thing.

Thanks

[jrohrbaugh]

I tried to send the reply but file too big with the picture.

Source is Flagship Marine 800-316-6426.

Pump is MS 580 on my boat/Cal Pump.

Make sure you disconnect the power at the dock end as the system was still hot despite my turning off the breaker at the panel.

If you want more details, e mail me back and I'll call you.

Best of luck...stay cool!

[TBOT422]

Jamie,

The Cal pump appears to be very different than the pump I have.

http://www.calpumpshop.com/CalMarine-MS ... c-121.html

The March and Dometic pumps look similar to what I have.

http://www.marchpump.com/lc-3cp-md/

http://www.suremarineservice.com/pml500l.aspx

No to go down to the boat and trace where the wiring goes just to make sure I have power to the pump.

Thanks

[TBOT422]

Upon further review I was wrong. After getting enough light in the bilge to see what was there, it looks like I have the Cal MS 580 pump. I traced the wires back far enough to find a connection that I could check power and I do have power to the motor, so clearly the motor needs to be replaced.

On my way to the boat, I stopped at Depco pump and looked at the March pump. Apparently Dometic buys their pump from March and re-labels it.

From what I can tell the March pump may be a better solution for a salt water environment, although it's roughly $100 more. The Cal pump is a normal pump with a shaft seal. Most likely failure is the seal allows salt water into the motor and it's dead. The March pump has no seal. The impeller is driven by magnets in the motor and the impeller. The motor is totally encapsulated in epoxy, and cooled by the water flowing through the pump (small tubing runs from the pump housing to the motor).

Since I can pick up the March pump locally, I think I will switch over to it as long as I don't have any difficulties mounting it in the same area.