Gunk in the bilge

[Billyo]

I've been checking the depths of the boat and have found that one of my bilge pumps isnt working. On investigation it appears the PO bolted the float switch onto a thick piece of Aluminium. The whole thing has now corroded (including the innards of the float switch) and left a thick gooey mess in the bilge which is too thick to pump out with the bilge pump.

So, is there anything that I can use to disolve the gunk enough for it to be pumped out (without doing any harm to the bige pump/hoses and any fish that happen to be sitting under the boat when I pump it)?

And, as a caveat, I can't get in there and scrape it out by hand as its 4 ft below the engine pan.....

 

[coopec]

I've been checking the depths of the boat and have found that one of my bilge pumps isnt working. On investigation it appears the PO bolted the float switch onto a thick piece of Aluminium. The whole thing has now corroded (including the innards of the float switch) and left a thick gooey mess in the bilge which is too thick to pump out with the bilge pump.

So, is there anything that I can use to disolve the gunk enough for it to be pumped out (without doing any harm to the bige pump/hoses and any fish that happen to be sitting under the boat when I pump it)?

And, as a caveat, I can't get in there and scrape it out by hand as its 4 ft below the engine pan.....

If I had that problem I'd make up one of these.

 

[Billyo]

Thats a far more advanced version of what I was considering- half a small water bottle gaffer tapped to a stick

 

[coopec]

Thats a far more advanced version of what I was considering- half a small water bottle gaffer tapped to a stick

I'm building my yacht so I have all sorts of devices to aid construction - Vacuum cleaners off the recycle dump, to suck up shavings etc, a magnet on the end of a string to retrieve drill bits dropped in the bilge and to test to see if it is SS (not foolproof), an el cheapo bilge-pump in the end of a stick to de-water the bilges.

 

[Wansworth]

Redirect built in bilge pump outlet temporarily to plastic containers or use a makeshifts bilge pump to do likewise.......very deep bilge what boat is that,out of interest.........then use effective cleaner,probably very nasty chemical based

 

[coopec]

Redirect built in bilge pump outlet temporarily to plastic containers or use a makeshifts bilge pump to do likewise.......very deep bilge what boat is that,out of interest.........then use effective cleaner,probably very nasty chemical based

I thought mu bilges were narrow (Roberts Mauritius 43). I'm placing the ballast and there is not enough room to touch my toes. I have to lower the ingots as best I can and the lever lem into position before I fix them in place by pouring resin around them.

 

[Wansworth]

The Albin Vega has a drain plug at lowest point,could be useful for flushing out once ashore

 

[duncan99210]

You could try brick cleaner or sI liar to get dissolve gunk and then use a Pela pump to remove the resultant liquid. However, using that would almost certainly be terminal for any pumps located in the bottom of the bilge. Could just use a Pela to remove what is there at the present?

 

[Billyo]

The boat is a ROberts 44, crazy deep bilge, one previous owner turned three bilge compatments under the cabin sole into a 120 gallon water tank.....

The bilge pump itlsef is a wall mounted Jabsco utility pump 3000 with a snorkel into the bottom of the bilge, so will look into getting a cheap pela pump and some canisters to pump into. Although thinking about it I could use the existing pump and just change out the impeller when I have finished. Or would brick cleaner or similar destroy the metal housing of the pump?

 

[Graham_Wright]

Wet/dry vacuum cleaner. If necessary, squeeze the end of the tube (most households have a few spare!).