Drown or electrocute?

oldbilbo

oldbilbo

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I'm pondering the madness of having a 240V sump pump rather like the Stuart Turner 'Supervort' or the Clarke CSW1A for serious emergency use, powered by a modest small genset such as the Clarke IG1000 or similar, set up in the cockpit.

In the event of a serious inflow, beyond the capabilities of the small 12v Rule bilge pumps, something closer in capability to a salvage pump may be - and has been - needed.

The main question is - how do I protect against electrocution?
 
oldbilbo said:
I'm pondering the madness of having a 240V sump pump rather like the Stuart Turner 'Supervort' or the Clarke CSW1A for serious emergency use, powered by a modest small genset such as the Clarke IG1000 or similar, set up in the cockpit.

In the event of a serious inflow, beyond the capabilities of the small 12v Rule bilge pumps, something closer in capability to a salvage pump may be - and has been - needed.

The main question is - how do I protect against electrocution?
Click to expand...

Use a plug-in RCD between the pump plug and the generator or inverter.
 
skipmac said:
Buy a gasoline, excuse petrol, powered pump instead. No electrocution hazard, no dependence on an outside power source. I believe this is what the USCG air drops to boats that are filling with water to keep them afloat.
Click to expand...

Best option but bulky and awkward to store, especially the hoses.

W.
 
skipmac said:
Buy a gasoline, excuse petrol, powered pump instead
Click to expand...

+1. ...and for those wishing to stick with mains, safe but powerful 110V pumps are readily available. Then all one needs is a generator with a 110V option, or a transformer box.
 
And remember that in a serious emergency, it is invariably debris clogging the pump's inlet that is the limiting factor, rather than the capacity of the pump itself. No matter how immaculate you think your bilges are.
 
oldbilbo said:
I'm pondering the madness of having a 240V sump pump rather like the Stuart Turner 'Supervort' or the Clarke CSW1A for serious emergency use, powered by a modest small genset such as the Clarke IG1000 or similar, set up in the cockpit.
Click to expand...

Those pumps aren't big enough for a serious inflow. If you're going to do it, you need a 2" pump, such as the Clarke GSE2, which should shift 300 litres a minute in boat use. I have one of these at home for use when we get flooded, and it's a serious pump. However, for boat use I'd go for a 2" petrol-powered pump, which would be cheaper and simpler to set up.
 
I think I would look at the other side of the problem.
Carry a tarpaulin with some weights and lines set up to drag over the hole?

Regarding electric shock risk, a double insulated pump should not be much risk.
You'd need a proper grounding scheme for the generator side.
And it would all cut out as soon as the generator got damp.
 
lw395 said:
it would all cut out as soon as the generator got damp.
Click to expand...

My cheap and cheerful and old and neglected frame genny works fine in the pissing rain, albeit I tend to avoid touching any metal parts while it's running just in case. Admittedly after leaving it out overnight in heavy rain last weekend (told you it was neglected) it didn't want to start - I took the plug out and the tip of it was wet with water. But after drying the plug off and spraying WD40 on the HT lead the generator fired up second pull.

I'd still prefer a direct-drive pump as a crash pump on an oceangoing yacht. But as always it's a question of space and a generator has other uses besides running the pump.

Pete
 
If you have a proper sized hole in the boat, will any reasonable pump cope for long?
What sized hole should you plan for?

How many boats actually get sunk by being holed?
And what fraction of those would actually be saved by any particular sized pump?

Is it the case that if you can't stem the leak to the point that a few 12V rule pumps do the job, you're 99% wanting the liferaft anyway?
(Taking wooden boats with 'issues' as a separate case, an old wooden boat is a special case IMHO.)
 
pvb said:
That's only 50 l/minute, and that'll be in ideal circumstances, eg zero head. The pump's max head is only 3.5m, and for boat use the pump will usually need to cope with at least 2.0m head, so the flow will be much less.
Click to expand...
Better than nothing and handy for deck washing though....
 
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