Fresh Water Cooling options

[SDSailor50]

I have a 1977 Catalina 30 and would like to put fresh water cooling kit on but there is not enough clearance at the front of engine. I understand that I would need at least 2 inches clearance. There might be 1/2". Is there any other way to mount the pump and not attach the pulley on the flywheel?

[sastanley]

SD,

On my 1977 C-30, I installed FWC using an electric Johnson CM-30 pump..I have it wired to the ignition (it draws about 2 amps if I recall) and it pumps the antifreeze around. The original Oberdorfer is the raw water pump. It really works great, and I am happy with it.

To answer your question, yes..there is another company that makes some Atomic 4 kits that has the 2nd pump in line with the alternator and runs off the accessory drive. My dock neighbor with a C-30 has this design and it seems to work fine as well. But my Johnson pump was cheaper than his mechanical pump.

There is lots of discussion on this forum about the various options. Neil Dutton & Tom Thatcher were the electric FWC innovators here..I just copied them.

[thatch]

SD, As Shawn said, I also elected to go with an electric "circulating" pump on the coolant side in my '78 C-30. Rather than going with the Johnson pump, I did some searching and found a Bosch pump that was originally intended as a circulation pump for the heater systems in some German cars. It has worked just fine for a couple of years now but, since this was an "uncharted waters" installation, I keep the correct plumbing on board to switch back to raw water cooling to get back home if the need ever arose. Great boats!
Tom

[hanleyclifford]

It is also possible to use the engine pump for antifreeze and an external raw water pump. The options for FWC are numerous.

[hanleyclifford]

Another route to go is the Indigo system with the accessory drive set up. http://www.atomic4.com/freshwater.html You can utilize the MM 501 as shown. Unquestionably the ideal way to go is two mechanical pumps but on your boat the flywheel is not available without some serious boat modification. But the Indigo system has the drawback of putting a heavy load on the accessory drive and belt with possible degrading of the alternator's ability to deliver high output. If I ran off the acc drive I would carry a spare unit ready to go and several extra belts.

[SDSailor50]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I do not know why I did not think of some of these solutions.

[joseph miller]

live well pump

this is the 2nd time i have seen the live well pump on thru hull for fresh water cooling. Hanley, can you tell me how it is hooked up and how well it has held up, i have read reviews that are fairly mixed about that pump.

Thanks

joe

[hanleyclifford]

this is the 2nd time i have seen the live well pump on thru hull for fresh water cooling. Hanley, can you tell me how it is hooked up and how well it has held up, i have read reviews that are fairly mixed about that pump.

Thanks

joe

The pump is wired from an OPSS and shares a circuit with the fuel pump. The salt water discharge is 3/4" but the pump sits on a 1" thru hull reduced. The pumps average about 300 hrs before failure or "squealing" makes me replace the cartridge. The pump is much lower pressure and volume than a mechanical pump and so relies on extra exchanger capacity to cool the engine. The pump also will be supplying my new shaft log cooler/flusher. I have a spare handy and pre wired with male and female spade connectors so the changeout takes less than 15 seconds. The cartidges are less than $50 each.