[Public-List] Seaflo Bilge Pumps

[Glenn Brooks via Public-List]

Hello Jonathan,  

Congratulations on your new boat!  

Personal opinion is 500 GPM is a bit small for a primary bilge pump aboard an a30.  I've used a manual Rule 1500 for many years on Dolce and have been happy with it.  One can put in a secondary electric pump, but some, including myself opt for a good second manual whale gusher pump- perhaps located in the cockpit.  A whale gusher moves a lot of water and does not depend on battery power to work.  If your batteries are in the bilge below the floor boards, your power source is at great risk if the boat experiences flooding.  Hence a whale gusher is a great alternative and back up.

A wood of caution about Rule float switches - they are absolute garbage - with failure rates reported on the Cruising World forum as frequently as 6 to 9 months after installation.  I replaced something like 6 or 7 of these horrible things in 9 years on Dolce. The most recent lasted less than 9 months. So said enuf is enuf and  finally went with a solid state sensor  switch.  Have advocated boycotting Rule ever since. 

If you do install two electric switches, be sure to check the manufacturers recommended wiring plan.  They have to be wired In series I think, or better yet, with separate wring harness into separate breakers, to avoid the prospect of burning out the pumps when both are in operation.  This happened to me after an inopportune grounding up in northern Canadian waters years ago when we sprung our garboard planks and started taking on copious water.  Both pumps shorted because of improper wiring method. No fun at all that day...

Best regards
Glenn B.
Boatless in Seattle




Sent from my iPad

> On Jul 20, 2015, at 9:46 AM, Jonathan Bresler via Public-List <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> After racing with TC Williams and Mike Nikolich in the Annapolis Yacht Club
> Wednesday Night Races and some weekend races, for about 15 years, I finally
> bought a boat!   Bought #262 from Tom Baker two months ago.  Thank you,
> Tom! Have been having a wonderful time sailing her and introducing my
> family to sailing.
> 
> #262 is equipped with a single automatic bilge pump....a Rule 500 GPH.
> Have seen and heard recommendations that I should install a second pump
> with a much higher rate of flow above the existing one.  The second would
> no require a float switch but rather be purely a manual affair.
> 
> This leads me to ask a couple questions from folks with far more experience
> than I have:
> 
>   1. Would you / have you installed a second bilge pump ?
>   2. If there is a second bilge pump, is it automatic or manual ?
>   3. Does anyone have experience with Seaflo ?   They appear to
>   manufacture bilge pumps and have a 3,500 gallon model (
>   http://www.seaflo.com/en/productDetail_288.html) available via Amazon on
>   sale for about $50 (
>   http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EGEFTZC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1A4WAEGJNR9ED
>   ).
> 
> Jonathan
> 
> -- 
> Jonathan M Bresler
> Alberg 30 #262
> Annapolis/Eastport MD
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