Jabsco Course Mesh Pumpgard Issue

wgkenney · #1 (**permalink**) 07-20-2010

Hi all,

I have a Beneteau 473 and have, what I hope, is a simple problem. Most all of my pumps on board are protected by Jabsco Course Mesh Pumpgards. In the forward head I noticed this weekend that my shower drain was working slowly and the pump was laboring a bit. I can see that the pumpgard is likely clogged. As I tried to unscrew the pumpgard it would just not budge. Given that it is plastic I did not want to try to force it. And being under the sink it is a bit awkward to get at.

Any advice on how to get this open without destroying it. Any tools in particular that would be helpful in twisting this off without damaging the cover?

windward54 · #2 (**permalink**) 07-20-2010

I had the same issue. I figured it was safer to keep working at it by hand then to try and use tools. Eventually they came loose. Turned out that the tops can take a force when applied by hand.

svHyLyte · #3 (**permalink**) 07-20-2010

It simply unscrews. Pour a tea kettle of hot water (not boiling--hot) and let it sit for a few minutes then hold the bottom with a cold cloth (moisten one and stick it in your freezer for awhile beforehand) and twist (lefty loosie). After you've cleaned the thing, apply a little silicon grease to the threads and O-ring when you reassemble it.

FWIW...

wgkenney · #4 (**permalink**) 07-26-2010

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice. Got to the boat this weekend and used a small strap wrench. The strap wrapped around the pumpgard just fine and worked great. Turns out the pumpgard was not stuck or bound ... I just did not have enough leverage in the confined space under the sink to us my hand to undo it. It was really just a bit more than finger tight.

Filter was completely clogged ... mostly with what looked like lint from the towels.

Zanshin · #5 (**permalink**) 07-26-2010

I had the same issue with all of the Jabsco filters on 2 successive boats. I've put some glycerin in the threads and tightened the assembly just enough so that it wouldn't leak and still end up having trouble opening the suckers up. The fill up quickly, though and I'd rather remove the smelly grundge from the filters than have to replace the pumps.