Johnson vs Jabsco

[CeeDee 16]

I am looking to replace my factory aerator pumps with a faster pump. The Jabsco pump is more money and less GPH (640) and comes with a switch.The Johnson pump is cheaper and is faster (720 GPH) and no switch.

 

My question is in the real world which of these is the better way to go?

[duffymahoney 10]

What year is your boat? The gauge wire, switch etc... might not be good enough for high amp draw. You could always double your aerator pumps to double the speed.

[CeeDee 16]

What year is your boat?

 

It's 2004

 

How would you run 2 aerators ? The sac doesn't have eonough holes for more fittings

 

I would probably rewire it anyway.

[duffymahoney 10]

Are you surfing or wakeboarding? What size sacs are you using? 1000gph aerators are pretty fast. They should fill like a 750 in about 5-7 minutes which will be close to a jabsco. How long is your fill time? The aerators can get debris in them or maybe they have warn out?

[CeeDee 16]

Are you surfing or wakeboarding? What size sacs are you using? 1000gph aerators are pretty fast. They should fill like a 750 in about 5-7 minutes which will be close to a jabsco. How long is your fill time? The aerators can get debris in them or maybe they have warn out?

 

Mostly surfing.

 

i have an 1100 lb in the port locker. 750 in the starboard ( which hardly ever gets used ) and the stock centre 250?

 

The stock aerator seems to take about 20 minutes or more ( have not actually timed it ) to fill and empty.

 

No debris in them but I guess they could be worn out although the empty time seems to be about the same, but I guess it could be worn as well.

[duffymahoney 10]

Well I think you have lots of options, you could rip everything out and install an ultra pump, but I think that wouldn't work as well. You should time it. Also you should pull the stock fill pumps and see how they look. There are pros and cons to both impellar and aerator system, but since your boat already has the 3 holes drilled in the transom for the fill pumps I would most likely leave those. You could add a booster ultra pump and really fill fast?

[Bigcatpt 408]

I am looking to replace my factory aerator pumps with a faster pump. The Jabsco pump is more money and less GPH (640) and comes with a switch.The Johnson pump is cheaper and is faster (720 GPH) and no switch.

 

My question is in the real world which of these is the better way to go?

 

The Johnsons are WAY better! They are faster and don't have the same problems as the Jabsco with the impeller getting stuck all the time. Check out this little piece of research that a fellow crew member did. The Johnsons easily beat the competition....especially when you are adding one way valves and other flow impeding things.

 

http://www.centurioncrew.com/index.php/topic/1970-aerator-pumps-electric-valves-controlled-test/page__p__19150__hl__%2Baerator+%2Bpump+%2Bflow+%2Btest__fromsearch__1#entry19150

[h20king 794]

 

The Johnson's are WAY better! They are faster and don't have the same problems as the Jabsco with the impeller getting stuck all the time. Check out this little piece of research that a fellow crew member did. The Johnson's easily beat the competition....especially when you are adding one way valves and other flow impeding things.

 

http://www.centurion...h__1#entry19150

Funny that has not been my experience at all. The Johnson pumps are good but just not as nice as the jabsco.I did the ballast in T prices boat and his buddy's Malibu 247 using Johnson pumps and both of them had pump failures.The pumps were covered by warranty but they lost time on the water.The jabsco pumps have run dry protection where as the Johnson pumps do not also the jabsco pumps are not as tall as the Johnson pumps allowing for more mounting options.The johnson pumps are a little faster but not by much.....................................H

[duramat 462]

My Big Johnson ROCKS!!! The wife is totally thrilled as it can Pump in/out effortlessly in record time!! No more "Honey are we there yet, 'cause this is so getting old sitting here...", Mine empties the sacs like a raisen (pretty cool really). All are amazed when I show mine off in action.

 

I havnt had any issues with my Johnsons what so ever, It was the best decision to upgrade and do my ballast install this year, I gained more surf time! I can fill a 750 in roughly 3 minutes along with my 370 under the seat. Not 20 minutes like before. LOVE LOVE LOVE MINE (And the Mrs. too )

[duramat 462]

Jabscos are like cat....(the other white meat) . Some like it, some dont.

[Kevin Baugh 78]

My Big Johnson ROCKS!!! The wife is totally thrilled as it can Pump in/out effortlessly in record time!! )

 

Huh

[CeeDee 16]

 

I can fill a 750 in roughly 3 minutes along with my 370 under the seat. Not 20 minutes like before

 

 

That's more the knid of time i'm loking for.

 

How do you know when it's finished emptying ? Do you just watch to see when it is done ?

[duramat 462]

Cee, I have the overflow vents to let me know when full but I'm usually eyeballing them when filling and dumping. AND I have the best location for mounting 2 of them ( 4 if you had too!! ) I need to get my blog on.....

 

Anyways, you'll love the Johnsons and be so happy with the time you saved by changing over

[duffymahoney 10]

Ballast systems can get pretty out there with speed and size. My current pumps rule 3800's fill and drain my 1800# pound custom sacs in 4 minutes. They were a pain in the as* to install though. I would just add a booster ultra pump to your current system. That way it stays pretty stock and it will be less work and should be crazy fast. Just T off the stock drain.

[CeeDee 16]

I would just add a booster ultra pump to your current system. That way it stays pretty stock and it will be less work and should be crazy fast. Just T off the stock drain.

 

What is a "booster ultra pump" ? Where would you buy one and how would it get installed in the factory set up ?

[duffymahoney 10]

Johnson ultra ballast pump is what I meant, it's my favorite of the impeller pumps. Your only hurdle is the fittings on the sac.

 

Here is your two options in my mind

 

1. You can install more fittings in the sac pretty easily (if you like this method I can discus later). Once you had an extra bottom rear port you could install a simple T manifold off a single new through hull and install two ultra pumps. Then a relay off the stock wiring and the pumps would fill and drain off the same stock switches. Somebody with more knowledge on relays hopefully will chime in. With the new fitting on the sac you could leave what you have installed now and drain and fill from the same new fitting on the sac. Should work easily.

 

2. Rip the two stock fill pumps and drain pumps out. Install through hulls in the stock pump fill locations. Then install johnson ultras off those. That way you drain and fill through those holes. You would still need to do some relay- wiring because the stock pumps only draw like 2.5 amps or something so the wiring isn't beefy enough.

[Bigcatpt 408]

Funny that has not been my experience at all. The Johnson pumps are good but just not as nice as the jabsco.I did the ballast in T prices boat and his buddy's Malibu 247 using Johnson pumps and both of them had pump failures.The pumps were covered by warranty but they lost time on the water.The jabsco pumps have run dry protection where as the Johnson pumps do not also the jabsco pumps are not as tall as the Johnson pumps allowing for more mounting options.The johnson pumps are a little faster but not by much.....................................H

 

I have not had any problems with my Johnsons in 3 years of heavy use. Sounds like you got a bad batch of pumps.

 

The idea that you think "The Johnson pumps are good but just not as nice as the jabsco" give us no objective useful information.

 

Surfmoocher has 2 johnsons and 1 jabsco pump. Guess which one is always blowing fuses and needing to be taken apart to get the impeller spinning again. Yep... the Jabsco

 

A detailed search will clearly show which of the two pumps has performance issues. Especially impeller sticking issues.

 

The Johnsons also have run dry protection just like the Jabsco's. Check the Johnson pump website.

 

Its a no brainer in my book. I think the Johnsons are "nice". But they have also proven to be faster and more reliable. Things that are backed up by the data readily available.

[Bigcatpt 408]

My Big Johnson ROCKS!!! The wife is totally thrilled as it can Pump in/out effortlessly in record time!! No more "Honey are we there yet, 'cause this is so getting old sitting here...", Mine empties the sacs like a raisen (pretty cool really). All are amazed when I show mine off in action.

 

I havnt had any issues with my Johnsons what so ever, It was the best decision to upgrade and do my ballast install this year, I gained more surf time! I can fill a 750 in roughly 3 minutes along with my 370 under the seat. Not 20 minutes like before. LOVE LOVE LOVE MINE (And the Mrs. too )

 

Very well said!!!! LMAO!!!

[h20king 794]

 

I have not had any problems with my Johnson's in 3 years of heavy use. Sounds like you got a bad batch of pumps.

 

The idea that you think "The Johnson pumps are good but just not as nice as the jabsco" give us no objective useful information.

 

Surfmoocher has 2 Johnson's and 1 jabsco pump. Guess which one is always blowing fuses and needing to be taken apart to get the impeller spinning again. Yep... the Jabsco

 

A detailed search will clearly show which of the two pumps has performance issues. Especially impeller sticking issues.

 

The Johnson's also have run dry protection just like the Jabsco's. Check the Johnson pump website.

 

Its a no brainer in my book. I think the Johnsons are "nice". But they have also proven to be faster and more reliable. Things that are backed up by the data readily available.

When you hold the pumps side by side it is obvious which one looks better made.The jabsco pumps have had zero issues since the green impellers came out.T price and his buddy with the Malibu switch sides many times during the day which gives the pump a heavy work out.I am sure you have never had a problem as we all know you only fill one side and make your goofy friends ride heel side which only requires one fill and one empty per trip.I have never had a problem with my jabsco pumps in two seasons were as T price and his buddy both had pump failures in their first season.The johnson pumps are a great value and are faster than the jabsco pumps but my experience has been they are not as durable.I used the johnson pumps in their ballast installs because of all the so called data and they came up short.I will be using only jabsco pumps in the future on all my ballast installs.JMTC........................................H

[duffymahoney 10]

Impeller pumps suck:) Mine have never failed:)