[Public-List] Bilge pumps redux..

Kris Coward kris at melon.org
Sun Jul 18 20:46:44 PDT 2010


I'd say "damn right I'm gonna rebuild it" except that I already did it
earlier this afternoon (well not a full rebuild, I didn't replace the
diaphragm or valves since they're only about 15 months old--didn't even
remove the valves either, just cleared them, though I had to pop the
diaphragm off to get at them). Anyhow the problem was just a wood chip
that had the outflow valve all jammed (pretty close to my pre-rebuild
diagnosis, I'd say).

I wouldn't dream of replacing the Gusher, but with something seeming to
foul it up every other year or so, I'm thinking that I'd appreciate a
little more redundance so that I don't find myself taking on water
mid-lake, and having to rebuild my pump again while some unlucky hand is
trying to bail us out with a bucket. Nosiree, I just wanna have 2 pumps.
(Or maybe 3, one of those portable hand pumps with a long enough intake
hose that I could just feed it through the battery compartment while
pumping into the sink also seems like a fine piece of safety equipment
to have aboard).

Based on your good luck with the strum boxes, I think that I'll add one
to Candy Cane before adding more pumps. In fact, I'm going to go so far
as to say that I haven't finished fixing my manual bilge pump because
there's no strum box on there yet. Sure it works well enough to have
cleared the bilge back out, but that doesn't means it's fixed.

Cheers,
Kris

On Sun, Jul 18, 2010 at 08:52:15PM -0400, John Birch wrote:
> I'm assuming you have a Whale Gusher 10 pump - rebuild it - a manual pump 
> is the law, could even void your insurance without one. Ins Co's are 
> looking for ways to transfer the blame back on the owner these days - no 
> manual pump, in contravention of the law ... oh my .... sorry, your 
> coverage is voided.
>
> A strum box has been installed on every boat I've owned and I use the one 
> from Munster Simms - (Whale). Never had a problem with them and never had 
> a clog.
>
> By all means put an electric pump on at your leisure, if you choose, but 
> fix the manual one first.
>
> Best
>
> John
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kris Coward" <kris at melon.org>
> To: <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
> Sent: Sunday, July 18, 2010 11:34 AM
> Subject: [Public-List] Bilge pumps redux..
>
>
>>
>> So having just had my third failure with my trusty diaphragm pump
>> (previously, a line which fell into the bilge got sucked into the pump,
>> where it jammed the valves open and made the pump impossible to prime.
>> Also, last spring the diaphragm cracked from age. I haven't fixed this
>> one yet, but from what I can tell, it looks like a repeat of the first),
>> I'm starting to have misgivings about this (and a bucket) being the only
>> means to rapidly remove water from the boat in an emergency.
>>
>> Since I have an electric bilge pump kicking around (and also have a
>> circuit left open for it on my DC panel), I'm planning to install it,
>> but wanted to ask first whether siphon prevention on one of these things
>> would be best done with a vented loop, or with a check valve (or both,
>> if they can be set up to be redundant instead of presenting two single
>> points of failure). Anyone here have much experience with failures in
>> either form of siphon prevention they they care to share?
>>
>> Also, any comments on the wisdom of attaching a strainer to the end of
>> the hose feeding the diaphragm pump? Right now, it's looking like it
>> could save me some bothersome failures, but then it might just move said
>> failures right to the bottom of the bilge where they become even more
>> difficult and unpleasant to fix. Thoughts?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Kris
>>
>> -- 
>> Kris Coward http://unripe.melon.org/
>> GPG Fingerprint: 2BF3 957D 310A FEEC 4733  830E 21A4 05C7 1FEB 12B3
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>
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-- 
Kris Coward					http://unripe.melon.org/
GPG Fingerprint: 2BF3 957D 310A FEEC 4733  830E 21A4 05C7 1FEB 12B3

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