Petrol powered water pumps

[ridgy]

The thread on SB about the fire....last year I got one one of these to keep on the boat (other similar brands available):

2" Petrol Water Pump - 5.5HP 4 Stroke Engine | ParkerBrand

Mother of all bilge pumps.
Mother of all fire extinguishers.

For £150 (cheaper last year) it can deal with any but the worst sinking moment and conversely put any fire out in a heartbeat.
Apart from the obvious minor loss of storage space, what's not to like?

To be fair it hadn't occurred to me in 20 years either.

 

[Misterbreeze]

We had several of these at work - they all had the Honda engine like yours, but it's worth getting one with a Honda branded pump as well as we found non-Honda pumps soon gave up. On a boat the storage issue would be the python-like length of rigid hose needed to reach the bilge or sea depending on which way you want the water to go.

 

[Misterbreeze]

Should have added......inversion (or lying at an angle) can stop them working as there's an internal switch to prevent them running without enough oil. Not always easy to start once that happens so try and keep it upright in that deep locker!

 

[harvey38]

Just hope it starts when you need it most

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

The thread on SB about the fire....last year I got one one of these to keep on the boat (other similar brands available):

2" Petrol Water Pump - 5.5HP 4 Stroke Engine | ParkerBrand

Mother of all bilge pumps.
Mother of all fire extinguishers.

For £150 (cheaper last year) it can deal with any but the worst sinking moment and conversely put any fire out in a heartbeat.
Apart from the obvious minor loss of storage space, what's not to like?

To be fair it hadn't occurred to me in 20 years either.

It's a fire risk!

 

[penfold]

They're huge by the standards of MAB cockpit locker standards, they don't have sealed fuel caps so they smell and the fuel goes off unless you store them drained. I've never met one that started very well either, although that's anecdote and probably a stale fuel issue. A couple of the largest electric bilge pumps is more practical, install one normally and keep one on a length of layflat hose and a fly lead for emergency use. Whatever means you choose, it's pointless if you never practice using it; I waggle the bilge pump to confirm the valves still audibly flap and that the handle is where it is supposed to be.

 

[Stemar]

they don't have sealed fuel caps so they smell and the fuel goes off unless you store them drained.

You could get round that by putting a bit of polythene film over the filler then put the lid on. Just make it a big, brightly coloured bit so you don't forget to take it off when you need it in a hurry.

 

[NormanS]

I can just imagine storing it dry, so that the petrol doesn't go "off". So in the event of a fire aboard, the first job is to pour petrol into the tank. I don't think so. ?

 

[Boathook]

I remember watching a programme (might have been on the RNLI saving lives) and the emergency services struggling to start a water pump that was regularly serviced and tested. I can just imagine the issues with one stored on a boat and hardly used.

 

[Thistle]

I think if there's a fire on board a smallish yacht that I can't immediately put out with readily available powder extinguishers or fire blankets, the best use of my time will be to launch the dinghy / life-raft and issue a Mayday. Whether I abandon into the dinghy / life-raft before or after the Mayday will depend on circumstances. I think trying to deploy and start a pump would come low in my list of priorities in that situation. (I appreciate that priorities may be different of larger vessels.)

 

[Bilgediver]

Just hope it starts when you need it most

Starting is not the biggest problem. Wrong pump then can be difficult to prime when pump is 2 metres above the water.

 

[penberth3]

Starting is not the biggest problem. Wrong pump then can be difficult to prime when pump is 2 metres above the water.

Absolutely this!!! These pumps are not self-priming and they are NEVER supplied with a valve on the end of the suction hose. Without that, priming will be very difficult or impossible.

 

[Slowboat35]

2" Petrol Water Pump - 5.5HP 4 Stroke Engine | ParkerBrand

Mother of all bilge pumps.
Mother of all fire extinguishers.

Mother of all bilge pumps indeed! Had a good laugh at that!
Pussy of a bilge pump!

This is more like it....and still 'portable'.
It'd run one heck of a deck shower too.

The water injection on the exhaust is to cool and protect the sometimes considerable length of trunking needed to take the exhaust overboard when used below decks in a warship.
They required serious muscle to start and were stupendously - and I mean stupendously - mind-numbingly noisy.

 

[Daydream believer]

From having experienced a fire on board somewhere in the N sea 45 years ago on a wooden boat & having only put out the flames (petrol) on the last burst of the second (last) brand new chubb powder extinguisher; I think my next reaction would be to RLF. The crew almost had the Avon inflated & it was just about ready to launch. We used to keep it partially inflated over the hatch area
The bilges had quite a few gallons of water & the petrol just floated on top, throughout the length of the boat. Pumping it out would have made little difference, as the burning fuel would have just stuck to the sides of the bilges & framing as the water level dropped

 

[NormanS]

I think my deck-wash pump, available at the click of a switch, might be more useful. I have no intention of putting it to the test.

 

[Slowboat35]

There is a fundamental problem with putting out boat fires once they've become established.
Boats by nature comprise of various compartments designed to keep out water by all means bar flooding.
On smaller boats (as opposed to ships) compartments are usually only acessible sequentially, ie you have to pass through one to reach another.
So on a smaller boat once the fire is in two compartments you can probably only deal - up to a point - with the first one which allows the second to spread unmolested. In any case spraying water through a companionway into a cabin is unlikely to do much to hinder an established fire there as the water is so restricted in where it can be directed.
At this stage no amount of water put into the saloon will have any effect whatsover on the fire deeper inside - say in the canbins or companionways beyond.
The cause is lost.
There are only two ways to stop a fire in such a case, by sinking the boat or smothering it with a proper retardant ie BCF in quantity but as we are banned from using the only fire retardant that really works once a fire gets into two compartments in your yacht it's time to abandon ship.
In a small boat, once fire is established or widespread (ie fuel spreading) BCF is pretty much the only game-changer. The others simply don't hack it.
Nice of the gumment to ban it...

 

[Kelpie]

Absolutely this!!! These pumps are not self-priming and they are NEVER supplied with a valve on the end of the suction hose. Without that, priming will be very difficult or impossible.

We used to use the 3" Honda pumps at work. They were the least reliable piece of equipment ever. And even if you could get it started the priming was always a pain.
I wouldn't want to rely on one for an emergency, especially if it's been stored for a while in a damp locker.

 

[Mudisox]

I remember having two of the Rover gas turbine pumps as our "fire brigade" on Jethou back in the 90s. We ran them up every month, but were an absolute s*d to get going even with two of us as per the video. My wife and I were unable, it needing two strong men. So we just prayed no fires at night, when left alone!
We did have fewer holes in the delivery pipes however.

 

[William_H]

We have a Honda portable 3inch pump at our club for boats sinking at the jetty moorings. (perhaps also for fire) I tried to use it once not easy not very successful. Hard to start due to old fuel. Hard to prime then once it is pumping pumps so much that it is difficult to keep the pick up hose under the water level in compartments. (30ft boat). I guess for boat fire in the marina lots of water might sink the boat putting out the fire.
Club bought a 240cvAC submersible pump. Much more usable though less actual pumping capacity. Whole pumps sinks to bottom of water so self priming and much lighter to carry, only drawback being the long electrical cord.
Re utube Rover gas turbine, I am amazed. A gas turbine must be cranked up to something like 30% of max RPM before you dare feed fuel and ignition into combustion chamber. It will take that speed of cranking to achieve an acceleration to operating speed. If you don't crank fast enough and feed fuel and ignition in you can get a hang start where the turbine limps along at low speed melting the turbine due to too much fire and insufficient cooling air. A petrol or even diesel engine would be quicker to start and more reliable. ol'will waffling as usual

 

[jwfrary]

There are hydraulic driven varirants around, some self priming some not. The petrol pumps are a huge pain as others point out.

A lot of the PRM boxes have PTO capability as do some generators like Northern lights or beta marine. To have enough room your talking about a pretty big boat!

Electric pumps especially the 240v type availible from screwfix and the like can shift pretty significant amounts of water!