Jabsco 17250-0003 Drill Pump | 3.5 GPM Transfer Pump

The Jabsco 17250-0003 is a drill-powered transfer pump that turns any handheld electric drill into a portable fluid pump. Chuck it into a drill with a 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch chuck, squeeze the trigger, and it moves up to 3.5 gallons a minute. No wiring, no dedicated motor, no battery bank to tap. It's the kind of tool you keep in a locker and forget about until the day you really need it.

We like these for the jobs that come up on almost every boat. Draining a water heater before winter layup. Emptying a fresh water tank you can't reach with the onboard pump. Getting standing water out of a dinghy or a flooded bilge in a pinch. Transferring engine oil or diesel out of a jug and into a tank. Anywhere you'd otherwise be bailing with a bucket or siphoning by mouth, this pump does the work in a fraction of the time.

The plumbing is simple. There's a 1/2 inch port on each side of the pump, and it ships with two 3/4 inch garden hose adapters so you can screw on standard hose right away. That means you can run a common garden hose to wherever the fluid needs to go, with no special fittings to source. If you're moving fuel or oil, a lot of boaters swap the hose adapters for barbed fittings and hose clamps for a tighter, drip-free connection. A wrap of PTFE tape on the garden hose threads goes a long way toward stopping weeps too.

A word on what it will and won't handle. This is a water and light-fluid pump. It's fine for fresh water, salt water, light oils, and diesel. It is not rated for gasoline, and it should never be used with gasoline, flammable solvents, or harsh chemicals. If you're not sure a fluid is compatible, don't guess. Confirm it first. The pump also works best on clean fluid. Grit and debris larger than about a sixteenth of an inch can stall or chew up the internals, so if you're pulling from a questionable source, put a simple strainer on the intake.

Getting good performance comes down to the drill and how you run it. A 3/8 inch keyed chuck holds the shaft far better than a small 1/4 inch keyless chuck, which can slip under load. A cordless drill of 18 volts or more on a high-torque setting gives you steady flow. The 3.5 gallon per minute rating is plenty for tanks, water heaters, and small bilges, though for a big powerboat bilge you'll want a dedicated high-volume pump instead. Keep hose runs short and straight where you can, because the 1/2 inch port does restrict flow on long, kinked runs.

Treat it like the light-duty tool it is and it'll last for years. Don't run it dry for long, and keep continuous runs to a few minutes so the pump doesn't overheat. Secure the body to something solid, a bulkhead or a workbench, so drill vibration doesn't work it loose or crack the housing. The wetted internals are a wear item on any pump like this, so if you use it often with dirty fluid, it's smart to keep a spare on hand.

For the money, it's hard to beat a pump that needs nothing but a drill you already own. Toss it in the spares kit alongside your tape and clamps, and you've got a compact backup for tank transfers, winterizing, and the occasional water-in-the-boat emergency. Keep a roll of PTFE tape and a couple of hose clamps stashed right next to it and you're ready to go. Jabsco has been building marine pumps for a long time, and this little drill pump is a handy, no-fuss piece of that lineup.