Looking for a pressure switch or 12 volt pump with a pressure switch

Mar 27, 2017 9 Replies

I'm looking for a replacement for the water feed pump on our little boat. The 'standard' marine ones from Jabsco are a ridiculous price as are the spares for the worn out one that I have so I'm looking for alternatives.



A replacement pressure switch (all I *actually* need is the spring contacts) for my Jabsco pump is more than £30. All their spares are silly prices, even paper gaskets cost tens of pounds.



So, as I said, I'm looking for alternatives. The difficult part is finding a pump that doesn't deliver *too much* pressure. It's easy to find pumps that deliver 60 to 100 psi but this is too much for the bendy plastic pipe plumbing. I need a pump that delivers around 10 to



15 litres/minute at 15 to 25 psi (that's 1 to 1.5 Bar).

As I said it's easy to find pumps that deliver 60psi or more and cost only £10 to £15 but all the lower pressure ones cost £60 or more. Maybe I'll have to spend that much but I'd prefer not to (surprise!).



Alternatively a pressure switch that operates in the 1 to 2 Bar range would solve my problem, I could use it with the existing pump (and a big fat automative relay to handle the current if necessary).


I think you might well have a problem finding a pressure switch to work over that range cheaply and with the degree of hysteresis needed to match the pump. To be honest by the time you have found a switch, adapted it to fit mechanically and added a relay you might just as well buy the replacement part and the warranty that goes with it.

r more.

I don't know what pressure washing machine pressostats work at, 1 or 2 bar seems rather high.

I expect many pumps would work if run on less than rated voltage, at what c urrent draw I don't know. I don't know how long little windscreen squirt pu mps can run for.

NT

Well, yes, apart from the £42 postage whch takes the price back up to £66.

I'd wondered about washing machine switches too, they are trivial to operate with "breath" and I suspect they operate at less than 1 psi. But they are normally two way, so potentially easy to hook up. I have used cheap bilge pumps in the past to arrange modest flows and pressure with a 12 volt supply (they come in various sizes).

r more.

The "Marine Shurflo Water Pump 7 L/min 20 Psi 12v" might be suitable for yo u. They cost less than £50.

My experience with Shurflow pumps has been very good. Work well, reliable, no priming needed.

Robert

Yes, the Shurflo pumps seem to be some of the most reasonably priced ones. If nothing else appears that would seem to be the way to go, thank you.

I have been for the last day or so. I can find pumps from various UK suppliers and manufacturers around the same £66 price but nothing cheaper. If they can be sold in the USA for £25 or why not here?

Our mains pressure is 5 Bar or thereabouts. However my boat's plumbing can't cope with anything like that.

In article , Chris Green writes

Caravan stuff any good?

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required