Washdown pump pressure switch failures

[bpsuls]

Not sure what other people's experience has been but every few years my pressure switch in my washdown pump seems to fail. i have a Shurflo blaster II and when i took it apart I noticed that the switch is only rated for 10 amps but i know the pump can draw a lot more than that. bizarre that they put such an underrated switch in there. Previous owner was plowing through them too so had an extra switch on board. I now wired a 40A relay to do the switching instead with the pressure switch as the actuator for it. Going to see if it lasts longer.

Anyone else had washdown pressure switch failures like that?

 

[Olde School]

I have a Jabsco, same problem except it lasts 3 years.

 

[trophywife]

i thought they failed due to any amount of freezing and trapped water.

 

[easydoesit]

Perhaps an electrician on the forum could contribute. I'm not, but I recognize that your wire gauge has to be large enough (thick) to accommodate a 40 amp draw if that is the size of the breaker or fuse you install. Result of drawing increased amounts of current(say if the pump stalls) are that too small gauge wires will begin to heat as they handle the higher current draw.

Others ?

 

[Sentinel]

All of the pressure switch failures I have had were due to corrosion from salt water exposure. I can get substantially more life out of them by taking the cover off and packing the terminal area with dielectric grease.

 

[17 ft sea ranger]

so my washdown pump stopped working......guessing it is the pressure switch. So just so i am clear, once the pressure switch fails is the whole pump garbage? Or is there a fix?

 

[trophywife]

so my washdown pump stopped working......guessing it is the pressure switch. So just so i am clear, once the pressure switch fails is the whole pump garbage? Or is there a fix?

depending on brand.,, the switches are replaceable

 

[brutus]

Perhaps an electrician on the forum could contribute. I'm not, but I recognize that your wire gauge has to be large enough (thick) to accommodate a 40 amp draw if that is the size of the breaker or fuse you install. Result of drawing increased amounts of current(say if the pump stalls) are that too small gauge wires will begin to heat as they handle the higher current draw.

Others ?

If your pump needs 40 amp to work there is somethin wrong with your pump, those dont draw more then 15amp

 

[bpsuls]

Yeah to be clear the relay I put in is capable of 40A but there will never be that much current going through it. My fuse is rated for the wire not the relay. I have a 15 amp fuse in it. It does pop if I increase the pressure switch cutoff point so in theory the pump can hit above 15amp but that is not a good idea in general. Anyways I wanted to experiment with this. We'll see if it lasts. I did put grease on the switch contacts. The last one it was the contacts that carboned up, and once that happens they cant really be cleaned as you just end up scratching off the coating on the contacts and then the same carbon cycle happens almost right away.