bilge high water alarm, albin 28

[tomcat rio]

if anybody has one, what would be the best place to mount the float switch?
thank you
ed

[Denis]

The dealership where I bought my boat put one in prior to my purchase. They put the float switch under the access hatch in the center of the cabin. There is a bilge pump there with a switch and also the float for the high water alarm.

[tomcat rio]

...regular bilge pump switches is it? i thinking it should only be a half inch or so, otherwise, there's gonna be an awful lot of water in the bilge before the alarm goes off.

[Mariner]

If it were me, I would wire a red light to the switch that turns your bilge pump on and place it on the helm where you can see it. An alarm is probably not necessary.

Then, your alarm switch should be maybe 9-12" above the bilge pump and have that wired to an external alarm. Unless your boat is located in front of your house, the alarm will be useless unless you have your name and phone numbers posted on your boat. One boat in our marina has a laminated card with all their info posted on their boarding steps. This alarm system should have it's own independed battery and power source. The most common reason for bilge pump failure is a clogged intake, but most boats have more than one bilge pump. If you've got enough water to trip the high water alarm, your problem is more likely to be that your battery has become dead or was left turned off or something that would disable your bilge pumps. If your high water alarm is powered by the same system, it will do you no good in that situation.

[Tuxedo]

If it were me, I would wire a red light to the switch that turns your bilge pump on and place it on the helm where you can see it.

I did exactly that after a cooling hose on the engine busted and pumped about 1,000,000 gallons in the bilge. I feel a lot better knowing when the pump is running.

I also have a high water alarm in front of the rudder post. It's about 8" above the float switch down in the bottom of the skeg, but it wouldn't take that much water to trigger it.