Bilge Pump Timer? Any ideas?

[theglo]

I have a small sump hole in the center of my bilge that is only about the size of a soup can in diameter but about 2" below the rest of the bilge. I'm looking to install a Gulper style bilge pump pickup in the bottom of it but am looking for ideas on how to activate it to keep my bilge as dry as possible. I was hoping something may be out there that activates it for 10 seconds every hour or something of the sort.

I currently have 3 other bilge pumps in the bilge that are operated on float switches and work great but leave about 1" of water in the bilge.


Using a now broken sump pump style bilge pump in my sump hole I was able to previously get my bilge dry manually, but am looking for an auto solution.

Thanks!!

[Privilege]

In addition to a large bilge pump for proper water evacuation - in order to keep the bottom part of the bilge dry I have a small bilge pump with a small diameter hose which drains into my shower sump 2' away. The problem with many bilge pumps is that the amount of water held in the hose after the pump and before it goes overboard will drain back into the bilge. My set up allows for just a tiny amount of water to get back to the bilge. The pump is activated by an Attwood S3 electronic bilge switch. When activated, it remains on for a minute after the water has dropped below the sensors.

A switch like this, connected to the a gulper pump with a pickup hose into your sump might do the trick.

[brazenarticle]

A friend pointed this article out to me several months ago - https://lifeempirically.com/2018/03/...-bilge-system/
Other than the timer and a few connectors I had most of the parts at hand and installed it at the beginning of the summer. My only issue was I put 3 collectors at different points in the bilge and inevitably one would start sucking air. Now down to one collector and it works fine for that last 1/2 inch or so of water. For the time being I just feed the water into a gallon jug that gets emptied weekend, I may connect it to the existing hose at some point.
The timer recommended in the article works well, I have it set to run 4 minutes every 12 hours.

[S/V Illusion]

I suspect most people would consider “1 inch” as dry.

Regardless, it’s not worth the effort involved as most bilge plumbing systems will drain that much back after the pump shuts off

[Squanderbucks]

I have several bilge pumps on regular digital water detection switches such as Water Witch but my hollow molded keel area can not be emptied with even a pump like A Rule 800. So I installed a diaphragm pump with a hose and pipe that goes to the bottom of the V of the keel and hooked it to a 12v DC timer set to go off twice a day. It can also be put on standby if desired or manually activated.
Purchased the at :https://www.brazix.com/brazix/en/programmable-12v-dc-timer-switch-15-amps
Used them go 4-5 years or so. One model controls one pump and another can run two pumps each on different cycles.
Works for me.

[Dougtiff]

Put a check valve right at the outlet of the bilge pump.

[lvictorlucas]

A 12 Volt eBay programmable timer would work for small consistent "leaks" but you will still need one or two other regular bilge pumps. Another option is a sensor with two wires that conduct when they are both interested in the water along with some type of switch amplifier.

[Cpt Pat]

Originally Posted by theglo

I have a small sump hole in the center of my bilge that is only about the size of a soup can in diameter but about 2" below the rest of the bilge. I'm looking to install a Gulper style bilge pump pickup in the bottom of it but am looking for ideas on how to activate it to keep my bilge as dry as possible. I was hoping something may be out there that activates it for 10 seconds every hour or something of the sort.

I currently have 3 other bilge pumps in the bilge that are operated on float switches and work great but leave about 1" of water in the bilge.


Using a now broken sump pump style bilge pump in my sump hole I was able to previously get my bilge dry manually, but am looking for an auto solution.

Thanks!!

I have a this bilge pump as my "primary" that leaves about an inch remaining in the bilge. I am very happy with its operation over the past 6 years. https://www.whalepumps.com/marine/pr...dlyID=Bilge-IC

It's a diaphragm type pump. The more common centrifugal pumps won't work once their intakes are no longer fully immersed in water. They need immersion to prime.

If you want less than 1 inch of standing water, which by your description sounds like only a few CCs/ounces, I'd use a small 12 volt saltwater aquarium pump, and a periodic timer like this: https://mwands.com/shop/product/12-volt-dc-digital-programmable-timer

[theglo]

Just wanted to put the answer out to how I solved this.

I purchased this $13 timer on Amazon.

AVOLCANO CN101 DC 12V 16A Digital LCD Power Programmable Timer Time Switch Relay

I then wired it directly into a new Gulper pump that connects to a hose in the deep part of my bilge. It is scheduled to run for 7 minutes every day at 1PM.

It has been running flawlessly now for (however long since I made this post) - a number of months. My bilge is bone dry now and some of those bilgey smells have been remedied.

Thanks for the help.