Water pump tripping breaker

[NUUK]

My water pump that was 40 years old finally failed. I purchased a new SeaFlo 55 Series to replace it.

As soon as I placed the new one in and adjusted the bypass valve it would trip the breaker as soon as it reached max pressure. If I open 3 faucets the pump will just run as with the 3 faucets open it does not allow the pressure to build up. I called the company and they said it might be a failed pump or a bad pressure switch.

They sent me a new pump and put it in. Adjusted and worked great for about 3 hours of usage (Wife was cleaning the back sun deck) After about 3 hours the breaker started to trip again. We tried to adjust it closed and nothing worked. The manufacture said it might be something with my panel where it keeps sending power when it should stop.

They are sending me yet another head and they want me to put straight to the battery to see if that fixes this issue. I am not bad at 12v power, but definitely not the best. I thought I would put something out here as I know a lot of people have ideas that I can try. The wires from the panel are about 20 feet and it is a larger gauge cable. I would guess 14 maybe 12. I tested the voltage and it was 12.8V and I amde sure the polarity was correct to the red and black cable of the pump.

Any help on this would be great. I might just have to get a different pump so if there are any suggestions please let me know.

 

[tiltrider1]

Specifications say the pump draws 15 amps. Are you tripping a 15 amp breaker? If so, possible that your breaker is weak.

 

[SteveK]

From your description it appears that the 12v breaker keeps tripping. What amp rating is the breaker?

 

[O C Diver]

As others have mentioned, check the breaker amperage. Also understand, breakers go bad (trip at lower amperage) over time. I'm assuming this is a 40 year old breaker.

Ted

 

[NUUK]

Yes you all might be on to something. I am not back down to the boat for over a week so I will have to look and see if I can purchase one to test with. I will post back in about 2 weeks to let everyone know if that was the fix or not. Thanks!!!

 

[Don L]

It is a mistake to blindly feel the problem is the load and not a breaker/wiring/voltage one. Especially now that it has happened with different pumps.

 

[C lectric]

Ill chime in here also. Check for any signs of wire oxidation and of contact areas at the breaker. If the wire or the contacts of the breaker are oxidized and the pump is drawing more current than the older setup then the breaker may be getting heated to much to stay active for long. Even if it is drawing the same current it may simply take longer to trip from the heating.

Ensure the contact areas of the wires, the surfaces of the breaker are bright shiny metal. THis includes any fuse contact areas.

Use new electrical fittings replacing the old ones. Use good quality electrical fittings only. Many places offer cheaper versions of fittings but that may be the wrong was to go. You should not need to spend a lot of money though.

Use a decent quality crimping tool for the wire and terminal size also.
Use wire and fitting coatings such as NoAlox, Penetrox, or Dielectric Grease and coat all contact surfaces with one of those coatings to keep the humidity at bay long term. The NoAlox and Penetrox are older electricians coatings but the Dielectric grease also works.

I use a pipe cleaner to coat the inside barrel crimp surfaces of the crimp terminals and also to coat the wire itself. You don't need gobs of this stuff but a thorough coating.

When satisfied with the basic preparation of the wire and the terminals and fittings then slide a piece of adhesive lined heat shrink tubing over the connections. The tubing must be purchased to suit the connections. THere are 2x shrink and 3x shrink. Either will work but the 3x has more shrink ability so more inclined to actually seal the wire joint and easier to work with. Don't burn it from over heating and yes I've done it.

I use an old B & D heater gun. Watch it carefully as it shrinks. Just be carefull as these pieces can be HOT and careless handling can result in a burn.

The shrink tube should be of the correct colour. Red for positive, yellow for negative,

Good Luck

 

[Bmarler]

I have one of those seaflow pumps and I can’t wait for it to die so I can trash it.
They make different styles, and I got the bypass one. Looks good on paper, but has an issue. This is different than your issue, as I don’t have a power supply problem.
But, it’s sensitive to voltage fluctuations. I set the bypass when I was at the dock with the shore power on and voltage floating at 13.6 volts.
After a night on the hook, before the solar panels kicked in, my voltage was down to 12.5 or so. This wasn’t enough to run the pump fast enough to make the pressure switch and turn the pump off.I had to reset the bypass for the lower voltage.
When the batteries came back up to more then 13 volts the pump wouldn’t go into bypass at lower flows. It just cycled on and off. I’ve tried a bunch of times to get that bypass set right, but it just isn’t up to the task.
If your boat isn’t a power hog like mine it might be ok, but I have a constant draw with refrigeration and inverter and whatever else wants juice, so the voltage tends to be a bit on the lower side.
A nice Marco pump is in my future.

 

[nwh10]

We had the same problem this year where a new freshwater pump was tripping the 15A breaker. The new pump had a 12A rating, which is 80% of the 15A breaker. Guidelines are to size for under 80% of circuit protection, so we were at the brink. Went back to a pump with a 6A max draw and all is well.

 

[NUUK]

I think after reading all this and more reeasrch I will need to either go straight to the battery with an in line fuse or get a new one with lower voltage. I will keep everyone posted after next weekend as there are many great tips for me to work with when back on the ol girl. I thank everyone that is posting in here for me.

 

[Comodave]

I think after reading all this and more reeasrch I will need to either go straight to the battery with an in line fuse or get a new one with lower voltage. I will keep everyone posted after next weekend as there are many great tips for me to work with when back on the ol girl. I thank everyone that is posting in here for me.

Measure the round trip distance and check the charts for wire size. You need to know the amperage draw and round trip distance. There are usually 2 charts, one for 10% voltage drop and another for 3% voltage drop. I use the 3% because I want the absolute best voltage at the device since everything works better with good voltage. I find the recommended size wire and then go one size larger. That way I get great voltage and it is a small difference in cost. For a small difference in cost I get great voltage forever.

 

[Don L]

voltage drop doesn't match the OPs description IMO

and the only thing going straight to the battery with a fuse "fixes" is if the breaker is bad

Till there is a measurement of the amps and voltage at the pump we are just spitting into the wind

 

[SteveK]

voltage drop doesn't match the OPs description IMO

and the only thing going straight to the battery with a fuse "fixes" is if the breaker is bad

Till there is a measurement of the amps and voltage at the pump we are just spitting into the wind

I agree. The suggestion of going straight to the battery was a clue to bypass the breaker which cannot handle the current. Low voltage does not trip a breaker.

 

[NUUK]

Yes I was just going straight to the battery for a quick test. I will absolutely fix this issue the correct way. It was just a way to move closer to the solution. I need to get a tester that measures amps.

Once I have this info I will move to the next step.

 

[GoneFarrell]

Nuuk,
I can recommend this...

Amazon.com

It's compact, can get the clamp into tight spaces. It is sensitive, sees the earth's magnetic field, so I orient the clamp and then zero it just prior to clamping read.

 

[Bmarler]

Nuuk,
I can recommend this...

Amazon.com

It's compact, can get the clamp into tight spaces. It is sensitive, sees the earth's magnetic field, so I orient the clamp and then zero it just prior to clamping read.

That’s a great deal. True rms, good resolution. Only downside is the 100a max.
I guess that’s the trade off for the low draw resolution.

 

[Don L]

100a is a LOT for DC house type loads

 

[Bmarler]

100a is a LOT for DC house type loads

Agreed. But my inverter consumes much higher, and my alternator as well.
For general use it’s perfect. I still need a high capacity one. It would force me to have two meters when I’d rather have one.

 

[greatpapabear]

Another thought to do with the breaker.

When I fitted a new Furuno radar, it would blow the CB when turned on, even though it was within the stated amp draw of the radar. In discussion with one of their technicians, he said I need a Hi-Inrush CB which copes with a sudden but temporary draw than stated.

I changed the CB and all was well.

Hence, I wonder whether your water pump is temporarily drawing a higher than stated figure at specific times in its operation.

 

[C lectric]

I will mention this that if the pump is rated at 15A and the circuit breaker is rated at 15 amps that may be a problem. Most AC AND DC motors pull more current than the mfgrs rating upon startup of the motor. They typically rate it for RUNING current. This often is the case when the motor may actually pull higher than the rated load. Once they actually run up to speed then the current will drop back BUT that sounds like the drop is too late caused by a motor that draws a lot on starting.
THis can be caused by the motor trying to start a heavy load.

If not allowed for then I can see the breaker tripping. Consider installing a slightly higher rated C.Breaker.

If you have access to a clamp on current meter then use that to show the higher amps drawn.

If there is a real short or overload which lasts longer the C.B. should still trip.