Bilge Watch

ive just installed one,ive been away from the boat now for about 3 months,it will be interesting to see what its recorded
 
salar said:
I know this is a very old thread but this may help others - you can build you own bilge watch system for a few pounds, instructions are here:
http://www.boat-angling.co.uk/Hints_and_Tips/bilgemonitor.htm
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So it tells you that the bilge pump has activated at least once since you last reset it. (Not how many times or for how long). In the meantime the relay has been sitting there energized and wasting power. No thank you.
 
OR4751 said:
Bilge Watch: anyone use it?
Good/bad/indifferent?

As always, any feedback much appreciated.
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I bought one about 3-4 years ago and it's been excellent.
Simple, compact, reliable, easy to fit, plenty of capacity (as someone said, who has 8 bilge pumps? But you wouldn't want to have to buy and fit more than one BW monitor. A bit like saying your car has a max speed of 130mph and someone says "Crikey, who drives at 130mph?")

British too. Go for it.
 
VicMallows said:
So it tells you that the bilge pump has activated at least once since you last reset it. (Not how many times or for how long). In the meantime the relay has been sitting there energized and wasting power. No thank you.
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What a strange response. I was simply offering a link to a cheap (under £10) alternative, I wonder why I bothered. By the way, an energised relay of this type takes virtually no drain, only the LED warning lamp will be taking power and that is negligible. I would expect the current drain for a more sophisticated device like the Celectron (£175) would be more than nothing even if it is just a few milliamps.
 
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I fitted a 12vcd electro mechanical counter across the bilge pump and check the count each time I arrive at my boat. If the count increases for the same period of time away a leak has started and the higher the count the worst it is getting.
 
salar said:
I would expect the current drain for a more sophisticated device like the Celectron (£175) would be more than nothing even if it is just a few milliamps.
Click to expand...

Current draw from the Celectron is zero unless it is activated, when it is a few mA just to operate the lcd display.
 
Some battery monitors have them built in - mine (a BEP) monitors the volts on the engine and domestic batteries (and current on the domestic), and instead of monitoring a third battery bank, it monitors how many bilge pump activations there have been and the total time the bilge pump has been running since it was last zero'd. I find it very useful - having a keel stepped, in mast-furled, mast we do get some rain water in, and it's useful to see if there has been much.

Neil
 
I thought this was the Practical Boat owners Forum. If everyone is happy to buy a Celectron fair enough. I'll delete the link to an inferior alternative at 1/20th of the price, but there was no need to rubbish it, it works ;) .
 
salar said:
I thought this was the Practical Boat owners Forum. If everyone is happy to buy a Celectron fair enough. I'll delete the link to an inferior alternative at 1/20th of the price, but there was no need to rubbish it, it works ;) .
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On the contrary, I salute all those who develop projects, but I chose to buy a Celectron at £30. I would not have parted with £175 for it. I will eventually get round to fitting the alarm which sends me an SMS if the bilge pumps goes off..
 
I wonder what the most reliable method of detecting water is. The bilge pump activation method, with a float switch, is fine but you need to have quite a bit of water before that activates. I have heard there are problems with the conductive probes also bu to corrosion etc in damp conditions and false alarms. My plans for a boat would have multiple isolated areas that would need monitored. I think I will buddy up on bilge pumps but I still need to know where the water has come from and activate the appropriate pump. A home automation company I know of uses gold plated electrodes to detect water and avoid the corrosion problems but that might start getting expensive.
 
pmagowan said:
I wonder what the most reliable method of detecting water is. The bilge pump activation method, with a float switch, is fine but you need to have quite a bit of water before that activates. I have heard there are problems with the conductive probes also bu to corrosion etc in damp conditions and false alarms. My plans for a boat would have multiple isolated areas that would need monitored. I think I will buddy up on bilge pumps but I still need to know where the water has come from and activate the appropriate pump. A home automation company I know of uses gold plated electrodes to detect water and avoid the corrosion problems but that might start getting expensive.
Click to expand...
we have a water witch sensor in the bilge & a remote PAR diaphragm pump in the lazerette.
the switch cuts in @ approx 60m/m depth & over runs for about 20 seconds . we have a keel stepped mast so get rain water in via the sheave box`s. There is no reason to monitor it as far as i am concerned, i am o/b every w/e & am aware if the pump cuts in.
 
sailorman said:
we have a water witch sensor in the bilge & a remote PAR diaphragm pump in the lazerette.
the switch cuts in @ approx 60m/m depth & over runs for about 20 seconds . we have a keel stepped mast so get rain water in via the sheave box`s. There is no reason to monitor it as far as i am concerned, i am o/b every w/e & am aware if the pump cuts in.
Click to expand...

My curent boat leaks from top and bottom so always has water in it and the bilge pump has to run off and on most of the time unless I have been there and completely cleared the bilge with hand pumping. In my new boat I am planning to have multiple watertight compartments but expecting an almost completely/completely dry bilge. In this situation the detection of any water is likely to signal a failure somewhere which could be very problematic. This is why I want to develop a good bilge monitoring system for 2 modes:

1) Monitoring the boat while I am away. Sending a text alarm if there is water on board and activating appropriate bilge pumps.
2)Monitoring the boat while I am onboard. Immediately warning of where water is coming in thus improving my chances of locating and steming flow

To do this I will need multiple sensors and pumps. The pumps will either have to be plumbed in with diverting valves or I will have to have one for each compartment. At present I envisage at least 8 seperate compartments.
 
pmagowan said:
To do this I will need multiple sensors and pumps. The pumps will either have to be plumbed in with diverting valves or I will have to have one for each compartment. At present I envisage at least 8 seperate compartments.
Click to expand...

I guess you would need a system with an LED indicating the position of each sensor, and a latch to retain which one came on first in the event of a catastrophe.
 
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