Is there such thing as a silent domestic water pump?

[adpmijs1]

I love my boat. I spend as much time on her as I can....treated as a partial live-aboard, we try to spend between 3-6 months a year on her. She's great.....

....except...

The one thing that has just started to grind on me is the water pump. It's not got worse (I don't think), I think it's just that I notice it more and more now. I'm starting to hate the noise it makes when it kicks in. It's particularly annoying when trying to run a tap at night when others are asleep...especially for the poor soul who's either sleeping or dozing on the settee beneath which the pump is mounted!

The boat's a Beneteau Oceanis 36CC from 2001. I was just wondering if there has been any progress in water-pump technology and if it's worth swapping it out for a newer model? Has anyone any experience of this, or can recommend a quieter / silent pump?

The existing pump is a Jabsco PAR-MAX3 (40PSI) Model 30600-0092

Thanks in advance!

Andy

 

[Grumpybear]

Mine is only silent when it isn't working, but perhaps you don't want to hear that....

Part of the problem may be resonance of the bulkhead it is mounted to. Try gluing a slab of wood to the inside of the locker, and mounting the pump on that.

 

[jon711]

The Jabsco PAR-Max is one of the quieter pumps, noise is usually down to installation..... Modern Beneteaus use the Jabsco Ultra-Max which is the pump, accumualtor tank and pumpgard all mounted on comman base board, this was originally designed for Beneteau to reduce installation time and hence costs but does have some effect on noise as the pump has rubber feet on to the common board which also then has rubber feet as well. However, if the pump is mounted on a hollow surface no pump will be quiet, just imagine mounting one on a drum skin! First steps to make it quieter would be to increase the thickness of the board it is mounted to, then try to fill any void under the mounting to reduce resonance.

I am assuming that you have an accumulator tank fitted? With an 8litre tank you should be able to run about 4 litres of water before the pump starts running...

I would be surprised if the Whale centrif sub pump would have a suitable head curve for a 36 ft boat, to allow any decent flow.

Jon

 

[zeeotter]

Mine Jabsco PAR-MAX3 is now quite noise less. I made wooden frame construction. I "mounted" the pump in this frame using old inner tubes. The pump has no connection to the wooden frame. The pump is hanging in the rubber inner tubes. Works great.
Gerard
Westerly Oceanranger Ginger

 

[nigelmercier]

See this thread: https://forums-secure.ybw.com/forum...it-a-board-foam-sandwich-for-fresh-water-pump

I should add that a lot of the noise comes from the outlet pipes themselves, so I will be looking at ways to put foam around them where they touch the bulkheads.

 

[Bertramdriver]

Welcome to the club. If you find a solution please let us all know.

 

[David2452]

Bung in an oversized accumulator, 8l properly adjusted for pressure will cope with a bog flush or a glass of water comfortably, as for the pumps, they make a noise and there is no such thing as a silent one, only reserve pressure will give silence apart from the actual water running.

 

[vyv_cox]

My Shurflo became very noisy, probably because the bearings were worn. I replaced it with a Jabsco which is almost silent. Mount it on rubber with separate bolts each side, like engine mounts. Bolting straight through the base and pump with rubber grommets is far less effective.

 

[Leonidas]

Same experience as vyv's. except that in addition to the resilient mountings, the inlet and outlets as are connected to reinforced hose pipes. so there is no structure born noise transmitted. Very quiet indeed.

 

[Laurie]

I have a Jabsco Par Max thingy...came highly recommended, and complete with a rubber backing pad...but when mounted, yes on a thin galley bulkhead under the sink; it seemed very noisy. As someone said above, it is resonance on the mounting that is the problem. I have isolated it properly, on a foam pad, again as above, and it is all but silent:encouragement:

 

[corinthmistral]

Same pump same problem. My solution? I switch it off before we all turn in and there's enough residual pressure to wash hands or clean teeth etc. if someone gets up in the night. Failing that keep a bottle of water in the heads for the same purpose. Not very technical I know but I found that an easier solution than re-plumbing the pump to mount it outside the saloon.

 

[robmcg]

+1 for fitting a bigger accumulator. Should deal with nocturnal needs.

 

[prv]

I halved the noise of our pump by noticing that some moron had installed it with the mounts upside down, so that the pump body itself was pressed against a large sheet of thinnish ply (ideal sounding board) :disgust:

I put it (with its flexible mounts the right way up) on a small sheet of heavy ply stuck to the hull with big dobs of sikaflex.

Pete

 

[nimbusgb]

We have a foot operated pump fitted to the sink alongside the normal pressure driven system. A quick toe on the foot pump water without the noise of the pump system.

 

[NormanS]

We have a foot operated pump fitted to the sink alongside the normal pressure driven system. A quick toe on the foot pump water without the noise of the pump system.

We have exactly the same. At the galley, it's often more convenient to use the foot pump if both your hands are holding something.

Our pump is an old Johnston, which unfortunately is no longer made, and is practically silent. I had a problem with it a few years ago, and posted about it here, and a forumite kindly sent me his old one. Between the two, I now have one working perfectly, and one spare. Ah! the power of the Forum.

 

[rich]

On Hermees when in harbour I connect via a t joint & valve to the mains tap, as long as there's more than one outlet.