[Public-List] Bilge pumping using the auxillary engine

[crufone at comcast.net]

Hi John and others, 



I have been thinking about this adaption over the past few days and was wondering..................... 



If you are using this system with the auxillary runing, 1) Is it possible for the engine pump to loose it's prime as you switch the 'y' valve over to the 'bilge' position?  2) I would expect that some crew member must be assigned to 'stand by' the 'y' valve to quickly switch back to the 'engine cooling' position as the bilge gets emptied out.  3) If that crew member can't see the bilge water level and just waits to hear the pump suck air to know when to make the valve switch would that not be too late and the engine pump would loose its prime and run dry and then damage the impeller?  4) If you are sailing single handed it seems awkward to leave the helm to get to the 'y' valve to man it.  5) If you were holed , let's say minor, and taking on water this would allow you to pump more water but it might be hard to manage the 'y' valve while under way. 



It sounds like a neat idea, but I was wondering how useable it is in practice.  I would like to hear from those who have this installation how well it works in practice. How easy is it to 'manage' the 'y' valve to regulate between engine cooling and bilge pumping? 



Michael #133