Lehman 120 Jabsco impeller

I normally replace my Jabsco pump impeller of the Lehman 120 engine every two years. I have always used the Jabsco impeller 1210-0001 made in the USA. This year I replaced it with the same impeller and noticed that now ITT-Jabsco was bought out by Xylem, and that the same impeller now is made in Italy. Not caring where it is manufactured, I installed it the usual way. To my surprise it did not pump any water and the engine overheated right away. I pulled over in an emergency and scratched my head. After some consideration I decided to put back the old impeller, and suddenly the pump works normally. I contacted Xylem and told them my story, and they apologized and sent me two new Jabsco impellers free of charge. I opened one and noticed it was identical to the one that failed. I installed it and it behaved the exact same way: no water output. Back to the old impeller and everything was fine again.

I hold the old and the new impellers side by side and see that they have the same dimensions, except perhaps the new Xylem impeller is softer, while the two year old made in US impeller was stiffer, and has a faster bounce back when you bend the vanes back with your finger. Has anybody experienced the same problem? Is Xylem using a wrong neoprene formulation? Upon American Diesel's advice, I am switching over to Johnson's impeller. We'll see how the Johnson impeller fares after I have a chance to install it, but I am curious to hear others' experience.

I bought 2 from ebay, 1210-0001, $44.00 +6.00 shipping. Says Genuine Jabsco Impellers on the package, also mentions www.jabsco.com . Installed one and no problems pumping water.
Did not include the O ring that fits the Speed Seal face plate.

I just had a similar issue with an impeller on a Phasor genset.

Looked Identical...put in...bad...took out...inspected....by 2 people...put in...still bad...

On VERY close examination...the slot where the key went did not let the impeller rest against the back of the pump...so no water.

Everyone swears up and down that it is correct...but I couldn't make it work without grinding the keyway a bit (which I didn't have the opportunity to do to see if that was the only flaw.

While 2 impellers can have the same diameter, number of fins and the way they attach (normally how you buy an impeller)...it only took a bit of bronze that was hard to detect to make that one an issue.

NDM, that's very strange. The thickness of the impeller, front to back is more important than the diameter. Is the new impeller a little thinner than the old one?

I'm not sure that the stiffness of the blades has much to do with it. The centrifugal force of the spinning impeller should hold the blades against the inside of the pump housing.

HopCar said:

NDM, that's very strange. The thickness of the impeller, front to back is more important than the diameter. Is the new impeller a little thinner than the old one?

I'm not sure that the stiffness of the blades has much to do with it. The centrifugal force of the spinning impeller should hold the blades against the inside of the pump housing.

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I think the same...some impellers like Yamaha Outboards went to the floppy style years ago if I remember correctly