[Public-List] deck mounted bilge pump

[Stephen Gwyn]

A dissenting opinion: I find the Whale manual bilge pump incredibly 
unreliable.
The slightest pinhole in the diaphragm or lack of seal in the flaps and 
you can't get enough
head to pull water up out of the bilge. The aluminium body very is prone 
to corrosion
if there is a scratch in the coating. And for some reason they use
British Whitworth threads which make sourcing replacements difficult,
expensive or both. It's capacity in terms of GPH is much lower then the
larger electric pumps. The ergonomics of pumping are poor; pumping
more than a few minutes with get very tiring, very quickly.

Manual bilge pumps are not required by Transport Canada on vessels over 9m.

I have 3 pumps on board. The Whale, a 2200gph Johnson and a 150gph Rule,
with the last on an automatic switch. Every spring, I dump the water 
tank into
the bilge and exercise all 3 pumps. There are problems with Whale almost
every year, whereas the Johnson and Rule have failed only once each in 
15+ years.

"Oh" you say "but the electric pumps won't work if the batteries are 
underwater."
I assure you, from experience, they will work just fine. The Johnson had 
the bilge
dry in less than a minute.

I have, as I say 3 pumps. But the Whale is not the one I'm counting on.

SG