T&T: Balky March air conditioner pump

[Rich Gano]

Went out to boat this AM in the cooling northern wind to follow the merchant
marine cargo dictum of "hot to cold, ventilate bold; cold to hot, ventilate
not."  I was opening doors and windows and hatches and turning off the air
conditioner, which had been in the de-humidify mode, while we had a week of
humid, rainy weather.

I noted that the air conditioner had tripped its circuit breaker.  uh-oh.
The usual condition precipitating that event is lack of cooling water.  A
couple of minutes worth of trouble shooting confirmed it.  Cleaned out the
bit of grass in the March pump's sea strainer and disconnected the exit hose
from the pump so I could check its operation - no joy.  But I could feel the
pump motor spinning.  Hmmm.

Taking the end plate of the pump off and removing the magnetically spun
rotor revealed what looked like old grease residue on the magnet end of this
thing.  I replaced it and turned on the A/C and watched as the rotor turned
in a couple of stuttering revolutions before it attained full speed with the
attendant whine of normal operation.  I pulled it back out cleaned that old
greasy stuff off and applied a very thin coat of bearing grease to it.
Problem solved as the pump rotor went right up to full speed and commenced
pumping water.

Question I have is this.  This pump has been in place since 1990 without any
service - never a problem.  So, is this any indication of an impending
failure and if not necessarily so is there a better routine maintenance to
perform on the pump end than what I describe above?  Inquiring mind wants to
know.

Rich Gano
CALYPSO (GB-42 #295)
Southport, FL