SEA PUMP CKT HI Alarm and Actuator Assembly Water Drain Drip

[MacB]

Hi all. One month owner with 30 good hours until this simultaneous starboard engine (8.1S Horizon) SmartCraft SEA PUMP CKT HI alarm, accompanied by a water drain drip (180/min) which only drips when the engine is off. H2O Press reading was pegged (43.4 PSI) with all other indications normal. Replaced the raw pump pressure sensor, cured the alarm. Drain still drips, and slows as line loses pressure, down to 10/min. With engine on, no drain drip. Two questions: Did the PUMP alarm actuate the drain, or are these two events related in some other way, like by ingesting something? (The two failures are 18 inches apart in the same raw water system.) Is the drain drip fixable or do I need to replace the part? Note: Everywhere I’ve looked, the starboard drain replacement part (863716A2) was "no longer available," while the port engine part is (863717A2). Many thanks, Mac

 

[SeadawgVB]

Those drains (863716A2) are supposed to be for winterization. If I recall correctly, If you pump up the system it allows the raw water to drain out through them. 0 pressure on the small air lines it the normal operation config. You may have the small blue "bicycle tire" pump that came with these engines used for winterizing.




Pull the little ring on the top of the engine to ensure all the air pressure has been released.

 

[MacB]

I’ll pull the ring and report. With the new pressure sensor installed, starboard engine was now showing .9 to 1.2 PSI before engine start vs. 0.0 on port. Maybe that’s residual air pressure doing that. Many thanks.

 

[SeadawgVB]

I’ll pull the ring and report. With the new pressure sensor installed, starboard engine was now showing .9 to 1.2 PSI before engine start vs. 0.0 on port. Maybe that’s residual air pressure doing that. Many thanks.

Those pressure sensors are just for monitoring the raw water pressure from the seawater pump. They actually should both be reading zero while engine is switched on but not running. (My port sensor is reading a couple psi before starting.)
Those sensors are not connected to the air pressure of the winterizing system at all.

My thought process was that if you are leaking some water out of the "water drain actuator", it may be caused by some air pressure in the actuator's air line. If, after tugging on the ring to relieve air pressure and the actuator still leaks, the actuator itself is your primary suspect (for the leak).

 

[MacB]

Got it. I should get to the boat today or tomorrow to pull the ring. Still, I keep wondering why these two failures in the same water line happened together. For a month, there was no drain drip (I've been monitoring bilge water sources for next time on the hard.) Then the alarm, engine shutdown and an obvious drip at the same time. Might "SmartCraft" send an electrical input to open the water drain with the reading pegged at 43.4 PSI? That might be dangerous... Did I ingest something? Anyway, I'll let you know and thanks very much.

 

[MacB]

Checked the two indicator pistons at the ring and tire valve fixture. Both retracted. Pulled the ring. It was not under pressure and had no effect. That's actually good, because there should have been no way for air pressure to just build up in there. Unfortunately, did not have a pump. Today, I'll take a pump, close the sea cock, open the valves for a moment and then close them, hopefully freeing up the value to properly seat. If that doesn't work, will try with the sea cock open to force more water through. Again, the value seals upon engine start, so there just some reason it's dripping without any pressure/flow in the raw water system. I'm hoping it's debris.

 

[MacB]

Success! Used a pump to pressurize and open the drain valve for a few seconds, then pulled the ring to close. It seated and hasn't leaked since. Supports my suspicion that I ingested something that got stuck in the valve while damaging my H2O pressure sensor. Or maybe a coincidence. Thanks Dave for the coaching! Mac

 

[SeadawgVB]

AWESOME! Glad you had success! And also thanks for updating the thread with the results, it can help with other folks having the same issue.