The Horror revisted
Ralph,
I wrote a pretty detailed post on this very project on my 34. It is in the archives under "The Horror" if you want to read the whole thread. Here is a copy of just the post on the rebuild. If you need more info let me know
The Horror; Not That Horrible
Just a follow up on this thread, for those who might happen down this same path.
The pump in question turned out to be a Whale Gusher Mk III. There are two of these pumps on the boat; one is an emergency bilge pump located on the starboard side, in the rear of the cockpit and the other is the pump that will pump the contents of the holding tank overboard. My immediate problem is the holding tank pump. As noted the boat is a ’88 E34, but I believe these pumps and their arrangement is the same on the 32, 34 and 38, to my knowledge and probably other Ericson of the same vintage.
The pump located in the head looks at first glance to be almost impossible to remove because of its location, which is just to the right and below the sink. This area is a no mans land of valves, hoses and seacocks. I removed the drawer under the sink and with the drawer removed and the opening that allows you to get in to operate the seacocks, access was surprising good. There are 6 bolts to remove which breaks free the pump from the bulkhead. There are two hose clamp to undo; the one close to the seacock door is very easy to get at and with the pump loose, the hose on the other side of the pump can be got at. There are elbows off the pump with hose clamps. Do not remove these elbows from the pump; remove the hose from the elbows.
With the pump out it is rebuilding time. I opened up the pump and it is a simple [and very smelly] affair consisting of an inlet and outlet port closed by a flap and a diaphragm that manually operates the action. My immediate problem was that mechanical linkage that operated the diaphragm was broken. Off to West Marine for the rebuild kit, which with the PS card, was about $40. Unknown to me at the time was that this kit does not include the linkage part that I need, so the project went on “hold” until I could get to the Whale website for a part number, which happened Monday. Come to find out there are 3 rebuild kits for this pump. One, the one I bought, has the flapper valves and diaphragm, etc., and another kit, the linkage assembly I required. The third replaces parts that brings the linkage through a bulkhead. I called Whale; they confirmed that I needed this rebuild kit and informed me that they do not sell retail, gave me some numbers to call who are distributors and five minutes later found me on the phone with Defender. Defender as always said, “No problem, we’ll have them drop ship it today” and $55 later, $15 of it for two day shipping, I have the part, which arrived today.
I decided that since I had this thing apart and both kits in front of me, I would install both kits and not return the kit containing the diaphragm. This turned out to be the right move, as when I disassembled the pump I found the rubber parts very distorted. The hardest part of the rebuilding was handling the odor. Remember this is the holding tank pump that has been in situ for 18 years. Beyond that, the rebuild was not more then half an hour. When you attempt this project be aware that there is a front and back to the flaps that does not really show in the exploded drawing, so as you disassemble, lay the parts out to the side as you remove them so you have a guide reassemble.
Next is the bilge pump rebuild, which should be a walk in the park after this.
Hope this helps someone.
__________________
Paul Raywood
s/v Shadowfax
1988 E34 #257
Rock Hall, Maryland, Home Port
New Hope, Pennsylvania, Home
