the fresh water pump on my 56 is an AC pump. Any chance Ocean installed an inverter somewhere so that it runs without the genset at anchor?
I installed a DC pump, and use it exclusively .the AC is there only for backup and I may remove it and use a spare DC pump as backup.
Do you happen to know whether the washdown pump is fed by fresh water or salt water. If freshwater, I could just upgrade the pump to use it as the backup for the entire fresh water system on the boat.
My wash down uses lake water. I'm switching it to use the fresh water supply, but I draw water from the lake for freshwater. I boat in a Georgian Bay, the water is very clean and I filter it for use.
On my 94 53 SS I have both AC and DC. The AC is primary with a switch in the engine room that turns on the DC pump. As for wash down, my starboard faucet in the cockpit draws lake or ocean water. The faucet on the port side of the cockpit runs off of the fresh water system on board.
Since I only have one inlet/outlet, I figure the was down pump might pull from the fresh water tank. I hope to find out tomorrow.
Most wash down pumps i ve seen pull sea water from a TH and strainer. Otherwise you dont need a dedicated pump and can just connect the deck fixture to the fresh water system
On my 43' their was an AC pump. This was the only fresh water pump. No inverter until I installed one to replace the charger. I had planned to install a DC pump as a back-up in line with the AC pump but the AC pump gave up the ghost over the 4th of july weekend one summer so I just yanked it and installed a DC pump. No noticeable change in functionality other than I don't need to run the genny to have fresh water.
With a 56' you're going to want an ax freshwater pump, unless you enjoy camping. Most D.C. Water pumps don't have anough pressure and flow for a boat that size unless you go north of $1000 for a headhunter or euro one. The closest thing are some of the new jabsco D.C. Pumps at 5-7 gpm. Easy to add a D.C. Pump and a breaker and minor plumbing and valve than to add an inverter and battery bank, however every ocean I ever ran had minimal batteries and chances are if you're on the hook all night running a water pump here and there, lights and stuff, your batteries will be too low to fire the engines
I've got a 70 psi, 7gpm Jabsco and it services all the boats needs exceptionally. I actually prefer it over the ac pump because of the higher pressure. I also run the water through a few filters, which affect pressure, but still get plenty. I've added 6 scrubber batteries and inverter, but run the pump off my house bank. Never had a starting issue, but I was concerned about it last year (my first on the boat) and kept a close eye on it.
Thanks to all. I think I am going to add a Johnson 5.2 GPM wash down pump to serve my washdown needs while fishing and give a minor boost when flushing if on the hook. I intend to also install a ball valve so that if this pump ever fails to hold pressure, the rest of my fresh water system is not compromised. I hope the washdown pump breaker on the panel can carry this pump.