Jabsco vs Johnson?

[SkiZilla]

Finally ready to plumb in the surf setup ballast in our boat and would like your guys opinions on Jabsco vs Johnson. I like the better flow rate of the Johnson but on the other hand like the dry run protection of the Jabsco.

What do you guys think.....is the dry run protection worth the sacrifice in flow rate?

Thanks!

[skurfer]

Sounds like you answered your own question. Get the Jabsco, but when you mount them, make sure the impeller faces down. Impeller mounted up shortens the life. Water leaks into the pump, bearings rust, pump gets stuck and it needs to be refurbed....

Edited January 3, 2013 by skurfer

[augie09]

Sounds like you answered your own question. Get the Jabsco, but when you mount them, make sure the impeller faces down. Impeller mounted up shortens the life. Water leaks into the pump, bearings rust, pump gets stuck and it needs to be refurbed....

interesting, my dealer mounted my jabsco's facing up. never thought of these issues however. well, 2 years and no issues, knock on wood. but I have spare impellers on hand should one finally fail. refurbing the pump itself though sounds pricey.

how many people has this happened to? never heard of it, but haven't been looking.

[MLA]

On a typical sac, the flow rate difference in a real world ballast setup will be measured in seconds. Both are good pump, so neither is a bad choice. I would not rely on the Jabsco's run-dry protection. I know the Jabsco comes with the green impellers, but I think the Johnson does as well. Both draw about the same current, with in a couple amps of each other.

Augie,

Yes, it recommended to mount the with the motor up/pump head down. There was a guy on WW a few months back that posted pics of his Centurion OEM pumps. I think it was a 2010 boat IIRC. Motor down and the windings and housing where rusted pretty bad.

[Nitrousbird]

Buy whichever one you can get cheaper...which is normally the Johnson but sometimes you can find a crazy sale on the Jabsco pumps. They are too similar to really recommend one over the other so let your wallet make the choice.

[Bradley Thornton]

Buy whichever one you can get cheaper...which is normally the Johnson but sometimes you can find a crazy sale on the Jabsco pumps. They are too similar to really recommend one over the other so let your wallet make the choice.

[spencer]

interesting, my dealer mounted my jabsco's facing up. never thought of these issues however. well, 2 years and no issues, knock on wood. but I have spare impellers on hand should one finally fail. refurbing the pump itself though sounds pricey.

how many people has this happened to? never heard of it, but haven't been looking.

The wrongly mounted pumps went bad on about every MasterCraft from 2002 to 2006. Water leaks down through the head into the motor and starts to create problems over time. Turn them over and save yourself some money. It is not the impeller that goes bad.

Buy whichever one you can get cheaper...which is normally the Johnson but sometimes you can find a crazy sale on the Jabsco pumps. They are too similar to really recommend one over the other so let your wallet make the choice.

I like the Johnson pumps a lot but make sure to a larger fuse with them. Speed should not even be factored when trying to decide. The difference when filling a 400 lb. V-Drive sac is only around 15 seconds when I tested them side by side. The Johnson was faster.

Do you need the included pre-wired ballast switch, newer Green impeller and most importantly will the Ballast Puppy's recognizable name give you peace of mind? Together these items retail for more than the $30 difference in price making the Jabsco pump a better value.

Edited January 4, 2013 by spencer

[Rmack]

interesting, my dealer mounted my jabsco's facing up. never thought of these issues however. well, 2 years and no issues, knock on wood. but I have spare impellers on hand should one finally fail. refurbing the pump itself though sounds pricey.

how many people has this happened to? never heard of it, but haven't been looking.

I had my 2 Jabsco pumps mounted up right and never a problem on my old boat (5 years strong) and 1 Jabsco pump mounted upside down and still never had a problem.

[skurfer]

Just wait, I work on a lot of MC's. Tons of pump failures. I can usually refurb them, but sometimes they are too rusty....

[Nitrousbird]

I like the Johnson pumps a lot but make sure to a larger fuse with them.

I have my Johnson on a 10 amp circuit breaker with no issues.

[SkiZilla]

Thanks for all your input guys! Its truely appreciated.

[TallRedRider]

interesting, my dealer mounted my jabsco's facing up. never thought of these issues however. well, 2 years and no issues, knock on wood. but I have spare impellers on hand should one finally fail. refurbing the pump itself though sounds pricey.

how many people has this happened to? never heard of it, but haven't been looking.

It happened to me on my 2006 MC.

I had my 2 Jabsco pumps mounted up right and never a problem on my old boat (5 years strong) and 1 Jabsco pump mounted upside down and still never had a problem.

This comes up a fair amount, and there are always individuals that haven't had problems with them mounted the wrong way. The failures are rare enough that you don't realize that the mounting situation is the reason for failure, but common enough that the guys who work on the boats every day can sure tell you all about it.

I also drove 115 MPH on the freeway once, and I didn't have an accident or get a ticket...that doesn't mean it was safe or correct. It is about leaning the odds in your favor as much as possible.

The Johnson has thermal protection as well, so I would not factor that into the equation. http://www.wakemakers.com/johnson-ultra-ballast-pump.html

[skurfer]

Another one bit the dust today. 2010 MC KGB. Will replace in the spring.

Edited January 4, 2013 by skurfer

[wakesetter8796]

What's KGB?

[Chia]

What's KGB?

Russian secret service

[skurfer]

Fancy name for MC's ballast. Stands for Keeline Gravity Ballast or something.

Edited January 5, 2013 by skurfer

[Arctic Slalom]

interesting, my dealer mounted my jabsco's facing up. never thought of these issues however. well, 2 years and no issues, knock on wood. but I have spare impellers on hand should one finally fail. refurbing the pump itself though sounds pricey.

how many people has this happened to? never heard of it, but haven't been looking.

you know, I just looked at the photos of my install on the sunscape and the jabsco is mounted with motor on the bottom (bronze up) of ski locker cabinet....I wonder If I should have it inverted (per wakemakers)???

I'll call dealer about it.

[Pkdude]

We put in two Johnsons last fall and they work well. Pretty fast filling our 750# fat sacs. Mounted them impeller up to make changeout easier but may flip them based on the above.

[Pkdude]

PS-we have been having trouble with popping circuit breakers in our '06 VRide. They say they take 10 amps but we keep popping the 15 amp breaker. Will probably move them both to the 50 amp breaker.

[martinarcher]

PS-we have been having trouble with popping circuit breakers in our '06 VRide. They say they take 10 amps but we keep popping the 15 amp breaker. Will probably move them both to the 50 amp breaker.

Be careful. 50 amps is probably way more than the wire that is feeding them is rated for. You don't want to start a fire on the boat if the wire gets too hot and becomes the weakest link in the boat.

I would pull the impellers out and inspect the inside of the housing. My guess is there is a bit of corrosion or something similar inside the housing causing extra resistance on the impeller which is causing the motor to draw more current than it should. Clean up the housing with some steel wool or emery cloth and lube the impeller with dish soap and re-assemble the pump and see how it works. I bet it will fix the problem.

[Nitrousbird]

PS-we have been having trouble with popping circuit breakers in our '06 VRide. They say they take 10 amps but we keep popping the 15 amp breaker. Will probably move them both to the 50 amp breaker.

You have other issues. I have one of my pumps on a 10amp breaker; I popped that breaker once last year but I sucked something into the pump. I reset the breaker, reversed it for a second then went forward again and no issues since.

[Bradley Thornton]

PS-we have been having trouble with popping circuit breakers in our '06 VRide. They say they take 10 amps but we keep popping the 15 amp breaker. Will probably move them both to the 50 amp breaker.

Something doesn't sound right if you are popping breakers the answer is never go bigger till the wire is on fire. I would check wiring first. Little info

http://www.bakesonline.com/images/MediaLibrary/rkrswitchdpdt.jpg

http://www.bakesonline.com/images/MediaLibrary/reversepumpdiag.jpg

Edited April 16, 2013 by Bradley Thornton

[Intense]

I had an issue when I wired in my reversible pump last year. I won't name the brand since I really don't think it's a factor. I think the way it was wired has everything to do with it. Needless to say, I re-wired it this spring. This time I used 12 gauge wire everywhere and run the main power for the pump straight from the batteries, with a 15 amp in-line fuse. No problems anymore!

[mbilenki]

I would have to say go with the Johnson, as they can generally be found for just about half the price of the Jabsco. I recently just purchased 2 Johnsons 12GPM pumps myself got both pumps at a low price in the off season for basically the price of one Jabsco. so if one even dies & I replace it I am sill up 1 pump. I have checked it out pretty thorough & it looks like its a quality built pump, the only thing I can't say at this point is the longevity of the pumps vs the Jabsco. It's a personal pic with this one, but I would say save the money & get the Johnson.

Matt

[Brett B]

Johnson recommends a 25 amp fuse for their pumps:

http://media.wakemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/johnson-ultra-ballast-pump-installation-instructions.pdf

Right when you first switch the pumps on they can and will pull over 20amps, but that quickly drops down to the steady state ratings shown here. Most fuses and circuit breakers aren't sensitive to instantaneous high current levels, and don't actually "pop" until well over their rated values. That's why most could get by with something like a 15 amp fuse as most of the steady state current draw values are at or under this.

I have 12 AWG wire and 25 amp inline fuses for each of my 3 Johnson pumps. I have popped a fuse before when the impellers were siezed a bit from sitting without use for a long time. My pumps are also mounted motor side up.