Catalina 34

General Activities => Main Message Board => Topic started by: Ron Hill on September 03, 2012, 06:08:54 PM

Title: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Ron Hill on September 03, 2012, 06:08:54 PM
Guys, Susan and D. Gill : I just took apart a G908 Sherwood pump (like is on the M35BC engine) and rebuilt it. Not that difficult!!

It took me about 2 hours, but then I was in unknown territory.  Now that I have done it; I could do it on the boat in maybe in 1 hr (for those that like to suffer) or take it home on the workbench and do it easily in < 15 minutes.

I found that you don't have to destroy the oil seal to replace the water seal and you don't need to make a special tool, which makes things easier than with the Oberdoffer. 

I'm sure others have rebuilt theirs, so I surely am not the first.   A few thoughts



Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Jack Hutteball on September 03, 2012, 07:04:27 PM
Ron, it sure would be nice to have a photo essay of your rebuilding process.  I have one sitting on my workbench that I could work on.

Jack
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Roc on September 04, 2012, 05:29:46 AM
Also, what kind of tools are needed to do such a job.....
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Ken Juul on September 04, 2012, 05:41:03 AM
When I looked at rebuilding mine, this was probably 6 years ago, the critical part was the shaft.  Mine was scored beyond reuse.  The shafts were very hard to find, thus cost as much as a new pump. Perhaps that has changed now.  Also for an emergency repair on the boat, I could see not replacing the oil seal, but for a couple dollars (if that) why not replace it so you have a completely rebuilt pump.
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Ron Hill on September 04, 2012, 12:06:58 PM
Jack : I'll send you a little write-up.
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Ron Hill on September 04, 2012, 02:10:50 PM
Roc : I just used the tools that I had at hand. 

I didn't have to make a special tool like I did to rebuild an Oberdoffer!
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: TonyP on September 04, 2012, 02:25:45 PM
I sucked up some weed on the weekend but my first thoughts were the raw water pump.
We have a Johnson (made in Sweden), which looks a very simple pump.
I removed the face plate, ruining the gasket, popped out the impeller, replaced with new one we had onboard, made a gasket out of a magazine page (temporary till I get some real gasket paper) them back together to find still no water.
Later found no water coming through the inlet filter so dived overboard to find it was blocked at the inlet under the hull.
Lesson learned... try the easiest options first. :clap
I have only read about Sherwood and Oberdorfer pumps here.
Do others have a Johnson?

cheers
Tony
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Ron Hill on September 04, 2012, 06:07:34 PM
TonyP : Been there done that twice - mine was sea-grass or hydrilla.

After that happens the first thing, what anyone should do is to check the raw water flow.  Remove the raw water inlet hose from the thru hull.  Then slowly open the thru hull.  To my surprise NOTHING came out/ not a drop. 
Wrote this up many years ago and that is the reason to carry a 3/8" wooden dowel onboard. I poked it out from the inside.   A thought
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Ron Hill on September 04, 2012, 06:19:18 PM
Ken : When the raw water pump shaft is scored you are SOL (and I don't mean Standards Of Learning!).

Usually the shaft is not scored except when you do something unknowingly stupid as I did. 
I was on the ICW and decide to follow a tug boat.   Because -- They come up and the bridge opens because they are commercial traffic!! 
The tug I was following too closely came to a shallow spot and "kept on a trucking" churning up the bottom. There was silt/sand etc. everywhere in the water and I was motoring thru it. 
The end result was that I chewed up the cutless bearing and the shaft on the Oberdoffer with all of that sand going thru the system.

Lesson learned, don't follow a tug!!   A thought
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Stu Jackson on September 04, 2012, 06:30:31 PM
Quote from: Ron Hill on September 04, 2012, 06:07:34 PM
TonyP : Been there done that twice - mine was sea-grass or hydrilla.

After that happens the first thing, what anyone should do is to check the raw water flow.  Remove the raw water inlet hose from the thru hull.  Then slowly open the thru hull.  To my surprise NOTHING came out/ not a drop. 
Wrote this up many years ago and that is the reason to carry a 3/8" wooden dowel onboard. I poked it out from the inside.   A thought

Good point.  You can also remove the intake hose from the raw water pump and use a dinghy foot pump to blow it out.  Sometimes...depends on what the clog consists of.
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: TonyP on September 05, 2012, 12:42:41 AM
We have a bloody big filter on top of the through hull and I couldn't remove it. I did 2nd as Ron suggested and removed the hose (which on inspection probably could do with replacing as well) and saw that no water was coming through, and as I couldn't get to it from the inside, the only other way was the wet way, about 15 degrees C
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Ed Shankle on September 05, 2012, 11:42:12 AM
Ran into the clogged intake through hull this past weekend. The dowel solution doesn't work for me because of the type of strainer that I have. After unscrewing the bowl, it's a 90 degree angle to go down the through hull. I assume others have the same issue. Need something that will bend, like a wire brush bottle cleaner. I had one, but still couldn't push past the last half inch. I assume it got caught up on an edge, but not sure. The dingy foot pump solution didn't work either. Had no choice but to go over the side with a screwdriver and my bottle brush. So I'll either have to change my strainer type or experiment with different types of brushes to determine what works best.
I guess the lesson is, do a dry run before assuming the solutions offered on the board will work for your boat. Although I don't know how I would have done an effective dry run with the foot pump.

Ed
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Stu Jackson on September 05, 2012, 12:45:48 PM
Ed, I have the same arrangement.  The strainer is screwed directly into the thru hull.  One thing I've considered is simply relocating the strainer by inserting a short piece of hose between the thru hull and the bottom of the strainer.  We don't seem to have the same amount of debris in the waters here.  I've had only two blockages in 14 years.
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Ed Shankle on September 06, 2012, 10:18:47 AM
Nice idea Stu, thanks. We don't seem to have it too bad around here either, but it seems whenever someone writes about a problem they have, it soon happens to me! I pray no one writes that their boat blew up! :D

regards,
Ed
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: MarkT on September 06, 2012, 02:17:59 PM
Try using the foot pump for inflating your dinghy to blow air back through the thru hull. I can't tell from your signature whare you may be in the country but if it is a jellyfish or weed then this might clear the blockage.

Mark T
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Ron Hill on September 06, 2012, 06:03:04 PM
Guys : If the blockage is so bad that when you remove entire strainer assembly from the thru hull and then you slowly open the thru hull and NOTHING come out, that's when you need the wooden dowel !!

D Winchel came up with the dingy pump idea and it does work sometimes.  I still carry a 3/8" wooder dowel.
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Hawk on January 09, 2013, 11:18:49 AM
Ron,

Following on our recent discussions on the Sherwood Redux thread I did speak to Westerbeke and the Sherwood distributor here in BC and the "official" pumping capacities of both pumps are apparently the same for the Oberdorfor 202M-15(and16) and the Sherwood G908. However your obsevations in "the field" with both pumps is persuasive that more water is moved by the Sherwood. I have had good luck with my Sherwood (now weeping) so am inclined to replace it (even with the added cost over the Ober) and renew the old Sherwood pump as a spare.

SO, all that to say that you mentioned your re-build below and I wonder if you can send us(me) a tech note on the steps. I think (hoped) you had done one up already.

Thanks in advance,
Hawk
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Stu Jackson on January 09, 2013, 02:35:02 PM
Quote from: Hawk on January 09, 2013, 11:18:49 AM

SO, all that to say that you mentioned your re-build below and I wonder if you can send us(me) a tech note on the steps. I think (hoped) you had done one up already.


Hawk,

Your boat, your choice on the pump selection.  Good logic.

As far as Ron's writeup on pump rebuilds, here's a link that includes references to Ron's writeup which includes his SPECIAL TOOL for removing the seals, which I used successfully.

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,6766.0.html

It's for an Oberdorfer, but should work just as well for a Sherwood with Ron's earlier comments in this thread included.

Good luck, it's worthwhile, whatever you choose to do, to get rid of that weeping, asap. 
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Hawk on January 09, 2013, 06:31:45 PM
Thanks Stu!
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Ron Hill on January 10, 2013, 03:07:29 PM
Tom : Send me your email address and I'll send you talk you thru the rebuild of a Sherwood pump.
 
It is not the same as an Oberdoffer and I believe a bit easier. 
Title: Re: Rebuilding a Sherwood raw water pump
Post by: Hawk on January 10, 2013, 06:29:17 PM
Thanks so much Ron.......on the way.

Tom