https://amelyachtowners.groups.io/g/main/message/49593

Chris,

 

The most common issue with this pump is a vacuum side leak. I am sure this is what you have. Usually, no leaking water is visible with a vacuum leak large enough to stop the pump from functioning. A vacuum side leak can happen:

1. If the seal between the hose and hose barb on the suction side (bottom) is not perfectly sealed because a little air leaking into the pump will cause it to not pump water. Check this closely. I believe that when Amel installed this hose and others, they used some sort of sealant between the hose and the connectors. You should use 2 hose clamps and some sort of flexible sealant. Also, when this hose gets old, it becomes hard and loses its flexibility, causing a vacuum leak because the hose clamps cannot squeeze the hose tight enough. 
2. The joint between the two halves should be sealed using high-quality silicone grease. The Dow Corning 111 Molykote Silicone Lubricant is the best product for this.
3. The flapper valves should also be coated with the same silicone grease as above.

The TF pump you have is a good pump and should last a long time using TF rebuild kits. That said, there were some rebuild kits made in China that were a problem. I think these kits found their way to Amel and other distributors.

 

Bill

	CW Bill Rouse Amel Owners Yacht School +1 832-380-4970 | brouse@... Address: 720 Winnie, Galveston Island, Texas 77550  Website: www.AmelOwnersYachtSchool.com

 

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On Fri, Dec 4, 2020 at 7:57 AM Chris Likins <likinsca@...> wrote:

Hello,

 

I recently have been having issues with my "bilge" pump on my Amel 54. The pump is the original from TF Marine. I first noticed a problem that the motor sounded different, hard to describe exactly but I have tested it enough to know that the motor didn't sound the same, however pumping seemed normal. A few days later I noticed the pump was running for a very long time. After activation from the float switch, it began to pump, however once the water in the sump began to decrease, so did its pumping ability, so much so that it was unable to pump out the last bit of water to turn the switch off. 

 

I rebuilt the pump with rebuild kit but had no luck so I gave it to the professionals for a rebuild. A few days later I am told they have the pump working and even send me a video (of the pump laying down on the ground, not upright) pumping plenty of water. Flapper valves, diaphragm, o-ring have all been replaced. Inside of the motor cleaned up. I also changed the suction hose that goes into the sump as it was getting old. There are two hose clamps on the suction side of the pump.

 

All this and still the same problem! The pump will prime just fine (hand over the outlet until the pump is full), then it will pump some of the water out of the bilge for a few seconds but then slow down to a crawl.

 

Is there some other source of a suction leak I may have missed? Is there anything else I could be missing?! Help!!

 

Thanks!