Trojan Boat Forum

I was thinking of installing a salt water wash down pump. I was wondering if I could use the same circuit as my fresh water pump--jump it off the existing pump. I was thinking would not use both pumps at the same time. Am I nuts or not??

I would advise against that. I had done exactly that briefly and out on the water one of the washdown hose fittings broke. That meant I couldn't turn on the freshwater pump without spraying saltwater all over the bilge. My fix on the water was to snip the washdown pump wires and when I got back to dock I correctly wired it to its own breaker. If you do want to wire them to a single breaker on your panel, I would advise putting a separate switch or breaker in the washdown wiring.

No no no!
It's one thing to put it on the same circuit which I would recommend against, it's another thing to "jump it off the existing pump" You'd have to be really carefull with the amount of current the additional pump draws versus the existing one, and how it will affect the wiring given that you're increasing the length of the circuit whether you use the wash-down pump alone or not.

Don't see why a double-pole double throw switch wouldn't be your friend here. Keeps you from using both at the same time. That said, perform your wire sizing calcs as was stated.

I would give its own circuit . I would not want to turn off the fresh water just to used the wash down . Guests on board may need the fresh water at the same time .

prowlersfish wrote:I would give its own circuit . I would not want to turn off the fresh water just to used the wash down . Guests on board may need the fresh water at the same time .

And I hate it when a guest say something like "um, the sink doesn't work" when I'm docking the boat.

And when you show the guest what a human fender is .