Bilge setup for 13’6 dory

[hutt]

First time boat owner of a few weeks, bought a bargain basement dory 13’6 that’s now living on a dinghy pontoon. Im already bored of manually bailing the rainwater out so looking for a small simple auto bilge system I can put in - I need the kit, battery, box, solar panel, pump, pipes. I have a little fish finder I’d also like to run from the battery. Any recommendations?

 

[Tranona]

You may well find that lot costs you more than the boat. Have you thought about a cover? Prevention better than cure.

 

[B27]

We used to have a dory on a mooring.
Car battery, solar panel, Rule bilge pump, float switch.
Sometimes we had to swap the battery and take the other one home to charge.
Bigger solar is better.
It's not an exact science.

If you can have a cover that sends the majority of the rain overboard, obviously that's better.

 

[Refueler]

My ex Soviet MoBo .... has a very simple solution. No need to go wallet crunching expense !!

I tried a cover - lasted less than a season before holes appeared.

My setup consists of :

7A/hr SLA House Alarm battery of 12v nominal...... B&Q etc.
Seaflo Auto Bilge Pump of eBay (its literally a copy of the more expensive Rule pump)
A 12v solar panel.... such as a Car / RV trickle maintenance panel... eBay / Halfords / B&Q etc.
Length of plastic pipe to fit pump outlet. B&Q

No need for controller on the Solar as its' not too powerful a charge. You buy which is designed to trickle charge a car battery.

Pump has three wires ... two are direct power to the auto float switch - other wire gives you manual switch on / off to over-ride the auto.

Really cheap solution that keeps my boat relatively bilge 'dry' ....

You can see the small panel just to left of the outboard - its fixed by Velcro patches ...

Here are a few examples similar to mine :

bilge pumps for boats 12V Automatic Control Pump Bilge Pump Auto Switch Bilge | eBay

Auto 12V Boat Automatic Submersible Bilge Water Pump & Float Switch G750‑12V‑06 7298501575674 | eBay

20W 12V Solar Panel Portable Waterproof Power Trickle Battery Charger | eBay

My wiring is simple .... I was going to have a manual switch over-ride - but finally just wired it as auto. The Battery - appears to be small for the jobn - but in fact has proven more than enough ... I even have nav lights and an LED spotlight wired to it ...
I do consider a larger battery of about 20 - 30A/hr from a Lawn Tractor .... but so far still using the SLA.

 

[William_H]

The battery you choose to use is perhaps the question. Yes small SLA batteries are good. here are some from Jaycar(Oz) Search SLA | Jaycar Electronics
You can virtually choose cost versus length of run time and weight.(bulk) Or you could assemble 3x 18650 lithium cells to make about 2AH of battey power. Very light weight but not cheaper than lead acid. Or you could go for an old car battery. Cheap but bulky.
A solar panel may keep battery up. Depends on sun shine. I would not run a 20w panel 1 amp max to a 7AH SLA without a controller. SLA easily damaged by over charge. But then I get lots of sunshine. (got to 35degrees yesterday mid spring) I am sure Latvia is much different. ol'will

 

[Refueler]

The battery you choose to use is perhaps the question. Yes small SLA batteries are good. here are some from Jaycar(Oz) Search SLA | Jaycar Electronics
You can virtually choose cost versus length of run time and weight.(bulk) Or you could assemble 3x 18650 lithium cells to make about 2AH of battey power. Very light weight but not cheaper than lead acid. Or you could go for an old car battery. Cheap but bulky.
A solar panel may keep battery up. Depends on sun shine. I would not run a 20w panel 1 amp max to a 7AH SLA without a controller. SLA easily damaged by over charge. But then I get lots of sunshine. (got to 35degrees yesterday mid spring) I am sure Latvia is much different. ol'will

That 20W panel - NEVER gets anywhere 20W ..... my 7A/hr SLA has sat on that panel for over 3 years now ... only time it doesn't is winter when its removed and charged for storage ... panel cleaned and wiring checked.
The panel does not hit 18 - 21v as do most panels ... here's specs :

Specification:

• 100% brand new with high quality
• Material: Polycrystalline Silicon
• Working voltage: 12V(Can be used to charge 3.7V battery)
• Open circuit voltage: 13.5V
• Size: 110x136mm
• Operating temperature: 0 to +60°C
• Application: Lamp, Fan, Pump, etc
• Occasion: Outdoor, Camping, Garden, etc

Its specifically designed to trickle charge 12v batterys without need for controller. Look at the size of it ... 110mm x 136mm .....

 

[Sandy]

A good cover will stop all that work.

 

[Refueler]

A good cover will stop all that work.

Yes fine ... don't ignore fact this dory is 13' 6" and will require framing to avoid that lake of water collecting in the cover ... second as I found - covers do not last as long as a bilge pump system !!

The suggestion I made for s pump system will be a lot less cost than a cover and frame .. in fact less than just the cover alone.

 

[ChromeDome]

If you have a bit of movement this one might do it.

Costs some £50 (in Sweden)

Swedish language, but you get the idea:

 

[Davy_S]

I used to have a 15ft Argo Hellas open boat on a mooring in Greece, the boat was left in the water in winter for fishing, i made two boards out of plywood, the boards slotted together just below the gunnels, i later glassed over the plywood, it worked perfectly, the rainwater simply ran off into the transom well and out through the drain, it cost peanuts to make.

 

[Dellquay13]

A good cover will stop all that work.

I had a tonneau cover for my dory, fine on the trailer, a massive pita and very ineffectual on the mooring. Most UK and US built dorys like the Boston Whaler, Dellquay13 or the Orkney copy have handrails down the gunwhales and getting a cover to easily fit is isn’t easy. The other problem is storage underway for a relatively huge cover on a boat with the most minimal storage. They are like boating in a shoe box lid. Impractical, not sensible, but fun.
A small solar panel and a cheap self switched bilge pump added to the starter battery was my solution.

 

[Dellquay13]

I used to have a 15ft Argo Hellas open boat on a mooring in Greece, the boat was left in the water in winter for fishing, i made two boards out of plywood, the boards slotted together just below the gunnels, i later glassed over the plywood, it worked perfectly, the rainwater simply ran off into the transom well and out through the drain, it cost peanuts to make.

Very common on lots of Greek grp fishing boats. I had my dory in Greece for years, but being double skinned I found it easier to leave it open most the time and rely on the pump. I tried a smaller cover from pvc cloth laced across between the grabrails if I was leaving the boat for an extended time, but that was a lot of trouble to unrig and store for short trips. I noted the Greek fishermen used to use their boards to cover their spare nets when using out the boat, but I didn’t have a pile of stuff at the harbour side to mark out my patch, or to safely leave a cover.

 

[William_H]

That 20W panel - NEVER gets anywhere 20W ..... my 7A/hr SLA has sat on that panel for over 3 years now ... only time it doesn't is winter when its removed and charged for storage ... panel cleaned and wiring checked.
The panel does not hit 18 - 21v as do most panels ... here's specs :

Specification:

• 100% brand new with high quality
• Material: Polycrystalline Silicon
• Working voltage: 12V(Can be used to charge 3.7V battery)
• Open circuit voltage: 13.5V
• Size: 110x136mm
• Operating temperature: 0 to +60°C
• Application: Lamp, Fan, Pump, etc
• Occasion: Outdoor, Camping, Garden, etc

Its specifically designed to trickle charge 12v batterys without need for controller. Look at the size of it ... 110mm x 136mm .....

Thanks Nigel. My bad did assume it was a typical 20v 20w panel. Not so. I am glad it is capable of keeping charge up to SLA. ol'will

 

[hutt]

Thank you all so much for your replies!

A couple of further questions - thank you to @Refueler in particular I've made the following shopping list:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LIGHTEU®-N...prefix=seaflo+auto+bilge,aps,236&sr=8-28&th=1

20W 12V Solar Panel Portable Waterproof Power Trickle Battery Charger | eBay

https://www.amazon.co.uk/YUASA-ELEC...s=alarm+battery+12v+7ah&qid=1698592065&sr=8-5
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Braided-Fl...7d-a3ca-afd028f128c3&pd_rd_i=B009W715VA&psc=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Braided-Fl...7d-a3ca-afd028f128c3&pd_rd_i=B009W715VA&psc=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bulk-Hardw...diy&sprefix=19mm+3/4+hose+clips,diy,96&sr=1-3

Questions -
What waterproofing do the connections and battery require?
Will the battery also run the garmin fish finder we have?
Do I need to screw the pipes down? If so - having never screwed into a boat - any advice?!?

Many thanks,
Raz

​

 

[Refueler]

Waterproofing ?

My battery sits on a shelf just under the side deck - without any other protection. The Solar Panel is just fixed by velcro with nothing else ... cables are screw terminal connected with spade ends to the battery.

You could get a reasonable sized plastic box with lid to sit battery in ...

I would suggest stainless clips - mild steel ones will corrode quickly.

My outlet pipe is to a through hull fitting - but thats purely my choice. Previously - the pipe was just passed over side and small line used to tie it off.

The main item to take care of ... the pump and it staying in deepest point of bilge and upright. Mine is held in place purely by the floorboard sitting on top of it - luckily level with board supports. I do not advise 'gluing' it down - its not always easy to unclip pump from the base filter ... as you will need to at times to clear leaves / crap that gets through ... also occasionally lift to check pumps function.

 

[Dellquay13]

What do you use for a motor? Is it an electric start or pull start outboard?
I used my 75Ah starter battery to run my fish finder, basic Magellan GPS (back in the early 2000s) and the bilge pump. The 40hp engine would keep the starter battery charged up while out on the water, and the solar panel kept the battery topped up for the bilge pump while moored. About 10w solar was common back in those days.
I kept the starter battery and all of the wiring connections inside a basic battery box.
Like Refueler I didn’t fasten down the bilge pump, I used a heavy item to hold it down in place (actually a 6” square of marble I found on a Greek beach, but any suitable weight that won’t suffer in a harsh environment is fine.)
I used a pump with an integral switch because I didn’t want anything that might get into the boat to interfere with or jam the switch.
I used about 1.5m of hose and I simply cable tied it to the motor control cables and wires to keep it secure in its route to poke over the transom. There was very little else I could fasten to in my Dory, and I didn’t fancy drilling and screwing into the grp.

 

[hutt]

exactly..I don't fancy the drilling - it's a manual pull start with no auto trim control which I'm starting to realise is a good reason is was cheap!

Thanks all, I'm going to order the above

 

[hutt]

Just realised the solar panel I ordered is massive compared to yours @refueller I’ve soldered it to the pump to put onto the tiny battery contacts. A friend said I need a charge controller or I’ll fry the battery - what do you think?

 

[Refueler]

Just realised the solar panel I ordered is massive compared to yours @refueller I’ve soldered it to the pump to put onto the tiny battery contacts. A friend said I need a charge controller or I’ll fry the battery - what do you think?

Here we are at a junction where caution is the order of the day ..... If the panel is bigger and also rated to output more - in the 18v+ mark - then yes.

If the panel is 12v and rated as a trickle charge panel - then the question is what actual watts would it put out.

If you bought as you listed :

20W 12V Solar Panel Portable Waterproof Power Trickle Battery Charger | eBay

My panel is 8.5" x 8" ..... it never puts out 20W ......

 

[hutt]

Here we are at a junction where caution is the order of the day ..... If the panel is bigger and also rated to output more - in the 18v+ mark - then yes.

If the panel is 12v and rated as a trickle charge panel - then the question is what actual watts would it put out.

If you bought as you listed :

20W 12V Solar Panel Portable Waterproof Power Trickle Battery Charger | eBay

My panel is 8.5" x 8" ..... it never puts out 20W ......

I bought this one as I needed a quicker delivery

20W Watt 12V Monocrystalline Solar Panel Battery Charger Camping Boat Off Grid | eBay