Problem with Whale Gulper IC grey water sump pump

[Sailmate]

Hello,
I have a Whale gulper IC grey water pump which evacuates the shower drain. The first one suddenly stopped working after 3 months of use. Nordhavn sent me a new pump and was working well for 6-7 months. Suddenly without warning it has stopped functioning. No activity in the motor. There is 26 volts in the power line. I have cleaned out the small cup that activates the pump….only some soap scum. The lines are open. I have sent emails to Whale, but no responses were received. Nordhavn is sending me yet another pump. Anyone with ideas on troubleshooting the pump?
Thank you
Tushar

 

[Comodave]

No ideas on troubleshooting. I put one in our sump 3 years ago and it has worked flawlessly ever since. Our sump has everything going into it. Shower, sinks, A/Cs and Dri Bilge system so it gets a workout.

 

[READY]

Mine also has been bulletproof for at least 5 years. But it is a 12 volt model. Show drain application so moderate use.

 

[mvweebles]

I've had the same Whale pump (12v) installed for 15-years, albeit without much use. But still - old is old. Maybe check voltage under load? Does it discharge freely? Unless Whale made a change in manufacturing (sadly, companies make bonehead decisions all the time), these are very reliable pumps. Your failure rate is highly unusual.

Says a lot about PAE that they continue to provide such favorable service support. Many/most constructors brush off by directing the owner to the warranty.

Peter

 

[Jaep]

Did they send the correct 24v pump? If it is 12v it will not last with 24v.

 

[Sailmate]

Thank you for all of your replies.

Yes, it is the correct 24 V pump, and Nordhavn has been very supportive (without making us feel like we are at fault).
Thank you.
Tushar

 

[Dougcole]

Give Whale a call, they have great phone tech support and helped me work through an issue I was having with our IC system, which turned out to be an airlock. I left them a message and they called me back in a couple of hours.

Doug

 

[DDW]

On the 12V IC system, there is an extra wire which can be used to manually activate it - I'd imagine the 24V does. I'd suggest finding that wire, and hooking it up to a switch for two reasons: if the sensor goes bad you can still use the shower, and for diagnostics it eliminates many variables.

My 12V one has worked perfectly for 4 years.

 

[Sailmate]

On the 12V IC system, there is an extra wire which can be used to manually activate it - I'd imagine the 24V does. I'd suggest finding that wire, and hooking it up to a switch for two reasons: if the sensor goes bad you can still use the shower, and for diagnostics it eliminates many variables.

My 12V one has worked perfectly for 4 years.

Hello, I saw an additional white wire, however, the manual assigns it to an optional indicator light to let you know that the pump is active. If whale could tell me which of the pins I would have to jump in the IC deutsch? connector to activate it on the bench. That would help me localize the problem to the motor or the sensor. Thanks for the help.
Tushar.

 

[DDW]

The white wire is the indicator light, and also the override. At least on mine. Here is the schematic from the manual. This manual also claims to cover 24V versions. Connect white to power. At least on mine. I said that twice because it is your boat, so not my fire .

 

[Sailmate]

The white wire is the indicator light, and also the override. At least on mine. Here is the schematic from the manual. This manual also claims to cover 24V versions. Connect white to power. At least on mine. I said that twice because it is your boat, so not my fire .

View attachment 164703

Many thanks for pointing that out to me. I will check my manual also. There is a new pump on the way, so if I can resuscitate this one, it can be my backup pump.
Best regards.
Tushar

 

[twistedtree]

I would check the installation and wiring very carefully against the manual to be sure it’s installed correctly. I have seen a number of cases where yards install things in what “seems” like the correct way, but does something the manual clearly says to not do. Something is wrong if these keep failing.

 

[Creek]

Another possibility is that there is a voltage drop due to either a long wire run or poor connection(s). Check voltage at the pump when it is running.

 

[Andy G]

I don't beleive it!

I read this post this morning before going down to Sarawana to sort out a few issues, without too much thought I try my gulper aft drain pump that has been working flawlessly for ten years ............to find it running but not pumping out!

I blame the OP, my gulper pump has obviously gone out in sympathy.

 

[DDW]

10 years on it might be time to change out the diaphragm and duck bills.

 

[HeadedToTexas]

I've been on and off about dumping the Rule float switch and pump arrangement in our shower sump in favor of a Whale pump. Because the float switch has a deadband of about ¾" in the sump and because the discharge hose holds about ¾" worth of sump volume, the float switch keeps the sump level right at the activation point. Often walking to the stern causes it to run for a couple seconds. The discharge hose fills, nothing drains overboard, and the discharge hose drains back into the sump. Vacuuming the residual water out buys time, but the next shower or air conditioner run puts it right back at the annoyance point.

Does the Whale pump's check valve design do enough to prevent back flow that it would overcome my problem, or do the check valves just slow the rate of back flow? No check valve is perfect, and especially not in the long run.

 

[Bmarler]

The whale won’t allow back flow. It works fine as a stand alone hooked to the drain, but it’s kind of noisy.
I’d actually prefer it hooked to a sump instead.

 

[HeadedToTexas]

My Rule set up has a submersible pump, but the Gulper offers a lot more design flexibility. If they truly are self-priming, it would be tempting to install it like this to minimize the gray water left in the discharge hose. But if the self-priming function is noisy, then filling that suction line may be annoying. Do they make a different noise when running dry or priming?

 

[Bmarler]

They do sound different when pumping vs priming, but my observation is when hooked directly to the shower drain. I suspect when it’s hooked to a sump like you propose it may be fairly silent. Just pay attention to the elevations for self priming.