AC Water Pump

Has anyone has experience with the Cal Pump MS580 pump? Are you happy with the flow? Are you running two units off of one pump?

I use that pump on my boat. My only worry about it is that the pump housing seems to be bakelite and therefore brittle. I've never broken one but I worry about it. That size pump should handle single or multiple air conditioners up to about 24,000 BTU total. I came up with that number because Depco says the March LC-3CP-MD is good up to that number and it has a little less capacity than the CAL MS580.

I see what you mean Hopcar. If I install this pump I will probably support the hoses as they enter/ leave the pump.

My friends 40ft sail boat had issues with another brand it was tripping the breaker i removed it and the shaft was hard to turn, called the MFG they informed me that it needed to be in a dry location ? Do you think the bilge is dry i ask ? then she changed it to make sure it stays dry. we changed to a sealed unit and no problems since. it was a poor design and plastic on a boat is good and bad, No pitting and rusting and rotting away or Breaks and sinks the boat due to the location below the water line.

I think HopCar has answered your question about flow rate, and the pump does seems to be fairly water-resistant. I take the point about the Bakelite pump casing though.

If you want to consider an alternative, I used a March DC-4C-MD pump on my 31k btu system. Aprox double the horsepower of the CalMarine, but still a fairly small pump at around 10" x 4". It is not submersible, but neither is my generator, and they sit side by side. The body is stongly made of polypropylene (looks like nylon to me) and the impeller is magnetically driven, so no seals to leak. I bought three from eBay a couple of years ago for around $80 each: one for the a/c, one for the water-maker, and a spare for the next project.

Shoalwaters is correct about the March pump heads being less prone to impact damage. I think they are nylon. March also makes submersable pumps. Their LC series is completely sealed. When my CAL dies I will probably replace it with a March LC-3CP-MD. The LC means "liquid cooled". The MD means "Magnetic Drive". It is more expensive than the CAL but It's mounted below my waterline and I'll feel more comfortable with the nylon March pump.
March LC-3CP-MD Magnetic Drive Pump

I installed a Cal 1200 pump about a year ago. The price of the 1200 was about the same as the 580. It serves two air's. It is bigger than I need, but I saw no down side with more flow, One thing I did see that I didn't plan for, is that the water shoots from the thru hulls cleanly, with a lot more force, than the old pump. This has stopped the dribble down stained mess on my white boot strip. The west catalog says it is submersible, but if my bilge water gets that high, I will have more problems than the pump. The West catalog also claims the pump is bronze. I suspect that means the impeller is bronze. My guess is that the pump housing is PVC. I don't step on it I don't worry about it. The pump is a beast in terms of weight. I got a deal on it off of Ebay.

The problem with those pumps....the Cal pumps....is that they were really made to furnish water to garden fountains and such. They are meant to be immersed in water and cooled that way.

I learned about that the hard way.... I went through 3 of them thankfully the second 2 were under warranty.... The pump's stainless jacket split open and leaked oil into our bilge.

Only use the water cooled March pumps now.

JAT

You got me thinking, I have never checked its temperature after running for several hours. I will do that tomorrow and report back.

ac water pumps

I have the march LC 3cp MD after running the pump a couple hours It feels hot to touch. I've seen where they sell cooling tubes ( small rubber tubes ) 2 for each pump. .80 cents ea. Has anyone ever changed these? I have had
the pump head off as I was told to clean the magnetic drive each season. I never looked at the motor side. The pump is liquid cooled, but not sure how that happens. thanks for any help. Mike