HeadHunter Mach 5 Water Pressure Pump Problems

The Mach 5 pumps and their control circuitry are very sensitive to any air in the suction line. There are also inlet and outlet check valve fittings from the factory mounted right on the pump itself. If there is any source of air in the suction line or any debris in the check valves causing the pump to not build its working pressure in a certain time frame they will cut out on alarm. I've removed several of these pumps from boats because of similar problems and not being able to stagger the cut in and cut out pressure when using two or more pumps in a system.

Check the integrity of you suction line from tank to the pump for any possible sources of air entering the system when the pump is running

The Mach 5's will also shut down for "excessive cycling", if the red LED on top is flashing that's what's happening. I've seen this a lot on boats with icemakers and installing an accumulator tank usually takes care of it. If the red LED is constant it's a dry suction alarm and a check valve is needed close to the tank if there are no leaks on the inlet side.

Sounds like you need check valves so that the one pump is not losing pressure or sucking air or water in circles from the other pump, or perhaps a brass Y on the pickup so you can isolate 1 pump from the other.

Have you emailed or called Headhunter? They are a very good company and have excellent customer service from my experiences.

I would email them first, that should be your first course of action. They built the pump, they're the experts on it, they know the in's and out's of it, and would be more than happy to help you rather than seeing a thread about their pump that could be seen by some as negative.

My only experiences with them is they will fault if you have a small air leak. They are a MOTHER to prime if you run the water tank dry. But once they're primed and operating they work very well.

Yes, perhaps it's a low voltage issue with the OPs shorepower or something along those lines.

Whatta you think J? Maybe check the shielded Iso former?? Hummmm, gotta get one of those buck-boost x-formers...

If you have a common water filter on the suction side of a pump, it can pull air thru the bleed button on the filter top. Weak spring, button not properly seating.

Pump does not start. a. No water.
b. Overheating
due to high
water
temperature.
c. Too low or too
high supply
voltage.
Check the water supply.
Supply cold water <95°F
(35°C)
Check the supply voltage.

http://www.headhunterinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Mach-5-English-Installation-Instructions.pdf

Obviously, you're not very knowledgable about the Mach 5 pumps, but they have a circuit board which will turn the pump off on a fault if it detects a myriad of issues (to keep the pump from burning up) and will show on an LED on the unit which describes the fault. Over or under voltage is one of those faults, as well as no water, motor overheated, etc. etc.

I can tell you this much, in the myriad of yachts I've run with those built in transformers I have never had an issue with a melted shorecord end, popping dock breakers, or any other voltage related issue on those yachts. Then again I run 150 different yachts a year, sleep on 2 dozen different ones a year and see and use most of these products in real life situations.

Pascal- the instruction manual does show instructions for installation with an accumulator tank.


What LED is showing when the unit is not pumping water? Also how old is the pump?

I have Headhunter Calibers, not the larger Mach 5, but one of mine showed the same symptoms before dying completely and requiring replacement. Headhunter says that that happens sometimes due to the reliance on microprocessors, meaning that they are not rebuildable. I was able to get a replacement pump directly from Headhunter at half the retail by bringing in the silver tag with the serial number on it. I called first and was told of this "deal" by the guy I sought troubleshooting information from. Still pricey. Hope this isn't your problem, but FYI.

Watch the videos at the end of this, these might answer your questions. http://www.headhunterinc.com/product/mach5-breaking-the-sound-barrier/

Pascal, on my X-Caliber Headhunters, 3 flashing reds mean "Over Water Temperature". Check to make sure that you are getting water into the unit. I had a plugged vent hose that caused the pump to overheat as it tried to suck water from the tank. The pump felt hot to the touch when that happened, and the red light did flash 3 times. Once water flow was restored, and the rest pushed, it worked fine.

Over water temp might also happen if the water supply hose is fairly lengthy and the engine room is very hot (or water tank is in engine room) and it sits in the hose and bakes.