[Public-List] Bilge pumps

[Gordon Laco]

I agree with CB

An automatic electric bilge pump will not save your boat if a hose fails -
in the first place it won't keep up with even a 3/4" hose that has let go...
And in the second place it will not run for long before it kills the
batteries.

An 'unintended peril' caused by an electric pump is that it can hide a leak
from you by keeping the water down until the batteries are dead.  Then you
will be facing the issue without electrical power to start the engine.

I think they are not good things to have on board a fibreglass boat.  A
wooden boat is a different story - they can have weeping leaks (I refer both
to the rate of water ingress as well as to the emotion of the owner who
can't find where it is coming from)  that an automatic pump can be relied
upon to keep under control.

I used to have more trouble with the auto switch than with the pumps - I
went through several until I found one that seemed to last.  The expensive
mercury switch ones seemed shorter lived that a cheapo I found that had a
heavy ball inside it that completed the circuit when the flipper floated up
and caused the ball to roll.  I liked separate pump/switch installations
because I could replace only one or the other WHEN they failed... And also
because I could mount the switch a little higher than the pump which meant
that the rotor in the pump was always wet - never running dry.

Hanging the pump into the bilge is not a bad thing at all, so long as the
wiring is situated so that the connections are normally dry.

Sorry for the length of this

Gord Surprise #426


On 07/07/10 8:39 AM, "C.B. Currier" <cbcurrier at spinrx.com> wrote:

> That is about right - much better than lauing on the bottom of the bilge
> & picking up whatever might be down there. The pumps usually have
> screens to protect them.
> 
> My problem with them is the wiring usually fails. If you remain
> dependent on a Rule pump - it will fail. I have hd my boat Infinity
> since 1997 and have replace the pup 3x then gaveup & fixed the whale
> pump with the boat.
> 
> The concept is simple if you own the boat you should /will visit it
> regularly so give here a pump everyonce in a while. Now - If you haven't
> upgraded the thruhulls - or the hoses or monitor the drip on the
> stuffing box - you might worry ... so the automagic pump might save you ???
> 
> C.B. Currier
> Infinity #57
> Daybreak #458
> darcyhaldeman at cs.com wrote:
>> Interested in physical location.  Currently the pump is hanging from the hose
>> in the bottom of the bilge.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Rachel <penokee at cheqnet.net>
>> To: Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
>> Sent: Tue, Jul 6, 2010 10:38 pm
>> Subject: Re: [Public-List] Bilge pumps
>> 
>> 
>> On Jul 6, 2010, at 3:31 PM, darcyhaldeman at cs.com wrote:
>>  
>>   
>>> As the new owner of Alberg 30 #152 we were wondering the best way to >
>>> install an automatic bilge pump.
>>>     
>>  
>> Congrats! 
>>  
>> Are you asking about how to physically install the pump in the bilge? Or more
>> about the whole system, with electronics, outlet through hull, and etc.
>>  
>> Is there any part of a system now that you might want to add to?
>>  
>> Rachel 
>> ex-#221 
>>  
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> 
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