Charley was nice enough to let me test out the new BC injection-molded large pump. This pump features tougher injection-molded plastic pieces, that allowed tighter tolerances compared to the traditional BC pump. The pump also includes a built-in strainer plate that potentially can remove the need for adding screening or filtering to the bottom of the pump. Here are a series of pictures showing the various components and the assembly. I ran side by side tests between this pump and my other traditional blue BC pump, and those results are included below. Here are the parts to the pump body. One O-ring is for the main pump housing to seal the case to limit pressure loss, the other o-ring can be put around the motor shaft to limit water flow up into the motor Here is a close up of the impeller. In general the shape is similar to the old impeller design, however this piece has tighter tolerances to improve performance. There is a metal collar that was injection-molded around to provide a solid hold for the shaft set screw Here is the lower pump casing and the strainer plate. A cool feature of the pump casing is that the brass outlet tube was installed during the molding process. The pump-housing end of the tube was flared out and the plastic formed around the tube, which means that the tube won't slip out, rotate, or get ejected from the pump housing Here is the bottom strainer plate. This is intended to replace traditional pump screen material, providing easier assembly and less room for builder error. The strainer plate allows water in though the bottom and around the edges with the staggered nobs between the bottom of the pump housing and the top of the strainer plate. The plate attaches to the bottom with four 4-40 bolts, which allows the bottom of the pump to remain assembled if the motor has to be changed out The pump housing has the traditional 10-32 vent plug to aid against air binding. It can be swapped out for a solid plug by the builder is desired Here is a motor attached to the motor plate, with the o-ring mentioned before. The o-ring groove is not completely circular because of the outlet so it requires some attention when assembling the pump Impeller installed. Pump assembled, shot form the bottom showing the bolts and strainer plate Side by side with the old pump. I believe that the two pumps have the same height assuming that you have one 6-32 nut (or bolt) on the bottom of the old pump. My old pump has two 6-32 nuts so it is taller than the standard arrangement Overhead profile is where there is a significant difference, which will allow for the pump to fit in tighter places. I will likely use these pumps in my Agincourt where the width of the pump is important for my configuration Here is the pump housing with a ruler. When sitting flush on the table (or the bottom of the hull), the top of the motor plate is 1 and 3/32" up from the bottom Showing overall height with a Johnson 600 motor, overall height just about 3 1/2" I ran some comparison tests between the new pump and one of my older-style pumps. I used the same batteries, pump motors, and outlet tubes to ensure that the pump housing was the only variable in play. Overall, I saw a 10% increase in flow rate from the new style pump compared to the old style pump, or about 3 seconds off the time for it to pump out 1 gallon.
Quick update. BC now offers a motor plate with 19mm bolt hole spacing, which allows use of a 28mm brushless motor. I tested one out this week with a Turnigy 1500kv motor I had Here is a shot of the bolt holes with the motor mounted. The center bore allows full access to the lower bearing for frequent oiling Side profile Standard shaft length works well with the impeller height Pump assembled. Much lower height vs brushed motor I ran a few tests, and the results were pretty impressive. At full bore I was able to increase the flowrate by 35% over the Johnson 600 motor, and 47% over the old-style BC pump. I'm new to brushless pumps, so it's important to note that most captains will have to go through a testing process to find the setup that works best with their batteries, so this is not for the rookie battler, but it provides a higher top-end for those willing to experiment and invest some testing time.
Charlie makes them, he told me it was a mix of something, but don't remember what. Email Charlie, he will tell you.
