Rule "fully automatic" pump is not...

jarcher · #1 (**permalink**) 07-14-2010

I'm fed up with these. I bought one a the beginning of last season and it didn't work. The vendor sent a new one, which worked until the boat went into storage but failed this season. Rule sent me another, and it does not work out of the box.

Its a great concept. The pump comes on every 2.5 minutes, checks for load against the impeller and stays on until any load goes away. No float switch needed.

Too damn bad they can't make the electronics stop croaking. Three pumps, failure rate 100%. I would say this pump sucks, but ...

sailingdog · #2 (**permalink**) 07-14-2010

That's why I buy Whale products

Gene T · #3 (**permalink**) 07-14-2010

Interesting, I have one that is over 20 years old and it still works. I dislike it for the boat however simply because it comes on every 2.5 min. Try to sleep on a boat with that going on. So I ripped it out after only a short time on the 2nd previous boat and used used it for the dink. I put a long cord on it with a cigarette lighter plug and made a bracket so it would hang on the transom. Worked great for years constant use, outside in the sun no less. This is a great use for this type of pump.

Maybe they made them better back then.

Gene

sailingdog · #4 (**permalink**) 07-14-2010

Probably... true of many things...

Quote:

Maybe they made them better back then.

jarcher · #5 (**permalink**) 07-20-2010

Frankly for a while I thought it had to be me, because how could a product with a 100% failure rate stay in production? Its a very simple device to install though. Three wires. I wish it did work. I rarely sleep on my boat and would not have a problem turning it off for that rare night.

I bought both a float switch and another pump from another company with a built in float switch. I have not decided which way to go yet.

Gene T · #6 (**permalink**) 07-20-2010

I prefer separate float switches. It is easy to manually activate them to see if all is working properly. It also gives you the ability to control the water level better.

On a side note: I had constant failures with float switches on my first boat. They would rupture and would only last about 6 to 8 months. That was in the 80's however so perhaps they just didn't know how to make them yet. BUT, that was a wood boat and I always wondered if that had something to do with it.

Gene

ptsbug · #7 (**permalink**) 07-20-2010

Funny you should comment on this pump, I thought my hearing was shot when I flipped the switch from manual to auto and only heard an initial pump operation with nothing after that.
Hopefully I can find the receipt and swap to another style, would hate to arrive at the boat Friday afternoon with problems.

jarcher · #8 (**permalink**) 07-20-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by ptsbug

Funny you should comment on this pump, I thought my hearing was shot when I flipped the switch from manual to auto and only heard an initial pump operation with nothing after that.
Hopefully I can find the receipt and swap to another style, would hate to arrive at the boat Friday afternoon with problems.

That's a failure mode I have not seen yet. Each failed pump I had would not even do the initial operation.