Wouldn't you know?

Had lunch at the yacht club with the guys and mentioned I was rebuilding my Shur-Flo fresh water pump. A check-writer at the table tells me "his mechanic" just replaced his Jabcso Par Max 3 with a new pump and I can have the pump for nothing. Took it home and of course, it works perfectly. I'm gonna put this puppy in as it has more oomph than the Shur-Flo and keep the Shur-Flo as a back-up. I wonder how much "his mechanic" made on the needless swap?

Don't be so hard on check writers as I personally enjoy their hand me downs. My last one was a turbo 350 transmission that needed cleaning, fluid servicing and pan gasket. Sold it for $400 a day later. All in all a good day.

You sound like you'd enjoy Downeast Dickering. These guys survive day-to-day doing that! All they need is "Uncle Henry's".

Did you tell the guy it works fine and at least offered it back to him as a spare?

Some years ago I noticed early morning ad in CL "1964 40 hp Johnson o/b and 1958 18 hp Johnson w/ 3 6-gal tanks, hoses, and controls - Free". Called and went there that morn. Loaded into my truck and set up on racks when I returned home. Not bad condition at all. Sold em separately week later. Fella had purchased really good condition 1964 21' Glasspar from estate and wanted new, larger motor on it. Guess he had too much money in check account to be bothered with selling the good condition older motors??? Go figure!

BTW: Al - "Uncle Henry's" was my friend when I lived in Maine - Early 70's

Capt.Bill11 said:

Did you tell the guy it works fine and at least offered it back to him as a spare?

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Exactly. Or, do you know what he replaced it with? Maybe he wanted something that performed differently and it wasn't so needless after all.

"Lunch at the yacht club" eh? Yours or his?

I have one of those that lost pressure and volume. I replaced it and am thinking of rebuilding. It is a model 31295. I looked on Jabsco's site and it did not make it clear what I needed. There did not seem to be a rebuild kit but piece meal parts. Any guidance would be appreciated.

IMHO, best to purchase new with guarantee.

Mule said:

I have one of those that lost pressure and volume. I replaced it and am thinking of rebuilding. It is a model 31295. I looked on Jabsco's site and it did not make it clear what I needed. There did not seem to be a rebuild kit but piece meal parts. Any guidance would be appreciated.

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Get aquainted with Depco Pump. They can advise you the best course (new, DIY or have them rebuild) and supply whatever you need at a fair price. Just for H2O alone, the Hatteras has 3 engine raw water pumps, 8 electric bilge and or sump pumps, two fresh water pumps, 2 AC pumps, a portable dewatering pump and portable bilge pump, then you have various oil change, fuel transfer units, etc...so they became a fairly important "trusted supplier and adviser" I can recommend readily.

So I should tell the check-writer he was played for a sucker, instead of tellin' him I put in a rebuild kit and it's back in business? I would rather have him believe he did me a favor and got a mitzvah.

ancora said:

So I should tell the check-writer he was played for a sucker, instead of tellin' him I put in a rebuild kit and it's back in business? I would rather have him believe he did me a favor and got a mitzvah.

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You should do whatever you feel is right.

Personally I would tell him.

1) Because I would think he want to know his mechanic may be taking advantage of him and wasting his money. Wouldn't you?
2) Because in my opinion it's just the right thing to do. He did pay for the pump after all.

And as George mentioned there my be another reason he replaced a perfectly good pump and could care less or even know that it works fine.

I'm hardly a "check writer" but I regularly gift items to my mechanic when undertaking equipment upgrades. He repairs and resells and I enjoy a clutter free lazerette.

Our yacht club has a place for used boating equipment that is "up for grabs." Mostly outdated electronics but some mechanical stuff. Always interestin' to sort through it for possible rebuilds.

When you have time it makes sense to take a chance and save some cents, when time is sparse and you have some cents replacement makes a lot of sense...

Rebuild, put on the shelf, rebuild the next worn out one, or buy new if unrebuildable...what good is a warranty if you need it NOW.?? Water pump is a NOW ITEM......

Why would the guy offer him his surplus equipment, knowing he was needing a pump, if he thought it wasn't fully functional. The gift calls for a thank you not a rejection. Sheesh.

Sunset said:

Why would the guy offer him his surplus equipment, knowing he was needing a pump, if he thought it wasn't fully functional. The gift calls for a thank you not a rejection. Sheesh.

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It's not about rejecting a gift. It's about at least letting the guy know he may not be dealing with an honest mechanic.

But of course doing that might cut off the flow of good stuff to be had free.

And I'm guessing the "check writer" did not know the pump was functioning fine or the OP would not have felt the need to post: "So I should tell the check-writer he was played for a sucker, instead of tellin' him I put in a rebuild kit and it's back in business?

Making connections with the crew (giving sunglasses, lipstick, blouses, deoderent, and so on) has its benefits (as in bottles of wine and chocolate-covered strawberies in return if one can cozy up with a maitre d):

Just my .02 cents worth here.
I'm a mechanic, although on vehicles,still similar problems in business.
We frequently replace parts that are still working just fine,not trying to rip anyone off at all.
What it comes down to is the expected service life of the component,the estimate of the life remaining,
the consequences of that part failing,the warranty that we have to provide on that part and who pays our time if that part fails after we fit it.

In a perfect world we could look at that part from 20 feet away and say it will/will not fail in the next 29.5 days.
One thing clients don't tolerate is telling us to check something,have us say it's OK and then it fails half way though their holidays.Yes we saved the price of a pump or whatever it is,but in the big picture we stuffed their holiday.
So we as mechanics have to be very conservative.When it's your own boat you can do what you like,we can't.
Then there is the question of labor charges,is it worth spending an hours labour on an old pump? Better to put the $ toward a new one.
Sorry for the rant,rarely do customers ever say we rip them off,
most mechanics I know put their customers best interest first.

stornoway7 said:

We frequently replace parts that are still working just fine,not trying to rip anyone off at all.

Then there is the question of labor charges,is it worth spending an hours labour on an old pump? Better to put the $ toward a new one.

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Good point, and one that I had never thought of.

Call backs make customers more unhappy than larger bills. Parts are often less expensive than labor so IMO mechanics are better off replacing anything questionable. Salvaging and rebuilding is for hands on folks who are willing to take the risk.

Greetings,
According to the OP the pump works "perfectly". Now we don't know why the check writer (CW) replaced the pump but if it was on a mechanics recommendation that the pump was weak or otherwise suspect and the pump is "perfect" the issue at hand is whether or not the CW was horns-waggled. The OP doesn't seem to care so the issue is somewhat moot.

ancora said:

So I should tell the check-writer he was played for a sucker, instead of tellin' him I put in a rebuild kit and it's back in business? I would rather have him believe he did me a favor and got a mitzvah.

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Your OP said "Took it home and of course, it works perfectly. "

Which is it? Worked perfectly or needed rebuild? Makes a difference, maybe, in what to respond to and how. Either way, why the compulsion to tell him he was played for a sucker.. it may not be the case at all, lacking all the facts.

Greetings,
The way I would handle it:
"Mr. CR thanks again for that pump. It works fine would you like it back as a spare? Why was it changed out?" Let CR decide whether or not it was changed out unnecessarily. As was mentioned, could be the mechanic saw an issue or CR was experiencing problems and REQUESTED it be changed. In any case I would not consider it my pump until CR knew he gave away a perfectly good pump.

And we still don't even know whose Club it was . . .

I have an account with a chandlery that deals mostly with professionals from the local boatyards. From their accounts, sticking it to corporate owned, foreign flagged, mega yachts is the norm as everything is written off. On the other hand, these guys are very helpful to do-it-yourselfers like myself, with advice on how to do a job, or troubleshoot a problem.

ancora said:

I have an account with a chandlery that deals mostly with professionals from the local boatyards. From their accounts, sticking it to corporate owned, foreign flagged, mega yachts is the norm as everything is written off.

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Wow! So you boat in an area with shady mechanics, boat yards and suppliers.

While I have no idea how this relates to your getting a free working FW pump off the "check writer", would you be willing to name this less than ethical chandlery so I can pass it's name along to my friends who, like me, operate or work on "corporate owned, foreign flagged, mega yachts" from time to time so we can avoid doing business with them in the future?

In fact where do you live? Based on what you've posted so far about the ethical mentality there it might be better for most boaters to avoid getting any boat work done or buying any boat parts in that area all together.

For your edification, a chandlery sells parts and materials to people who work on boats. They fix nothing. So you deal with a chandlery that does not sell to anyone that does not pass a lie detector test? Don't think so. I am on the side of the "little guy" who can get a break rather than multi-millionaire corporations whose vessels are foreign-flagged.

Also... Ancora, you put hours use on the pump to make sure it functions continuously correctly?? May be intermittent elect short or slow drip-leak. I've had both happen on fresh water pumps. IMHO - on something below $300 - Buy new. unless repair is simple, cheap, and for sure long lasting!

This weekend we had more incidental breakdowns that worth mentioning. Went out early Fri morn dropped anchor. Then up anchored and came back in Friday eve. Fixed things Friday night and most of Sat. Watched a few movies at night. Home Sunday. Waiting for one important $250 part. Have mechanic at boat yard going to install it... so next journey is out and about! OK weekend... all in all!!

ancora said:

For your edification, a chandlery sells parts and materials to people who work on boats. They fix nothing. So you deal with a chandlery that does not sell to anyone that does not pass a lie detector test? Don't think so. I am on the side of the "little guy" who can get a break rather than multi-millionaire corporations whose vessels are foreign-flagged.

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I kinda figured the chandlery didn't fix anything. But perhaps I misunderstood. I guess you are saying the chandlery just sells to the crooks. Fair enough.

Like it or not, those foreign flagged vessels employ a lot of little guys and gals and spend a lot of money that goes into the pockets of lots of local little guys and gals. Plus putting a lot money into the local economies where ever they go.

To bad some of those "little guys" seem to be OK with ripping them off.

Besides, if it wasn't for the check writers and mega yachts where would you get all your good free cast off stuff from? Perhaps you should consider showing them a little gratitude.