Bilge pumps!

[Simpo Two]

Let's talk about these small, vital and, it seems, highly fickle little gadgets that theoretically stop your boat from sinking...

The factory fitted bilge pump expired after about 5 years (don't know what brand) so it was replaced with a Rule pump with float switch. I recently found significant water in the bilges and it turned out the float part had packed up. So that will be 3 bilge pumps in less than 8 years, not impressive.

My boat fixer has given me several options; in order of cost:
1) Rule float switch as before
2) Whale float switch
3) Whale electronic field sensor switch
4) Rule pump with built in field sensor electronic switch

Seems that the 'field sensor' eliminates the need for moving parts.

Is (4) the best option? And why are bilge pumps little plastic mickey mouse things that break every few years?

[Searider]

Waterwitch bilge pump switch.
Have had one in the back of my rib for 15 years.

Only issue is if the bilge water is too pure it won’t work - it can’t detect the water!

[Simpo Two]

It probably is rather pure - rainwater! Due to the cockpit/canopy design I can't stop rain getting in and finding its way to the bottom.

Waterwitch seems to be only a switch - do they make a pump as well or am I missing something?

Edited by Simpo Two on Monday 6th January 23:06

[MOTORVATOR]

Forget all that electrikery rubbish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvWQA5sYSmg

And before you ask, yes I can provide assistance in ensuring there is sufficient 'action' on your mooring lines.

[Simpo Two]

MOTORVATOR said:

Forget all that electrikery rubbish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvWQA5sYSmg

And before you ask, yes I can provide assistance in ensuring there is sufficient 'action' on your mooring lines.

Haha, you are always so far off the wall you're on the next wall along

Yup - inland marina, tide nil, waves nil, wind sometimes. Options for 'assistance' invited - are you going to hire it out as a brothel?

[Huntsman]

Jabsco parmax or whale gulper with I be of the air sensing plastic tube switch thingies.

Anyway I thought you ditch crawling types was not allowed auto bilge pumps in case you dumped oilyness into the ditch.

Edited by Huntsman on Wednesday 8th January 09:11

[Simpo Two]

Huntsman said:

Jansco parmax or whale gulper with I be of the air sensing plastic tube switch thingies.

There's a Whale gulper in the shower line; hadn't thought of them as bilge pumps but it's the same thing really. But about 3x the price. Maybe I should move the gulper from the shower to the bilge and get a cheap bilge pump for the shower!

Are gulpers more reliable or some reason? But it will still need a switch and that's the bit that failed.

Is Jabsco better than Rule/WHale? https://www.foxschandlery.com/jabsco-par-max-2-9-p...

[Huntsman]

I've found Parmax to be excellent if costly.

You can get this thing https://www.asap-supplies.com/mycelx-bk1-small-bil... which stops oil in the bilge going into the sea/river/ditch.

Googling now, I didn't mean Whale Gulper at all! I have some other pump, a motor with a belt drive to a diaphragm. Like this https://www.jabscoshop.com/jabscoshop-spare-parts/... seems to be bombproof, its controlled by one of the air tube thingies.

I found Rule to be ste.

BTW (I think it might have been Searider) a surveyor said to me, that when they investigate boats that have sunk, its rarely the pump that failed, but more often the elec supply or the switch.

[Simpo Two]

Thanks Huntsman; the one you linked to is about £400 which is rather more than I had in mind! The local engineer gave me a choice of Rule or Whale so I've chosen Whale with float switch. I must also try harder to devise some way to stop rainwater getting into the cockpit.

At least oil isn't a problem.

[dave-the-diver]

Rule switches are a bit of a consumable, but not particularly expensive.

I guess you could wire two in parallel, maybe at slightly different trigger heights, then the chance of both failing simultaneously would be fairly low.

We burnt out a bilge pump when an errant bit of insulating tape that must have been swimming round the bilges made it to the pump, through the slots in the housing and jammed the impeller.

Getting a wet foot when entering the boat as the water level is above the floorboards focuses the attention somewhat.

I found some little mesh filters that sit between the plastic housing that fits to the hull and the pump, which should reduce the possibility of that happening again. Had to get them from the states, from memory.

SOP now is to lift a floorboard and check operation of pump and switch at the end of every trip.

David

[Simpo Two]

dave-the-diver said:

SOP now is to lift a floorboard and check operation of pump and switch at the end of every trip.

I sometimes checked pump operation by moving the switch to manual to hear the motor buzz, but of course that doesn't test the float switch which is so far down as to be quite an undertaking.

[paintman]

I've had one of these in my open 17' dory for years.
Does the job & came with the stainless gauze mentioned by dave-the-diver.
https://www.amazon.com/Rule-RM1100-Rule-Mate-1100-...
The 'state of the art water sensing technology' is an internal float switch.
The amazon ad suggest it's been superceded.

[Huntsman]

[quote=dave-the-diver
SOP now is to lift a floorboard and check operation of pump and switch at the end of every trip.

[/quote]

Very good practice to do that.

[MOTORVATOR]

To be more sensible SImpo I think I've got a few new flapper switches in the shed I can send over. (squeeker had 8 of them fitted hence the spares!).

We don't use them in the raceboats for obvious reasons so no use to me.

Never had a problem with decent size Rule pumps - 1500/2000etc.

Smaller ones we've only ever broken through outright abuse.

The automatic Rules are very good and work but they operate by trying the load on the impeller every couple of minutes and that can become a little irritating on an exceptionally quiet night as you will hear it constantly fire up. Particularly now I have mentioned it!

[Simpo Two]

MOTORVATOR said:

To be more sensible SImpo I think I've got a few new flapper switches in the shed I can send over. (squeeker had 8 of them fitted hence the spares!)...

The automatic Rules are very good and work but they operate by trying the load on the impeller every couple of minutes and that can become a little irritating on an exceptionally quiet night as you will hear it constantly fire up. Particularly now I have mentioned it!

That's a great offer; I instructed the local marine bod to order the bits yesterday (Whale) so no urgency now, but would be happy to take a spare or two from you if you're sure they're surplus

Night-time; well, my bilge pump has never been an issue (the deep sea seal seems 100% perfect so rainwater infiltrating is the problem). However the cold water system loses pressure very slowly so unless I turn the water off I will get woken by a chugga-chugga noise as it re-pressurises!

[classicaholic]

I have had a problem with the water in the pipe after the pump coming back down and leaving just enough to operate the float switch again, I don't have the space for a non return valve in the current pipe so its a rince & repeat when it turned on automatic - which it only is on shore power!