Dry Bilge

[SV Alfresco]

My primary bilge pump is a Rule with a 1-1/8 hose. The hose goes to the port side deck scupper drain and connects with a T-fitting about a foot below the deck. That's about 4-5' of head. I find that with a small amount of water in the bilge, the water seems not to be completely pumped out and drains back into the bilge. This causes the pump to run longer on each cycle as it always detects some water which can never be drained.  I manually pumped the bilge dry with a Jabsco oil drain pump and now the bilge pump is quieter and doesn't cycle as long. Got about a gallon and a half out of the bottom of the bilge, so I want to check the position of the pump in the bilge also. It seems a small low-volume pump would be a great was to go. Saw a system for this at the Newport Boat Show but it was pricey, $1400. I saw some other systems like this that weren't as sophisticated at a fraction of this price.  I would like to put is a system that has multiple pickups so I can get the shower sump completely dry also. Has anyone installed one of these systems or successfully dealt with this problem?


Mike
S/V Alfresco

[S/V Laelia]

I have a similar setup but the Rule pump sits right on the bottom. I use the manual override to pump the water down below the level the float switch deals with. I usually have about 1" of water - no big deal. Periodically I dump a cup of bilge cleaner into the bilge along with a gallon of water before I go sailing. The boat motion does a pretty good job of cleaning up for me and I run the bilge pump when I get back to the dock.

I do plan to put in a second, larger pump about a foot above the little pump - and a loud alarm that goes off when it starts to pump. If the water gets that high, I want to know about it ASAP.

[SV Alfresco]

I saw a couple of devices at the Newport Boat Show that integrated an alarm with a wireless device that will send a text message to your phone or an email. It also sends a message once a day to let you know that it's working.

Mike

[SVJourney]

I also plan to install a small 500gph at the bottom and a 3600gph a foot higher with an alarm.  Being short handed, I want every fighting chance I can get if something fails.  Now if I could just make it back to the States in one piece, I can knock off all those "plan to do" items.  You would NOT believe what everything nautical costs down here in St Lucia

In the mean time, just doing the items I can do with sweat and blood and local hardware parts.

But hey, if I ever get a phone again, the text message bilge pump sounds great!  I wonder if you can program the messages too?   

Wayne
Currently in Rodney Bay St Lucia