Bilge pumps?

[chowder]

I've made a commitment w/ myself to ramp up my bilge pump sys. and get new flares and new PFDs for my 16.5 Alumacraft and my Starcraft Islander before I set these boats up to run my new Yamaha T8 kicker (yes, I did buy one finally!). So my questions are;

1. What is a good choice for a 2cd bilge pump w/ a screened inlet ? Looked at what West Marine has (awful lot of choices, 1500 gpm? -what about installation, should it have it's own pump out port-this seems like a major hassle) If it was portable I could use it on both boats, which would save some $ for the PDFs

2. What's a good choice for a manual pump & hoses- how do you keep these things fastened down so you can work the handle?

[ray koziatek]

my suggestion would to be ,,go to the old well pull the hand pump,grab ye som hay string tie the pump tight in the corner of the boat and pump when needed..

[spoonfed-1]

Chowder,

A 1500 is a good chioce for a 2nd pump. I just added a 2nd pump this summer after an incident during the Sodus Proam.

Rule makes a good pump and I went with a fully automatic pump.

You definatley want to go with a 2nd outlet on the boat.

It's not that much work just make sure you install it well above the water line.

I can tell you from experience, a bad experience, you don't want to take shortcuts here.

Heres the best prices I found on them.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=s ... &x=15&y=21

Glen

[Fishtails]

Ditto what Glen said. Two seperate outlets. If you have an emergency and you need to run both, one outlet can only handle one pumps volume. I have three pumps on two outlets (one on each side). Two pumps on a Y connection out one side and a single on the other side. I also ran each off a different battery. One pump should be an auto. Be prepared for the unforeseeable.

[Big Dave]

There was a thread about pumps. They showed that the smooth bore hose was better that the corrigated style. More gph. Its good to have a Holey $$$T were sinking pump

[chowder]

In some of the follow ups to Glen's original post about the bilge pump failure I got the impression that some of you had rigged up a 2cd pump you drop into the bilge and power it off a battery w/ clips. Since I fish the Finger Lakes in the winter I'm somewhat intrigued by this idea b/c then the 2cd pump & hose could be removed from the boat, eliminating frozen water problems (as well as moved between my 2 boats). If anyone has done this successfully I have a couple questions.

1. How do you deal w/ the pumps motor torque? Doesn't this twist the wires going to it?

2. What do you do for circuit protection?

[W.W.IV.]

Chowder,glade you brought this up.Most small boats don't come with a pump,I've got a 16' lund that didn't and I installed one,I also took a plastic box and cut the bottom and sides out and glued screen over the openings so leaves and debris could not plug the pump,switch on dash,no room for auto switch. I fish alone most of the time,you can't pump and run the boat unless its afoot pump,I haven't checked them out in a while. I had the bottom crack on a 1961 lone star 16' no pump.The only way I had to drain was to stop the boat and pull the plug and get the boat back on plain. If there was any more water in the boat I couldn't have done it. Last summer fishing in a 20' lund we started taking on water,the pump couldn't keep up but we managed to get the boat on the trailer. the intake hose for the live well rotted away.He put in a bigger pump,no room for a second pump.In that case a manual pump would have been great.This is four you guys that fish the finger lakes all winter.I used the boat late in the deer season and it rained like hell on the way home that night and the cover leaks very badly so I got water in th bilge and I didn't pull the plug.went out to put plastic cover on and checked for water ,turned on pump,it was frozen solid. Check it before you leave home.I hope this keeps some one else out of trouble.

[W.W.IV.]

Chowder,try mounting the pump on a BOARD with a clamp to anchor it in place. Put a inline fuse between BAT. AND PUMP.You may have to mount something to the transom to clamp to or try a suction cup.

[jfneron]

On my boat I have rigged a 800 gph pump and also a 1800 gph one. To start the pumps I have installed this sensor made by WaterWitch. The lowest sensor will start my 800 gph pump only. If ever the water reach the highest sensor then that would start the 1800 gph pump, as well as a bilge alarm (mandatory on commercial small vessels):

[Broadhorizons]

I was going to mention the article Big Dave referenced about the smooth hose vs the corrugated hose. I can't find the article now but the "experiment" was performed by someone from around LO who's on this site I believe, maybe they'll chime in. It was really good info and a big difference in pumping volume. I'm going to set up a second pump to and switch both pumps to smooth hose.

[Broadhorizons]

Found it on GLA:

A friend and I did a test last night on the difference between corrugated plastic bilge hose, and smooth-wall hose. The results were surprising to me.

Using a 600 gallon steel stock tank, and a 325 gallon clear sprayer tank with exterior volume markings, we measured the output and amperage draw of two bilge pumps using the different hoses. We placed the pumps in the bottom of the stock tank, and then hooked the pumps up to a battery for 15 minutes.

My friend then had a beer (one during each test). I had a diet Dr. Pepper. (one for all 4 tests)

The first pump used was a new Attwood 500gph automatic bilge pump from WalMart. Using a 6' long piece of straight wall 3/4" garden hose, after 15 minutes the measured output was approximately 180 gallons, or about 620 gallons per hour. The amperage draw throughout was about 1.9-2.0 amps.

Repeating the process with 5' of corrugated 3/4" bilge hose gave us an output of approximately 95 gallons, or 380 gallons per hour, with an amperage draw of 2.2 amps.

The next pump we used was a 2 yr. old Rule 1250 manually switched pump, with a 1 1/8" output. Using 5' of fiber-reinforced straight-wall bilge hose, we got an output after 15 minutes of about 320 gallons, or 1280 gallons per hour, at 2.7 amps

Using 5' of corrugated bilge hose from West Marine, we got an output of only 240 gallons, or 960 gph, at 2.9 amps.

People, the difference may be between sinking and floating. These pumps are obviously rated for using straight-wall hose, NOT corrugated hose. Using corrugated hose provides less output while using more electricity.

While I expected a slight difference, I didn't expect so dramatic a difference. And I have corrugated hose hooked up to all three of my pumps in my bilge.

(Yes, I have THREE bilge pumps in a 20' Seafari, all 1200 gph rated. Two at the transom, and one in the bow under the cabin. I discovered the hard way that with 5 persons on board, and three of them sunning on the cabin deck, a Seafari will begin to sink bow-first when the drain plug is left in the engine well instead of being stuck in the little hole in the transom)

JOHN R.

Boat name.--King Temper

Homeport - Olcott NY

[L&M]

In some of the follow ups to Glen's original post about the bilge pump failure I got the impression that some of you had rigged up a 2cd pump you drop into the bilge and power it off a battery w/ clips. Since I fish the Finger Lakes in the winter I'm somewhat intrigued by this idea b/c then the 2cd pump & hose could be removed from the boat, eliminating frozen water problems (as well as moved between my 2 boats). If anyone has done this successfully I have a couple questions.

1. How do you deal w/ the pumps motor torque? Doesn't this twist the wires going to it?

2. What do you do for circuit protection?

Andy: A piece of sheet lead works well. Mt. the pump to it & put it anywhere you want in the bilge. Keeps it in a solid upright position and in place . Wire with a water proof fuse inline & battery clips for portability from one boat to the other.

[chowder]

Thanks Hank! Now that's a solution any practical farmer would approve off, now I have to see if I have the space/access to make this a practical solution.