johnson shower pump

[Isignu]

We have a johnson shower pump on our boat which runs every 45 seconds when the level is low and yet pumps fine when water is running into it...but once it has pumped the water out it will keep running every couple of minutes for about 2 seconds. Drives us crazy through the night.

Any ideas???

 

[Don S]

Re: johnson shower pump

Moving to Boat Topics and Questions.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: johnson shower pump

i assume you are talking about the automatic bilge pump. some of the are built to cycle like that. i prefer the type with the 3 way float switch, it automatically turn on by a float, when the is sufficent water to warrant it pumping, and also has a manual switch to control from the helm, just to test it. i have to on my boat, the 3 way as described, and a manual switched, the are connected to separate batteries, and thru hull fittings, so they are totally independent of each other.

 

[Isignu]

Re: johnson shower pump

okay...we are new boaters so I am not sure of what you are meaning.....this is the shower pump that goes from the drain in the floor of the head and pumps it out of the boat....it does not go anywhere near the bilge where the engine is...only thing it does is go from the shower drain to outside....we never noticed it coming on that often before but noticed this last weekend that is comes on every few minutes for a couple of seconds.....very hard to get a night's sleep with that happening...just noisy enough to disturb you. I think we would have noticed if it was doing it before. The pump is located just under the floor of the galley....we can get at it and we cleaned the filter but we cannot get at the float (thought we could set it a little higher) ...it is self enclosed....

 

[arks]

Re: johnson shower pump

The correct term is "shower SUMP". It's an enclosed plastic box with a pump inside, right?
If your boat has installed air conditioning, it's likely that the condensate line runs into the shower sump. That'll make it run when no water is going down the drain. My boat is rigged this way and I prefer it to just dumping the condensate into the bilge (like some builders do).
If you don't have air, then I'll agree with tashasdaddy about the automatic bilge pump. If that's the case the only fix is to pull it out and get a conventional pump with a seperate switch.

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: johnson shower pump

Or just turn the breaker for it off during the night, I have a pump like that. It cycles on for a few seconds evry minute and if the current draw is high it assumes there is water to pump out, if not it turns off and tries again in a minute.