Auto bilge pumps. Are they all crap nowadays

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steveeasy

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Hi
Bought a seaflow G600 auto bilge pump and it would not prime to pump and then when it did it would not shut off. Put it down to bring crap.
Bought another brand but 4 times the price. Does not pump and then when it does it won’t shut off.
Are they all the same with a different logo. Anyone else found this. Never had problems in the past.
Steveeasy
 
steveeasy said:
Mine don’t they are garbage. Last one last week cost me 80 odd quid and it is shite..

If they don’t shut off or work they are more dangerous than not having one.
Steveeasy
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I have always thought that boats are far more likely to suffer batteries going flat than an auto-bilge pump ever saving them. After all a boat has to develop a leak slow enough for the bilge pump that miraculously cures itself before running down the batteries. Fine if on constant charge but even then. I tend to isolate everything including bilge pump when leaving a boat. When on the boat I absolutely don’t want it coming on as I like to check the bilges and see how much water (if any) is coming in and where that is coming from.
 
a. Around here most boats are in slips and are plugged in. The battery won't ever go flat.

b. Don't buy an all-in-one automatic pump. Get one with an external float. Automatic float pumps like yours run on conductivity sensors, and if a trace of oil gets in the pump they fail. This is in the manual (RTFM). Longer lasting and cheaper.
 
thinwater said:
a. Around here most boats are in slips and are plugged in. The battery won't ever go flat.

b. Don't buy an all-in-one automatic pump. Get one with an external float. Automatic float pumps like yours run on conductivity sensors, and if a trace of oil gets in the pump they fail. This is in the manual (RTFM). Longer lasting and cheaper.
Click to expand...

??

The Seaflow 500 is a float switch operated pump ... the switch is actually same as most other external float switches that rely on a magnet ball and relay ... but fitted inside the bottom filter shell.
It has no conductivity sensor ..........

I have the same pumps ... one in my ex Soviet speedboat powered by a 7A/hr SLA with trickle charge solar panel ... the other in my main motor sailer under the cabin sole ... wired to a 3 way toggle switch..... Manual ON - Off - Auto.

I leave both on Auto and in approx 10yrs - I have replaced both once. For the price and peace of mind - I think its cheap insurance.
 
steveeasy said:
Hi
Bought a seaflow G600 auto bilge pump and it would not prime to pump and then when it did it would not shut off. Put it down to bring crap.
Bought another brand but 4 times the price. Does not pump and then when it does it won’t shut off.
Are they all the same with a different logo. Anyone else found this. Never had problems in the past.
Steveeasy
Click to expand...

If BOTH do same ... then surely - it has to be a wiring problem ?
 
RupertW said:
I have always thought that boats are far more likely to suffer batteries going flat than an auto-bilge pump ever saving them. After all a boat has to develop a leak slow enough for the bilge pump that miraculously cures itself before running down the batteries. Fine if on constant charge but even then. I tend to isolate everything including bilge pump when leaving a boat. When on the boat I absolutely don’t want it coming on as I like to check the bilges and see how much water (if any) is coming in and where that is coming from.
Click to expand...

Auto Bilge Pumps are not designed to save a boat from sinking if holed ...... they are purely to get rid of accumulating water from various sources such as condensation collecting ... any slow drips or ingress that may be ...

My ex soviet mobo .. without such pump - it would fill with rain and I would need to manually pump out. With the Seaflow auto - I can leave her and be content to know she is not filling up when it rains.
My Motor Sailer collects water under cabin sole from condensation ..... pump sits there and runs rarely ... but again I am happy to know its there. Having had that boat fill with rain water in the past when cockpit drains blocked ....
 
Refueler said:
Auto Bilge Pumps are not designed to save a boat from sinking if holed ...... they are purely to get rid of accumulating water from various sources such as condensation collecting ... any slow drips or ingress that may be ...

My ex soviet mobo .. without such pump - it would fill with rain and I would need to manually pump out. With the Seaflow auto - I can leave her and be content to know she is not filling up when it rains.
My Motor Sailer collects water under cabin sole from condensation ..... pump sits there and runs rarely ... but again I am happy to know its there. Having had that boat fill with rain water in the past when cockpit drains blocked ....
Click to expand...
Almost every boat in the XOD fleet has a baby solar panel, battery, and integrated float operated bilge pump for the same reason and same result. The system easily copes with rain, and a bit of initial seepage in the spring, and in fact copes well with the spray etc when it’s blowing 20kn plus in a race. They wouldn’t save to boat from a serious wound. The pump is replaced as required, sometimes proactively. They don’t last very long.
 
There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey.
John Ruskin
Translated.
There is nothing in this world that somebody cannot make cheaper and nastier.

My old Princess 35 which was built in around 1990 still had its original sad little single totally inadequate bilge pump installed and working after 30 years.
Both the additional pumps ( cheapo and not so cheapo chinese clones) installed shortly after my purchase of this boat all failed within a year or two.

Pump float switch in the forcabin bilge of my most recent boat , went all melty and failed shortly after purchase and needed replacing.
Went for a well known quality brand. ...Fingers crossed.
 
Problem today is that even the well known 'quality' brands are often re-labeled chinese production ...

I actually took apart a very well known expensive quality brand that had failed after a relatively short life and found the same motor / gear / impeller as the cheap chinese copy ...

Even when it says EU / UK product or whatever ... the parts are made in China and then assembly in EU / UK to get the label.
 
Seaflow are cheap Chinese made tat. Rule only slightly better IMO. I have Whale submersible pumps that are decades old and working fine so I trust them a bit more. I’ve just fitted a Supersub with the field sensor switch.
 
Refueler said:
??

The Seaflow 500 is a float switch operated pump ... the switch is actually same as most other external float switches that rely on a magnet ball and relay ... but fitted inside the bottom filter shell.
It has no conductivity sensor ..........

I have the same pumps ... one in my ex Soviet speedboat powered by a 7A/hr SLA with trickle charge solar panel ... the other in my main motor sailer under the cabin sole ... wired to a 3 way toggle switch..... Manual ON - Off - Auto.

I leave both on Auto and in approx 10yrs - I have replaced both once. For the price and peace of mind - I think its cheap insurance.
Click to expand...
My bad. I had it confused with another.

And still, the internal float is a much tighter fit and more prone to fouling than an external float. Won't start and then won't stop sounds like a control problem. Won't pump sounds like crap in the impeller. Sounds like dirty bilge.

Steveasy left without telling us what actually failed, so I guess we are done.
 
thinwater said:
My bad. I had it confused with another.

And still, the internal float is a much tighter fit and more prone to fouling than an external float. Won't start and then won't stop sounds like a control problem. Won't pump sounds like crap in the impeller. Sounds like dirty bilge.

Steveasy left without telling us what actually failed, so I guess we are done.
Click to expand...
Nope. The expensive one would not pump and when it did the float would not drop. Shite.
So I put the other new shite seaflow back on and at least pumped and shut off. Both could not cope with a relatively shallow bilge depth.
I’ll buy another one when I get back. Any thoughts on the electronic sensor type ?

Steveeasy
 
steveeasy said:
Nope. The expensive one would not pump and when it did the float would not drop. Shite.
So I put the other new shite seaflow back on and at least pumped and shut off. Both could not cope with a relatively shallow bilge depth.
I’ll buy another one when I get back. Any thoughts on the electronic sensor type ?

Steveeasy
Click to expand...
Try a Whale Supersub. Sits nice and low and removes water down to a depth of a few mm due to low suction point. Or if you want to save a few quid, Seaflow do a cheap knockoff of the Whale pump
 
Tried two of those low profile pumps.
A cheapo version and an alleged good quality branded one
Both failed, one overheated and melted.
Reverted back to a traditional separate pump and float switch in the end.
 
Wouldn't trust any of them if the boat was a 'seeper'. Classic Nordic wooden motor sailer had two Rules and seperate batteries. One pump had a prob with the switch and the other with the battery. Down she went. Next door , nearly the same, but caught in time. The integral switches on Rule pumps (in these cases) just weren't reliable.
 
DownWest said:
Wouldn't trust any of them if the boat was a 'seeper'. Classic Nordic wooden motor sailer had two Rules and seperate batteries. One pump had a prob with the switch and the other with the battery. Down she went. Next door , nearly the same, but caught in time. The integral switches on Rule pumps (in these cases) just weren't reliable.
Click to expand...
If I was relying on a bilge pump to keep a leaky wooden boat afloat I would wire two seperate bilge pumps. Each bilge pump could have two seperate float switches wired in parallel. There is no perfect solution but I have not found the large Rule bilge pumps unreliable. Float switches are definitely less reliable
 
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