40 ft. sailboat bilge setup

[liveaboard60]

Originally Posted by sartorst

<snip>
I am thinking of making my next switch with a mercury switch and float that can not sink before mercury switches are no longer available. That drop of mercury will cause less pollution than all the other contaminating products on my boat when it sinks !!!
<snip>

My bilge pump switch is one of the mercury switch types.. Though I have not had a chance to find out for sure, I believe it failed in the on position because the pump runs as long as the panel switch is in the on position.. The boat is 250 miles away so I haven't had much time to trouble shoot it. Planning on sailing the boat here to Port Aransas this weekend..

flk k

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by DDabs

My current bilge pump setup is:
-Jabsco 36960 bilge pump
-Rule superswitch

I am recently being let down by my Jabsco pump and rule superswitch. I am looking for an alternative. My bilge sump is fairly small, and I like the idea of having my external pump mounted high in the bilge. I have been looking a lot at the Whale Gulper and Gulper Grouper pumps, which seem like a more reliable, simple solution. Any input on these models? Both of my head shower drains go into the bilge and I like the idea of having a pump that is heavy duty and will not clog.

Also with the float switch, thoughts on a better solution to the rule flapper? Jabsco Air switch?

Thanks so much for any input.

David

I have read the rest of the responses. I have two Jabsco switches with the lowest level rule pump. It's worked without a problem for five years. BUT, I have to take the last 20mm or so out of the bilge by using a sponge as the rules won't pump what's in the lines. I also have a second rule pump on a totally manual switch. The idea of the two switches is that one remains completely out of the water 100% of the time and if it ever goes off, then it sets off an alarm and turns the pump on.

I have a gulper for my shower recess. It's brilliant. I'm intending on getting another one which will be mounted outside the bilge and then have it's pipe extend to the bottom of the bilge. The gulper of course will take everything out and will pump out as the same rate or even more than the rules that I have.

If you can, I'd strongly recommend avoiding shower sumps from going into your bilge. Thought on your boat that may be too hard to change.

But anyway, big thumbs up for Gulpers.

[DDabs]

Thanks!

[Steadman Uhlich]

By coincidence I came across this post on a blog:

"A broken bilge checkvalve, a 50 knot storm and an unknown pump issue causes Ramshackle to sink unceremoniously at the dock. Everything is ruined: Engine, Electronics, Radar, the Engine and all our belongings save clothing."

The blog post shows the sailboat sunk at the dock. Underwater.

[DDabs]

yep that'll do it

[lifeofreilly57]

Went to a water witch inductive switch a year or two ago after repetitive failures with Rule switches. Now have a 2000 gpm pump on that with another 2000 gpm pump hooked to a passive float switch. So far so good and have never hit secondary pump yet. I do gave a deep sump in the bilge so it can grow some interesting life firms in it, have to flush it from time to time. No problems so far though.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[DDabs]

Well after thoroughly examining my bilge, I notice that the two showers from the heads actually drain into the smaller sump box, while water from the rest of the boat, wherever it comes from, finds its way into the bilge compartment and then slowly into the sump box. The hose from the pump runs down and sucks from the sump.

So I plan on running the Gulper as the primary pump for the sump box, replacing the Rule Superswitch that sits in the sump with an Ultimate Jr. mounted firmly to the side of the sump box. Then installing a Rule 4000 outside of the sump box, sitting higher, as the emergency pump. This is as simple of a system as I can think of. Am I missing anything?

Also- is it worth getting the Gulper Grouper over the Gulper 320? It seems like it is meant more for pumping fish boxes, but being able to pump nasty debris seems like a good thing. They have pretty much the same pump rate anyway, and are the same price point. Thoughts?

[DDabs]

OK update:
As far as I could gather from the spec sheet/manual on the Gulper and Gulper Grouper are that the Gulper 320 is more designed for bilge purposes, whereas the Grouper has warnings not to pump chemicals through it, designed as fish waste/water only. This seems to make sense. Decided to do:
Primary Pump- Whale Gulper 320/Ultimate jr float switch
Secondary Pump- Whale Orca 3000/Ultimate jr. float switch
Cockpit Pump- Whale Gusher Titan

I will just need to run a new hose for the secondary pump...

[DDabs]

OK, secondary pump can be routed aft to one of my cockpit drains, since those are massive. I think that pretty much covers it. And here I am talking to myself in my own thread.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by DDabs

OK update:
As far as I could gather from the spec sheet/manual on the Gulper and Gulper Grouper are that the Gulper 320 is more designed for bilge purposes, whereas the Grouper has warnings not to pump chemicals through it, designed as fish waste/water only. This seems to make sense. Decided to do:
Primary Pump- Whale Gulper 320/Ultimate jr float switch
Secondary Pump- Whale Orca 3000/Ultimate jr. float switch
Cockpit Pump- Whale Gusher Titan

I will just need to run a new hose for the secondary pump...

I think your setup will work fine. My experience is that the Gulper line of pumps are extremely reliable. I'm strongly considering replacing my macerator pump used to empty my holding tank with the Gulper Grouper MK3 so was interested in your comment regarding chemicals. I just got off the phone with one of their tech people and he assured me that there was no difference in the materials they are made of between the Grouper and the 220/320 line. There IS one different though and that is the 220/320 line have smaller bicuspid valves and the inside of the pump has an additional little flap inside the pump that keeps the liquids going in the right direction. This little flap can cause the pump to lose pressure and stop pumping if something gets stuck in it so for the Grouper MK3 doesn't have that little flap and it does have much larger bicuspid valves to move "semi-solids" through the pump without clogging. I'm tired of macerator pump unreliability so am going to order a Grouper and see how that works for emptying my holding tank.

I've also given up on those traditional float switches after replacing way too many and for the last year have been using one of those water witch inductive switches and so far so good. No moving parts so I'm hopeful things will stay that way.

[redsky49]

Just for your consideration, are you aware that Whale markets their own line of non-float type bilge switches?

Seem to much more affordable, as well:

http://www.whalepumps.com/marine/sit...eldSensors.pdf

[DDabs]

I have seen those, but the Ultimate switch seems more rugged

[DDabs]

Jt, i already ordered the 320, but let me know how your experience goes if you try the grouper.

[DDabs]

Quick review:

Whale Gulper 320: Awesome pump. Got it installed where my Jabsco used to sit, same plumbing, except I took the strainer off the line going to the Gulper. The pump is quiet and works amazing. I love it.

Ultimate Switch Jr.: This thing is a beast. It comes with heat shrink connectors on the wires to the switch and you have to use them or you void the warranty, so for people who are psycho about soldering, may want to think about that. The connections are super beefy and i feel comfortable with the crimps. The switch is quite large but the quality is by far superior to any other float switch I've seen or used.

Now that I have the primary pump done, time to work on running all new plumbing for the backup pump! woooooOoooooooo

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by DDabs

Jt, i already ordered the 320, but let me know how your experience goes if you try the grouper.

Good news and bad news.
First, the good news is that I replaced my macerator pump with the Gulper Grouper MK3 and it works fine. Uses less amps, is quieter, and I'm sure it'll be more reliable than the macerator pump was. As I mentioned before, the Grouper doesn't have that little flap inside, just 2 large tricuspid valves, and their literature says that it must be mounted beneath the outlet of a tank but it also says that it has up to 1 meter suction. So, I was worried that since my holding tank is located in the bilge and the pump must be mounted a couple inches above the top of the tank (above the outlet), it might not work. I've now pumped out my holding tank with it twice and it does seem to work just fine so all good news about the Gulper Grouper pump.

However.... because of this confusion about how this pump needs to be mounted, I sent the person on their website listed as the east coast rep an email asking if it would be likely to work mounted slightly above my holding tank and I also tried to call their customer service number a second time, but they were busy so it went to voicemail and I left my phone number so they could call me back. It's been about 2 weeks and neither the east coast rep OR their customer service department called or emailed me back so I find that pretty disappointing. It was a simple question and could have been answered in just a few seconds but apparently the folks at Whale are "too busy" to bother clarifying this pumps capabilities. Now I've got 5 320/330's AND a Gulper Grouper installed on my boat and I really like the simplicity and reliability of these pumps, but it would be really nice if their customer service people or someone, anyone, at Whale would call you back when you have a question about their products.