After 40 years of faithful service for my Freedom33, my shower sump pump has seized. Can these be rebuilt or can anyone recommend a new replacement?
I have been very satisfied with the Whale Gulper 220 model: BP1552 12 Volt self priming diaphragm pump. I put it in about 7-8 years ago and it has never clogged or needed any cleaning etc. You can rotate the inlet/outlet around to line up how you might need them. I highly recommend it.
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I also swear by my Whale Gulper that I have had for several years. Highly recommend it.
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A non-answer:
On my Freedom 33, I dropped the pressurized water and switched to the Whale double-acting foot pump.
It works very well, the flow is almost too high!
I also removed the hot water tank.
I find the whole installation too complicated. Too many pipes and accessories.
Lorenzo.
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Thank you for your replies.
It’s unanimous! The Whale Gulper is the sump pump to have!
Important caveat to purchasing the Whale Gulper: there are mild steel parts inside that need to be replaced with stainless, or else they will rust and the pump will seize!
I bought one in 2019 to use as my backup bilge pump. It worked great until November 2021, when I turned it on and the fuse blew. The motor had seized up because two internal parts had badly rusted. The first is a self tapping screw and washer, which serve to retain the bearing for the worm screw. The second is a threaded post that lightly bears on the far side of the worm wheel, and keeps it meshed with the worm screw.
Other fasteners in the pump are stainless steel, but someone at Whale thought they could get away with saving a few pennies by using mild steel for these two. I contacted the company and they agreed to replace it, but not before making me jump through a few hoops. Meanwhile, it was easy enough to replace the screw and washer with stainless ones. The post was a bit more trouble, and required a friend with a lathe.
Overall, it’s an excellent pump, you just need to make a couple of corrections to the design before using it in a marine environment.
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