Shurflo Piranha Pumps

[saxton15]

I'm having an intermittent problem with my floor ballast tank pump. Pump turns on to fill and I can hear it, yet no water is filling in the tank. I opened up the pump, cleaned it all out and still nothing. There are no kinks in the lines either. My last option is to check the intake under the boat for a blockage. Has anyone ever had their intake jammed up with any debris?

It's weird since two days ago I filled the tank without issue. What is the lifespan of these pumps? I'm going to order a cartridge to replace the current one.

Lastly, I have the 800 Pump, if I decided to upgrade them to the 1100 would I see any significant improvement in fill/drain times? I'm assuming the speed of unloading would be affected by the size of the hose rather than the pump power itself.

[kx250frider617]

I bet your ball valve is closed. If you hear it running, then the impeller is spinning. There is nothing to those pumps at all. When they go bad, its usually from lake gunk building up on the back side of the impeller, you'll start to blow the breaker when that happens.

Yes, my inlets get clogged all the time with seaweed. you may have a clog on the lake side of the ball valve.

BTW, the 1100gph pumps have a 1 1/8" hose barb. I believe its the same cartridge and everything. You would have to swap all your hoses to 1 1/8" which would include larger thru hulls, etc.

[DocPhil]

Has anyone ever had their intake jammed up with any debris?

YES! Check the intake. Pull the hose and clean it out. I bet that is your issue

[saxton15]

I bet it's one of those zebra mussels!!! Guess I get to go swimming

[DocPhil]

I bet it's one of those zebra mussels!!! Guess I get to go swimming

I had a huge ball of knotted up weeds in the LSV last year.

[saxton15]

I had a huge ball of knotted up weeds in the LSV last year.

I bet your ball valve is closed. If you hear it running, then the impeller is spinning. There is nothing to those pumps at all. When they go bad, its usually from lake gunk building up on the back side of the impeller, you'll start to blow the breaker when that happens.

Yes, my inlets get clogged all the time with seaweed. you may have a clog on the lake side of the ball valve.

BTW, the 1100gph pumps have a 1 1/8" hose barb. I believe its the same cartridge and everything. You would have to swap all your hoses to 1 1/8" which would include larger thru hulls, etc.

I swam underneath and stuck my finger up the intake hole; no clogs there, unless I didn't get deep enough? I'm wondering if I should not just order the new cartridge and get it over with? What are their lifespans?

[DocPhil]

Pull the hose from inside

[saxton15]

Pull the hose from inside

Which hose? When I pull the cartridge out, its the bottom of the pump, what is left? Doesn't that go right to the thru-hull? What if I ran compressed air from the bottom of the pump housing and opened up the valve quickly?

[DocPhil]

Which hose? When I pull the cartridge out, its the bottom of the pump, what is left? Doesn't that go right to the thru-hull? What if I ran compressed air from the bottom of the pump housing and opened up the valve quickly?

Interesting. Do you have a pic? I believe my setup was different in the 2014

[saxton15]

Back at home, I'll take a pic next week.

I got my hand right up there and couldn't feel anything but what must have been the ball valve. (This conversation has taken an odd turn)

Anyways.....cartridge on order. I got paranoid and checked each pump to make sure nothing was stuck in there, they were all clean.

[saxton15]

Just saw a pic of a different pump set up where a hose does come from the thru-hull to the pump. Might be that set up you were referring to Doc.

[DocPhil]

Just saw a pic of a different pump set up where a hose does come from the thru-hull to the pump. Might be that set up you were referring to Doc.

Most likely. Yes.

[Ndawg12]

did you turn the pump on while you had the cartridge out? Is the impeller secure to the shaft? If you can hear it running and you're not popping a breaker, then you have a blockage somewhere.

[saxton15]

Stupidly, I did not run the cartridge when I pulled it out. I spun the impeller by hand and it didn't appear to be loose or stuck.

[kx250frider617]

Do you have a valve anywhere on your fill line? The new boats have them to cut flow to the PNP bags but maybe yours is ran differently?

[vanamp]

When I took delivery of my used a22 (it had only been used one season). One of the pumps sounded and felt like it was running but the impeller was not turning. Dealer swapped out cartridge.

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[saxton15]

No valve on the fill line. This is the center tank pump, goes right into the hard tank.

[gorilla]

No valve on the fill line. This is the center tank pump, goes right into the hard tank.

That's the drain pump if it is directly connected to the hard tank. As far as I know, every fill pump is on top of a ball valve. If you pull the cartridge out, you should see right out the bottom of the boat. Edited May 19, 2015 by gorilla

[kx250frider617]

That's the drain pump if it is directly connected to the hard tank. As far as I know, every fill pump is on top of a ball valve. If you pull the cartridge out, you should see right out the bottom of the boat.

Maybe if that's the case, someone got his wires mixed up and drain is full, fill is drain?

[saxton15]

That's the drain pump if it is directly connected to the hard tank. As far as I know, every fill pump is on top of a ball valve. If you pull the cartridge out, you should see right out the bottom of the boat.

When I open up the center floor there are three pumps. Two with valves connected right to the hull, one without. The one without (in the middle of the two other pumps) is the drain pump no doubt. Of the two remaining fill pumps, I closed both valves, opened both cartridges and cleaned both out. What I did not do is run the cartridges out of the pump to ensure they are both spinning.

[saxton15]

Maybe if that's the case, someone got his wires mixed up and drain is full, fill is drain?

They are definitely not backwards. I managed to get the center tank full and emptied once this year. Since then nothing enters the tank. I've ran the boat with the floor access hatch open to hear the pump clear. It does run, but does not sound as powerful as the front pump.

[gorilla]

When I open up the center floor there are three pumps. Two with valves connected right to the hull, one without. The one without (in the middle of the two other pumps) is the drain pump no doubt. Of the two remaining fill pumps, I closed both valves, opened both cartridges and cleaned both out. What I did not do is run the cartridges out of the pump to ensure they are both spinning.

Now I see what you are saying, got confused when you said there was no valve and connected directly to the hard tank. You were talking about the PNP setup.

So, I've got "vapor lock" a few times in my front tank lines. (I know you are having an issue with the mid tank) Meaning, an air/water bubble in the line was big enough to keep the pump from filling the tank, too much head pressure. How did I break that? I turned on the fill pump on while I turned the fill pump valve off. Then quickly crank open the valve. It was enough of a shock to the line and bubble, allowing the pump to fill again.

Then again, could just be a bad pump. Too weak to actually move enough water.

Edited May 20, 2015 by gorilla

[saxton15]

I could give that a shot. I am also considering popping off the cartridge and opening and closing the valve quickly. If water rushes in, I'll know there is definitely no blockage between the thru-hull and pump housing.

[gorilla]

I could give that a shot. I am also considering popping off the cartridge and opening and closing the valve quickly. If water rushes in, I'll know there is definitely no blockage between the thru-hull and pump housing.

If you take out the cartridge, you should be able to see the ground. No need to do it on the water and fill up your bilge. On the water, you could hook up a spare piece of ballast hose to the pump, hang it over the side of the boat and see if the pump works. That would be a good way to diagnose a clog upstream from the pump.

[saxton15]

Update: I ended up replacing the cartridge. Prior to replacing it, I pulled the old one out of the pump housing and ran the pump. The impeller was spinning without issue. I tried cleaning the impeller a bit and it suddenly popped off the cartridge and into the bilge. Evidently, it was spinning on itself when water was coming in. I popped in the new cartridge and wired things up to allow me to replace it the next time even faster. Center tank back online!