What electric bilge pump for central bilge in A25

[Sunsetrider]

I just use my oil change vacuum extractor to clean up the engine bay when necessary, and also to remove excess fluid from the keel bilge from time to time. Since the keel bilge is connected to the cabin bilge, the bow bilge pump does a decent job of keeping the fluid in the keel bilge to a reasonable level. Not as perfectly as one would wish, but well enough for my satisfaction. I'm spending enough on needed things, like $70 CAD for an impeller kit!

[DesertAlbin736]

That was until I pulled back the cover on the engine after a snowstorm and melt.

The cockpit was left uncovered? Our boat's previous owner was located in Idaho, where the boat was left out in the snow like this, but (hopefully) the PO never let the cockpit get full of water & the canvas enclosure kept the snow melt out....

May 1 snowstorm '08.jpg

We have the opposite problem here with the heat, like on a recent summer's day when the digital thermometer in the cabin looked like this. "In" is the forward cabin, the sensor for "Out" is in the dashboard glove compartment next to the helm on the other side of the bulkhead. When it's like this I can only stand being inside the cabin for about 5 minutes max.

20170505_152723_resized.jpg

[WillieC]

Rule LP900S

This is what I have. It sits too high to do much until the water reaches that level. Mine also has the manual whale pump located in the starboard under seat area. Fortunately, my boat doesn't leak much if any these days. More rain than saltwater.

I have the Rule set up ahead of any switches and I always check to see that the switch is set to Auto before leaving the boat when it is on the mooring. I also dump water in the bilge periodically to make sure the dang thing keeps working. It is puny, plastic, not well suited to draining the swamp even though I installed it as low as I could under the shaft.

Kerry, your situation is very different than mine. We keep the Willie C. on the mooring ball for much of the summer. I would be very uncomfortable with having a pump sitting in the storage compartment, not connected nor plumbed for unattended operation. Since it is right in front of our house, I would even like to add a mast light that would illuminate when the pump runs so I can see if there is trouble. Maybe hook it up to a cell phone to call me when it runs. And tell me the beer supply is low on the boat. Or, I could just row out there every day we don't use it to just check on things. It's a boat. You have the winter rain and snow and freeze collection tub sitting on your trailer in the winter. In some ways that is more difficult than our situation. With ten feet of snow on it, makes it hard to see what the heck is going on in there.

Desert Albin's is the way to go. Costs be damned! Next best, use your seawater engine pump in a dire emergency. Hopefully not at the same time your muffler explodes.

I forgot to say, mine originally had a miniature cylindrical pump that stuck way down in the bilge. Like this one:

Inline bilge pump.jpg

https://www.ecmarinesupply.com/products ... 7650340810

You need to install a separate float switch and manual/auto/dummy light panel at the helm. I spent too much time trying to make it work and should have just thrown the old one away. These do get way down in there, but tend to gum up unless you spend your off weekends polishing the inner surfaces of your bilge and filtering any leaks that enter it.

[dkirsop]

Here are some pictures of the installation in my boat. I installed a Whale Gulper 320 beneath the floor board in starboard hand locker. The strum box is made from 3/4" pipe and sits in the bottom of the keel. The pump is controlled by a Water Witch Electronic Control which also sits in the bottom of the keel.

Here is a picture of the pump attached to the side bulkhead beneath the locker floor.

Bilge Pump.jpg

This picture shows the suction line routing into the keel cavity

Suction Line.jpg

Here is what the strum box looks like. The end cap is left loose to help clear any obstruction that may occur

Strum box.jpg

This picture shows the electronic control situated in the keel cavity

Water Witch.jpg

Here is the name plate data from the pump

Nameplate.jpg

I have been very happy with this installation.

[WillieC]

I like that, dkirsop. High, dry and decent flow. Do you regard the Water witch an improvement over the mercury float switches as far as reliability?

[dkirsop]

It has worked well when bench tested and every now and then I dip it in a bucket of salt water to check. The previous owner used it for a different pump configuration and I decided to re-use it when I retro-fitted the diaphragm pump so it is at least 8 - 10 years in operation.

[kerrye]

That looks nice. Does it drain using the original thru hull for the hand pump? It's hard for me to tell from the pictures exactly where it is located. Is that more or less under the helm seat?

[dkirsop]

Yep, it's in the starboard locker just below the helm seat. It uses the original through hull that came with boat which was for a small electric pump located in the keel. The pump is equipped to connect to either 3/4 or 1 inch hose. I am using 3/4 which is fine.

[WillieC]

This is a little off topic, so forgive me Kerry. I dumped some seawater into the rectangular air supply holes located at the aft end of the engine, thinking that space must drain to the bilge. Not on mine. I know they are ducts that route to the aft end of the boat and vent on each side on the deck, real nice toe stubbers. But that sure looks like the bottom of the boat when you look inside them. Which makes perfect sense. I suppose it also makes sense that they are dedicated air supplies, not communicating with other areas, to ensure true outside ventilation. Answered my own question, I guess. Carry on.

Kerrye raises a very good point, about water resting against the engine pan. More importantly, you don't want water reaching the height of the seals. My quarter inch thick cast iron pan doesn't worry me too much, but I would be concerned about some of the newer engines that may have automotive pans. What I am more interested in is how y'all go about keeping that engine drip pan clean. First, have an engine, transmission and fuel system that is pristine. Second, use lifetime coolant and never change it along with permanent hoses and clamps. Third, vacuum seal the oil filter and entire engine block when changing it and never pour oil too fast for the quarter inch hole in the fill tube to overflow and glub glub glub all over the place. Finally, never bleed your fuel system. I have taken to using leftover, unused mind you, mattress pads I overstocked on following a routine surgery. Very absorbent. Maybe I should leave one down there and replace as needed.

[kerrye]

I like that idea. My wife was buying puppy training pads when our cat was missing the kitty litter. Those would work too. I really dislike the idea of not being able to drain the engine compartment but so far I haven't found a good way of drilling into the bilge and putting in a plug.

[WillieC]

I intend to stick with the wipe, wipe, wipe method. I don't think you want to purposely introduce oily discharge into the bilge. The incidental stuff is tough enough to clean. Also, getting a hole drilled in the low point would almost certainly require removing the engine. And then installing some kind of removable plug that never fails could be challenging.

I find that a big terry cloth towel fished under the engine pulls a lot of liquid out in a hurry. Sure some of it drips back in when you remove it. (You will have to wash it a couple times before slipping it back into the linen closet.) That combined with a small pump if you have a full pan is about as simple as it gets. And work on keeping out the precipitation.

How about a simple snow-proof, blizzard resistant, demountable winter cover? I have a pole barn that is not deep enough for the boat plus swim step plus trailer tongue and barely tall enough for the light mast. I am mulling some kind of simple roof that could attach to the boat in a few places and still let me get into it and do winter projects. Otherwise you could do the whole boat wrap thing and wait til spring thaw to see what you have to fix.

Something to consider. Given my experience with dumping water into the duct holes and finding out it doesn't communicate with the bilge, I am not sure if drilling a hole in the engine pan will communicate either. The pipe that drains the fore section of the bilge runs directly to the deep v-section under the shaft. I did not remove my engine pan when I had the engine out this winter, so I don't know exactly how it is constructed. Drilling a hole may not accomplish what you intend. Others may have more knowledge.

[DesertAlbin736]

I agree with what WillieC says. Don't most folks in cold snowy climates shrink wrap or otherwise cover their boats for the winter? Seems the best way to go is KISS.

[DesertAlbin736]

The pump is controlled by a Water Witch Electronic Control which also sits in the bottom of the keel.

That's exactly what I would do with ours for an electronic control switch if we were ever to keep our boat in the water full time. Wire that back to the dashboard with a three position inline On-Off-Auto switch, one of which I happen to have one laying around in my bin of boat stuff.

BTW, we're hoping to be back up your way next summer, maybe catch one of the Albineers of BC meetups on our way to Desolation Sound if we can coordinate with the dates, & certainly a stop at Port Browning on Pender Island on the way up or back.

[dkirsop]

When you have your dates set let me know. If we are around I would look forward to meeting with you either on Pender Island or at an Albineer rendezvous.

Cheers

[DesertAlbin736]

When you have your dates set let me know. If we are around I would look forward to meeting with you either on Pender Island or at an Albineer rendezvous.

I know this is straying a bit off topic from bilge pumps, but since you ask, it'll most likely be in the June-July time frame. Last year we spent all of July in BC, attending the Canada Day celebrations in Sidney on July 1st, which was such a kick. We had launched in Bellingham on June 13th, but for a number of reasons stayed in the San Juans through the end of June before crossing the border. Next time, assuming we launch around the same time of year, it will be from Blaine, WA instead of Bellingham due to truck/trailer parking issues, and we may head straight for the BC side to maximize our chances of getting to Desolation Sound in case we're forced to hold up along the way & wait for weather windows. If we do the whole thing by water instead of putting the boat/truck/trailer on the ferry over to Sidney & driving up island to launch at Campbell River, then we'll likely stay on the Vancouver Island side as far up as Comox or Campbell River instead of crossing the Strait from Nanaimo and messing with Malaspina Strait up to Lund. Perhaps from Nanaimo we'd do a night on Lasqueti Island, then Comox, then Campbell River. For example, Day 1 Blaine to Sucia, Day 2 Sucia to Bedwell Harbour to clear in, Day 3 to Telegraph Harbour, Day 4 to Nanaimo, Day 5 to Lasqueti Island, Day 6 to Comox, Day 7 to Campbell River, and Day 8 to an anchorage on Cortes Island, then around to Squirrel Cove and on into Desolation Sound. Essentially a series of +/- 30 NM daily runs, plus waits for weather. Then if things go well & a week or so in Desolation, then leisurely work our way back down through the Gulf Islands with stops in Montague on Galiano, Mayne Island, Ganges, Winter Cove, Port Browning, & other favorite stops & a few days down the San Juans for a 6 week cruise.

I know that's the time of year when it's most crowded in Desolation Sound, but that's the way it goes. Exact dates TBD. Will watch the BC Albineers' site for their updated 2018 rendezvous schedule when they post it next year, & hopefully we can catch their June or July meet, whenever and where ever it is. This year they did their May rendezvous in Port Browning?