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ttex · 26-07-2019, 12:57

When I bought my boat the bilge pump was installed with wires that were too short. There was so much water in the bottom of the bilge it was crazy. It was so nasty.

After covering myself in bilge slime and replacing everything the bilge ran for 5 minutes straight.

The boat came up so much that I have to repaint the waterline as it is off by what seems like two inches now.

I just think this was crazy. Right?

Sailmonkey · 26-07-2019, 13:17

Yep, that’s a goofy problem to put up with.

But leave the waterline alone, you’ll need it when you load the boat up with “stuff”.

model 10 · 26-07-2019, 13:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

Yep, that’s a goofy problem to put up with.
But leave the waterline alone, you’ll need it when you load the boat up with “stuff”.

It's interesting to figure out how much it takes to sink your boat an inch. I think I read 800 lbs per inch for our boat. The water line is a good 3" higher these days.

Sailmonkey · 26-07-2019, 14:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ecos

It's interesting to figure out how much it takes to sink your boat an inch. I think I read 800 lbs per inch for our boat. The water line is a good 3" higher these days.

We’re 966# per inch according to the last calculator I found.

I’m embarrassed to say we raised our waterline approximately 2”.

skipgundlach · 27-07-2019, 08:34

I actually mount the pumps on the bottom, but the switch a bit higher; they are high capacity, and there's no need to run them on a short-cycle use.

I have a much smaller, electronic switch, pump which keeps it empty; it checks for resistance (sucking and having to push water) every 2.5 minutes and cycles for a couple of seconds to determine whether to keep running.

They are consumables because they don't last all that long, though the current one is at least a couple of years old; I use a West Marine brand, and go buy another but get a refund when I have swapped them, thanks to their branding guarantee ...

**TrentePieds** · 27-07-2019, 09:25

Quote: "When I bought my boat the bilge pump was installed with wires that were too short. "

Too short for what?? What, exactly, was it they couldn't reach?

Or do you mean that the pump had been installed too high in the bilge cos the wires were too short to permit installation of the pump further down?

If you had a ton and a quarter of water in the bilge, which is what it would take to settle a Baba35 three inches, then you obviously need to find out where it had come from. Was it fresh water? Was it salty water? Was it slimy "black" water?

Few production boats have bilge pumping arrangements designed according to Hoyle. They have no "wells" that permit of their being pumped completely dry, which is rather silly because at the design and hull construction stage it's so very easy to provide.

As an acceptable "second best" I have an el cheapo Rule pump placed on a wooden mount that reaches all the way to the deepest point in the bilge (which I cannot reach even when lying on my belly). The mount is fastened via French bolts and wingnuts to the floors above so it can be easily detached and lifted out for servicing/replacement of the pump and the float switch - also a Rule cheapie. I have about an inch of water in the bilge at all times as a result of this arrangement. If/when I need a completely dry bilge I suck out this residuum with a wet/dry vacuum cleaner.

Needless to say, the wires to pump and switch as they come from the chandler's are "too short". The remedy is to lengthen them via a decent waterproof splice so they become long enuff to reach a 4-gang terminal block on the floors immediately next to the fix-point for the pump mount. This terminal block takes the wiring from the switch panel at the nav station.

The wiring is such, of course, that the supply to the float switch is always hot, and can be overridden at the switch panel to run the pump when the "auto" cycle is off.

TrentePieds