Bilge Pumps down below?

FullCircle

FullCircle

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At the moment, I have the standard issue Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 35 bilge pump setup.
One medium to large-ish automatic electric bilge pump, switched at the main electrical panel, but no permanent live or level sensing override.
The manual bilge pump is sited near the helm, and is the one with the neat folding handle.
I also have a Y diverter valve off the engine inlet.

I am thinking of installing another manual bilge pump in the saloon, and wondered what the Forum wisdom is for :-
a) necessity
b) location of pump/handle
c) size and capacity of pump/manufacturer/model
d) position of outlet

Also would anyone recommend an engine driven setup, or other system?

or am I just being too cagey, don't bother with all that effort and just step up into the life raft with my pyjamas and grab bag in hand?
 
Fit a float switch, wired off the live side of the bilge pump switch to the 0 volts. Then off that in series wire a bilge alarm then you know when it's going off

cheers

Ian
 
I would recommend sth. different: Fit a small petrol driven sludge pump in a cockpit locker with a hose down to the bilge. This gives you a totally independent system, and with some Y-valves it can be even converted to a fire engine...

Holger
 
One of my best-forgotten threads was a catalogue of woes about a LEAK. I never did reveal the source, which wasn't a hole in the boat, nor failure of the shaft seal, but a perished gasket on the prop inspection hatch which was impossible to access because the PO (Previous Owner - don't they have a lot to answer for?) had glassed in a new stern seat over the top. So I had a leak when planing but very little at slow speed and none at all when stationary! (Those familiar with my lack of mechanical expertise - particularly those who proferred advice - will chortle at the thought of me working that out!!)

The boat has electric pumps with automatic sensors/alarms both fore and aft (permanently wired in so that an undetected leak would result in sinking after the battery died - er, OK) and a manual pump with Y-valve selecting front or back; access is under the floorboards. I wasn't happy with that so fitted a third, a Whale Gusher located in the cockpit, easily pumped without lifting any hatches.

The main pump sensor/alarm had failed and was due for replacement - oops, never procrastinate over safety items. When the big flood happened off Selsey I saw water above the cockpit floor but the electric pump clogged and the manual one wouldn't prime! Calmly pouring a dry Martini (joke!) I used the manual spare, sweating away for nearly 300 pumps.

The lesson is clear: have one more pump than you think you'll need AND with access outside lockers and companionway. Hardly original, it's the RYA recommendation too.
 
Having seen the photo of you au naturel at the helm, for the sake of the RNLI rescuers it might be better to be wearing your jim jams than carrying them.

On a Nic 32 I used to sail which had a lavac ,the pump had a Y junct with a wandering hose and strum box to use as a secondary bilge pump,which I thought was a pretty good idea.As the heads were well forward the hapless pumper had the forehatch as an escape route if it all went pear shaped.
 
Next boat I have, i'm going to fit one of those neat battery monitor units that also counts bilge pump cycles.... would be nice to know when you've been away from the boat, how many times the bilge pump has fired off..... just my two pennies worth....
 
Good plan.

To certify for ISAF Category 2 you are required to have a manual bilge pump operable from below with the hatches in place.

This is for extreme situations when there is a likelihood that all power has gone but it is not yet time to step up into liferaft.

It amazes me that a boat can be classified as Category A and not have such an arrangement. I am in the process of buying a Hanse 342 and at some point in the future hope to do the Santander Double and/or the AZAB (both ISAF Category 2 races). I pointed out the deficiencies between Category 2 and the standard specification 342 and Hanse are fixing them during commissioning as part of the deal.

As to position of the pump - it really depends on the layout of your boat. We came up with two positions - either the heads (so that you can brick it and pump at the same time) or below the saloon seating (so you can sit back with a scotch in one hand and the pump in the other). Either way it needs to be easy and comfortable to operate - I would rather keep pumping as a means to avoid having to abandon to a liferaft. Remember what happened in the 79 Fastnet.

Ed
 
Thats a good point about the ISAF. So would you have a pickup pipe that you could move around, or put it centrally in the bilge with the other 2 pickups? If you have a large angle of heel due to weather and an excess of water, would it not be better to do that?

I like the idea of putting it in the heads. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

What pump are you fitting?
 
[ QUOTE ]
. . would be nice to know when you've been away from the boat, how many times the bilge pump has fired off

[/ QUOTE ]

Blimey, if I suspected mine fired off in between times I'd have the boat on the slip exploring every inch. With a deep bilge over a metre long I wouldn't notice a litre or so, nor would the sensor; as far as I'm concerned there's no water ingress when the boat isn't in use.
 
I have had a leaking stern gland for most of the season. Not pulling it out for 2 gallons a weekend.
But I concur that it would be right to do so. I am just stingy.
 
I wouldn't be comfortable with just one bilge-emptying system, but then my wood boat is on a swinging mooring where its left to its own devices.
The primary pump is a Henderson. Normally a couple of strokes will have it gulping air. The secondary is a Rule operated by float-switch drawing power off its supply which is independent of the main switchboard.
As a result of experience I am fitting a third system which will use an air pressure switch from a washing machine, and a jabsco impeller pump. That's because I am on the second float switch and the third Rule pump in two years. It seems electrical equipment doesn't like being immersed in bilge water... which is what they were "designed" for.
 
My take on bilge pumps is similar to that i.r.o. anchors and fire extinguishers. There's no point in having a little one.

p120-1.jpg



I've got two of these BIG P-120s....... ( and a little one! ) Paranoid or what?

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
alright bilbo, I 'll buy it.
What make is it, where do I get one, and where did you put it, as everyone walking through the saloon would trip over it!
 
Most manual bilge pumps allow you to fit them flush with a bulkhead.

My boat came with a Henderson pump fitted underneath the saloon seating. It's next to the lowest point of the bilge and the strum box. So you can pump and watch the water disappearing at the same time. Makes sense to me.
 
[ QUOTE ]
On a Nic 32 I used to sail which had a lavac ,the pump had a Y junct with a wandering hose and strum box to use as a secondary bilge pump,which I thought was a pretty good idea.As the heads were well forward the hapless pumper had the forehatch as an escape route if it all went pear shaped.

[/ QUOTE ]

Our mast leaks into the heads/wet locker area and we have an electric bilge pump in there. To minimise holes through the bottom we have a single seacock used by the bilge pump, heads water inlet and washbasin drain.

By closing the seacock and putting the plug in the basin, if there is electrical failure we can pump the bildge using the heads pump.

(This set up also allows us to flush fresh water, disinfectant, or similar through the heads to clean it including inside the channels in the rim.)
 
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