Hose for bilge pump

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by darylat8750

I have 4 plus the shower sump pump and I don't feel "over pumped". Here is why, I pulled the hose off an 1.5" through hull to clean it out thinking I would let it run into the bilge as a little rinse out. When I broke through the crud blocking it the volume of water that was pouring into the boat astounded me. It ran right into the boat right next to my Rule 2000gpm pump and it didn't have a chance to keep up and I doubt if 3 of them would have. I believe these pumps are rated with smooth hose (which I have) and no lift. Way slower than rated when installed. So in addition to the 3+ shower sump I added a big whale Gulper as well. I also discovered that two of my pumps were "Y ed" into one hose and the check valve stuck and rendered one of the pumps moot. Now every pump has it's own hose, it's own switch and the Whale is wired with a counter, a bilge alarm and without going through the main battery disconnect switch.

It's not paranoia if they ARE out to get you...

Real life experience to support rules of best practice concerning bilge pumps -- very useful. Just two take aways from this:

1. Normal bilge pumps won't keep up with a significant leak, like a broken through-hull, hose, shaft seal.

2. Check valves really fail and really disable bilge pumps in real life -- it's not a hypothetical problem.