Freshwater pump stopped working

[hackenbush]

The answer may be blindingly obvious but I thought I'd run this by the forum first.

I have a bog standard Jabsco freshwater pump only a few months old. All of a sudden it seems to have stopped working. When I flick its switch in the galley I usually hear it respond with a brief whirring sound. This happened, I ran some water then switched it off. A few minutes later I went through the same procedure. No sound. No water.

Are there any obvious tests I should run that don't involve unplumbing the entire thing? 

I'm about to troubleshoot in earnest in a couple of hours and thought I may as well get some tips from here before I even begin

 

 

[WotEver]

Blown fuse?

[mrsmelly]

Swirch tap on and give the pump a sharp tap with a light hammer or handle of screwdriver etc and see if it responds. Check you havnt knocked/vibrated any connections off.

[hackenbush]

1 hour ago, WotEver said:

Blown fuse?

 

1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

Swirch tap on and give the pump a sharp tap with a light hammer or handle of screwdriver etc and see if it responds. Check you havnt knocked/vibrated any connections off.

Hmmm. Fuses seem fine and the sharp tap didn't do anything. I think you're right though, there'd s loose connection somewhere and it could take some time to find it

 

[mrsmelly]

2 minutes ago, hackenbush said:

 

Hmmm. Fuses seem fine and the sharp tap didn't do anything. I think you're right though, there'd s loose connection somewhere and it could take some time to find it

 

Have you got a circuit tester or bulb and bit of wire? Just see if there is power to the pump.

[WotEver]

3 minutes ago, hackenbush said:

Hmmm. Fuses seem fine and the sharp tap didn't do anything. I think you're right though, there'd s loose connection somewhere and it could take some time to find it

It could be the switch if it's one of those AC switches purporting to be DC. Do you have more than one switch? Maybe one in the bathroom?

[hackenbush]

17 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

Have you got a circuit tester or bulb and bit of wire? Just see if there is power to the pump.

 

17 hours ago, WotEver said:

It could be the switch if it's one of those AC switches purporting to be DC. Do you have more than one switch? Maybe one in the bathroom?

Didn't manage to get round to this yesterday in the end. When you say circuit tester could I use a multemeter for the same purpose?

There is a separate switch in the bathroom - for pumping water out of the shower - interestingly that isn't working either. Either the pump or a lose connection on that circuit 

[mrsmelly]

2 minutes ago, hackenbush said:

 

Didn't manage to get round to this yesterday in the end. When you say circuit tester could I use a multemeter for the same purpose?

There is a separate switch in the bathroom - for pumping water out of the shower - interestingly that isn't working either. Either the pump or a lose connection on that circuit 

Yes a multimeter is ideal.

[WotEver]

Definitely sounds like a broken wire/faulty connection/blown fuse. 

Start checking from the fuse board end. Yes, you can use your multimeter on the 20V DC range to check for power  

Tony

[rusty69]

Had a similar problem last week. It turned out to be corrosion on the cable in the kitchen connecting the water pump switch 

[hackenbush]

On 30 March 2017 at 11:48, WotEver said:

Definitely sounds like a broken wire/faulty connection/blown fuse. 

Start checking from the fuse board end. Yes, you can use your multimeter on the 20V DC range to check for power  

Tony

I haven't disappeared just have not managed to pursue further. 

Last thing I tried was to test current on water pump. It's under the bed, hard to reach and I just can't tell where I'm meant to apply the probes

[rusty69]

7 minutes ago, hackenbush said:

Last thing I tried was to test current on water pump

Its probably  easier to measure voltage if you can access a suitable point on the pump. 

To measure current you would have to break into the circuit somewhere unless you have a DC clamp meter. 

Edited April 2, 2017 by rusty69

[hackenbush]

36 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Its probably  easier to measure voltage if you can access a suitable point on the pump. 

To measure current you would have to break into the circuit somewhere unless you have a DC clamp meter. 

I'm imagining it's a pointless task attempting to test voltage on an insulated wire (my easiest option by a long way!)

[rusty69]

4 minutes ago, hackenbush said:

I'm imagining it's a pointless task attempting to test voltage on an insulated wire (my easiest option by a long way!)

It would be better to check the voltage at a set of connectors. Preferably where your pump connects to the boat cabling if it is accessible.and then work your way back. 

[hackenbush]

Without disconnecting the pump I just can't get to any connectors. However, when I check voltage at the fuse box there is a stable reading but that probably says nothing about the state of the pump.

[rusty69]

Then check the connectors and switches you can get access to first. It sounds like the pump and wiring is fairly inaccessible which will cause you no end of problems when troubleshooting not only electrical problems, but also plumbing problems too. 

[AllanC]

Is it not possible to remove the mattress and gain access from above. Perhaps there is a hatch above the pump.

[hackenbush]

48 minutes ago, AllanC said:

Is it not possible to remove the mattress and gain access from above. Perhaps there is a hatch above the pump.

There was chipboard that had been nailed a glued down. I managed to cut a square out of it and got to the pump and wiring to battery - on both no volts passing through. And so... It is almost certainly somewhere along the cabling or at the fuse box. I suppose this is good news except finding the exact spot could prove to be very time consuming 

[rusty69]

2 minutes ago, hackenbush said:

There was chipboard that had been nailed a glued down. I managed to cut a square out of it and got to the pump and wiring to battery - on both no volts passing through. And so... It is almost certainly somewhere along the cabling or at the fuse box. I suppose this is good news except finding the exact spot could prove to be very time consuming 

Check the switch in the kitchen. You could even try bypassing it. 

[Tony Brooks]

Check the tightness of any screws in the negative busbar that is often close to or inside the fuse/MCB panel. Likewise any screws holding the cable on the output side of the fuse/MCB.

If your fuses are the horrible torpedo shaped things try cleaning the ends and bending the bronze/brass "holder strips" back together.

The above are more likely than a broken wire but we can not rule a broken wire out.

[hackenbush]

22 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

Check the tightness of any screws in the negative busbar that is often close to or inside the fuse/MCB panel. Likewise any screws holding the cable on the output side of the fuse/MCB.

If your fuses are the horrible torpedo shaped things try cleaning the ends and bending the bronze/brass "holder strips" back together.

The above are more likely than a broken wire but we can not rule a broken wire out.

 

22 hours ago, rusty69 said:

Check the switch in the kitchen. You could even try bypassing it. 

 

On 30 March 2017 at 11:48, WotEver said:

Definitely sounds like a broken wire/faulty connection/blown fuse. 

Start checking from the fuse board end. Yes, you can use your multimeter on the 20V DC range to check for power  

Tony

Fixed. And you were all right. Just a horror show of loose and frayed wires on fuse box. Then followed switch wire down to a lump of insulation, unwrapped it to discover more horror. Generally all lethal-looking. 

Thanks for your help

[WotEver]

3 minutes ago, hackenbush said:

Fixed. And you were all right. Just a horror show of loose and frayed wires on fuse box. Then followed switch wire down to a lump of insulation, unwrapped it to discover more horror. Generally all lethal-looking. 

So... you now have an addition to your to-do list

[hackenbush]

1 hour ago, WotEver said:

So... you now have an addition to your to-do list

It's a list that definitely keeps growing

[hackenbush]

I now have the issue that after re-wiring the switch doesn't do its job. Not quite sure how it connects up. The pump has a 2-core wire and the switch a 3-core wire 

[rusty69]

Check which ones you need with your multimeter resistance setting.