[Public-List] Automatic bilge pumps

[Gordon Laco via Public-List]

Hello Bill,

Any automatic bilge pump should only be relied upon to evacuate minor leaks when you’re not aboard.  So any pump will do… I believe the 450 gal per hour variety is nice and small, and won’t run your battery down too much.

I personally (well professionally too) have a prejudice against automatic pumps.  Here’s why.  The main thing an automatic pump will do is hide a problem from you.  You’ll never know your boat has developed a chronic leak until one day you arrive and the bilge is full and your batteries dead.  Worse, you may be happily sailing and notice that your bilge is full, your battery is dead, you can’t start the engine, and because the water is up you can’t find which hose or whatever is causing the problem.

A very powerful electric pump which might keep up with the ingress of water from a ¾” through hull whose hose has fallen off, will only keep up the fight for a relatively short time before it kills the battery.

I know some insurance companies, usually non-marine specialists, think an automatic bilge pump is a safety item, but actually it is the opposite, in this writer’s opinion.

You can buy a meter that will let you know if and how many times the pump has come on… but strangely enough most people don’t use them.

Your best defense against a leak is vigilance.  Vigilance in prevention (good hoses, good clamping, good through hulls, a regimen that involves closing ball valves when you’re not using that through hull)   Your second defense is your manual pump.  Last and least is your electric pump.

Gord
#426 Surprise 


On 2017-05-08, 5:13 PM, "Public-List on behalf of WILLIAM NEWMAN via Public-List" <public-list-bounces at lists.alberg30.org on behalf of public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:

    Hello everyone,
    I expect that the weather there has been better than here, Toronto, endless rain, but seems to be ending now.
    I will appreciate any advice regarding the best auto bilge pump for the Alberg 30.  I purchased a Rule pump in Florida during a vacation from the Canadian cold. It has worked flawlessly for about 15 years. It has now  decided to go to the bilge pump heaven so I need a replacement.  I see that the Rule product is still very much available.  My question is what is the proper gallons per hour for the Alberg 30?  I have not yet removed the old one from the bilge and expect the model number to be difficult to read or e may even be obsolete.
    Wishing a great season to all of your members,
    Bill NewmanGreat Lake Alberg AssociationMarion Rose, #233newman423 at rogers.com
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