Service Jabso Shower Sump Pump or Replace with Whale Gulper 220 or something else.

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jaminb

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The forums wisdom please. The current Jabso shower pump is very ineffective, leaking and flawed in design, in that it has a very fine inline filter that blocks with hair and other detritus that gathers in the shower sump. The filter cap is very stiff and requires excess force to remove and tighten to make air tight. The service kit is £55 and it is a relatively easy job to replace the diaphram (have already done the main bilge pump which is the same model of pump). However this will overcome the inline filter flaw. Or should I replace the pump and filter with a Whale Gulper, which has had good press on here, but will inevitably not fit the existing pipe work or wiring.

The question really boils down to should I spend half a day stuck in the heads cursing or go and enjoy a nice sail!
 
I’m thinking about the exact same pump I used to have in my old Sealine shower pump like this. And another identical pump a friend had in his boat. He had your issues too. I think the difference was that my Sealine had a pre strainer thing in the drain and that I used to grease the rubber o ring in the pump filter bulb, every time I winterised it perhaps.
 
Stay stinky. I'm a problem solver!

Seriously, I've replaced our shower/bilge pump several times and they have never lasted. Went for a gulper 320 and it seems fine up to now.
 
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I used a gulper as bilge pump and hoover on my Turbo 36 and it hated getting any debris into the valves.

I have found the Chinese Seago shower sumps with pumps very effective, as indeed are their water supply pumps.
 
If your old Jabsco is the one with separate motor and pump body, where you can see the little con-rod oscillating, - I had two - one as shower drain and one as the electric bilge pump. Both had Jabsco filters in the piping, which do get clogged regularly and need cleaning. A good smear of silicone grease on the threads of the filters makes life easier, and having the "filter" must improve life of the pump.

However I replaced one this year with a cheaper Whale Gulper, and it seems to pump just as well, and is quieter. Not sure I'd run one with potentially dirty, gritty water without a filter though.
 
As i feared the Gulper wouldn't fit without extending the pipe from the shower sump to the inlet side so I serviced the Jabsco. Whilst servicing I put the valve seats in the wrong way around and turned the sump into a jacuzzi - oh how I laughed as I repeated the removal and install. This got me thinking, could I remap the Gulper to swap the inlet and outlet positions? If so I could install and use the existing pipe work. Anyone done this? (The instructions say do not invert the pump to achieve the same effect)

Thanks
 
Humour me please. I cannot get my Jabsco to suck water. Stripped down, the valves and diaphrams look ok and were only replaced a couple of years ago. I have read the assembly instructions over and over and tried multiple combinations but nothing.

I am probably going to replace with a Jabsco 50880 as this doesn't require a filter but I am baffled why I cannot get the original pump to work - what am I doing wrong.
 
I know one is interested but for the sake of closure I bought and fitted the 50880. Initial thoughts are much quicker and quieter than the one it replaced and now no fear of the filter becoming clogged and having to kneel in old shower water to clean.

I think the 50880 is over kill for a small shower sump pump so might replace my current bilge pump with the 50880 if I can ever find a smaller (maybe non marine) self priming diaphragm pump.
 
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