whale gulper 220 (diaphragm) pump, Veeeery slow priming!

[vas]

dear all,

following a couple of threads on grey water tanks and all the problems that forumites were facing, it was suggested that a diaphragm pump is the right one for grey water. Gulpers were high up in the list.


Sooooo, got two of them (OK, s/h v.cheap) got spare seal set and renew them, so practically have two new pumps.
First one goes to the whale 16lt grey water tank, on initial tests wasn't overly impressed as it seemed to struggle to lift the water from the bottom of the keel to just above waterline. A whole massive 90cm!!!
various attempts, ended up mounting the whale on the side of the tank (difficult spot to access) as it's lower and not on top of the tank. Tests were a bit better. On regular use, things are quite all right. Only one washbasin linked, me washing my hands from general messy jobs I'm doing couple of times a day. However, lately I was working outside, sanding, means only dust and sea was much closer so didn't bother going up to wash up.
Anyway, today was over a week from last use and it took it around 2mins to start throwing soapy water overboard!!! Once started, all was fine smooth, noisy and quick.

Same story with the other one that's living in the e/r pumping bilge water. After renewing the seal/membrane kit it took it 3-4mins to start pumping. I had clear pipes on this one and I could see the water ever so slowly moving up the pipe. Sucking pulse was fine (imo) but i'm afraid that the two flappy seals on the body of the thing are a bit of a joke. The non return valve on the outlet is plain pathetic.

Is it me, or have others had similar problems?
I'm thinking of installing an inline non-return valve (a proper one!) in the sucking section but I'm afraid that carp may block it (especially in the bilges that are still rather filthy and full of wood chips and debris from all the work carried out...)

ah, and I doubt there's a leak on the sucking section as when it's off (and the pipe is still full of water) there's no leak anywhere

suggestions?

cheers

V.

 

[superheat6k]

I have a gulper fitted as a 'wet vacuum cleaner' pump with wandering hose for accessing different bilge areas. Directly I had fitted it I had to install an in line strainer. Any small lumps of crud seem to stick in the valves and the thing virtually stops pumping.

Since the strainer was fitted no problems, just have to occasionally clean the crud from the strainer.

 

[omega2]

We use one to empty the dregs from the bilge, and to get it going we have to cover the outlet with a cloth or bare hand, it then fires up straight away, a bit messy but effective.

 

[SolentPhill]

We'll I took advice from those who said it was good and put one in, I had the sensor go after a month but it was replaced. The pump kicks in well and pumps water uphill to the back of my boat a distance of 15 to 20ft and it comes out about 2 ft out the side of the boat.

Very pleased with it

 

[vas]

We'll I took advice from those who said it was good and put one in, I had the sensor go after a month but it was replaced. The pump kicks in well and pumps water uphill to the back of my boat a distance of 15 to 20ft and it comes out about 2 ft out the side of the boat.

Very pleased with it

few Qs,

static head?
distance from tank to pump?
1inch pipes throughout?
extra non-return valve?

fires up straight away but if you leave it for a week or two will it pump water straight or wait for a few secs/mins?

cheers

V.

 

[SolentPhill]

few Qs,

static head?
distance from tank to pump?
1inch pipes throughout?
extra non-return valve?

fires up straight away but if you leave it for a week or two will it pump water straight or wait for a few secs/mins?

cheers

V.

hi Vas
im not sure what the static head bit is?
the pump is bolted to the side of the tank
yes 1 inch
no extra return valve
yes if I leave the boat it will work, in fact its on all the time and the de humidifier overflow goes into the shower during the winter and worked last winter all ok. but when we leave the boat and then return it worked fine.

if anything I need to put another pipe from the sink into it, if I fill the sink with water and pull the plug water goes down to a splitter and joins the shower outlet and rather than go in the box it comes back up the shower. I aim to put the pipe from the shower and sink straight into the box.

 

[vas]

thanks Phill,

unless I'm wrong the static head is the vertical distance from the intake pipe to the outlet skin fitting, i.e. how high does the water have to "climb" in order to exit.
Since all's fine with your's I'll have to check again the connections on mine, I noticed yesterday that the inline filter on the bilge one is slightly cracked, so got to replace it...

yes, I remember the discussion with the two in one pipes and water going the wrong way, I'm afraid there's no other solution than fitting a new pipe all the way to the tank.

cheers

V.

 

[vas]

We use one to empty the dregs from the bilge, and to get it going we have to cover the outlet with a cloth or bare hand, it then fires up straight away, a bit messy but effective.

aha!

that's what I often do, but once fully installed I cannot really go swimming to block the bleeding skinfitting to get it going

I wonder why that helps other than the pathetic non-return valve is not doing it's job...

cheers

V.

 

[jfm]

I have 2 of these. One is perm installed and empties the aft shower grey tank. T'other is a wandering pump on 20 foot of wire plus 1.5metres of hose each side and I use it when washing bilges or emptying busted things etc. Neither of them has any additional nr valve and they both work very well at say 1.5m head. There is no delay in getting the things going. Never had any problem with them!

 

[MYAG]

iirc they can lift over 3mh and are self purging. I have 5 working onboard, albeit the 320/24v model but the water bits are the same, no issues ever. If they were not new when you installed and you have changed the diaphragm then check the plastic gear inside for slip on start up, otherwise check hose connections for air leaks. It's a simple bit of kit and not much to go wrong.

 

[vas]

iirc they can lift over 3mh and are self purging. I have 5 working onboard, albeit the 320/24v model but the water bits are the same, no issues ever. If they were not new when you installed and you have changed the diaphragm then check the plastic gear inside for slip on start up, otherwise check hose connections for air leaks. It's a simple bit of kit and not much to go wrong.

good point, thanks!
I remember someone mentioning the white plastic gear being prone to damage, will check tomorrow and get some teflon tape on the threaded outlet pipe (the one with the non-return rubbery thing) Maybe also put some grease/vaseline on the lips of the diaphragm as it could be a source of air leaks. Anyway since most of you guys have no problems with them, it must be me!

cheers

V.