Bilge Pumps

I seem scrap a lot of Bilge pumps both Auto and Manual, mostly made by Rule. does any body have any view on good or bad makes of pumps.

We do clean the filters and stuff, I am trying a new make called Pirranna at themoment which seem quite well made.

Does anybody know of a a good float switch.

We have Rule pumps fitted to most of our boats.

Reliable , efficient, easy to maintain and clean.

Reasonably priced.

Not something we shout about in the pub but now that I think about it ... Yes we like them !!

Best wishes,

Stuart

What type of float switch are you after? how are you mounting it? Rule do their own ,about £15 I think or you could go for an industrial one ,horizontally or vertically mounted, which would last indefinately. Then there is the type that is tethered to the pump by its cable. I'm not sure if I have ever used one small enough for a RIB though.
regards
Jizm


Horizontal type:

Or vertical type:

Or free floating type: (quite large though).

Where can I get these from?

Which type are you after? I may have the horizontal type in stock. RS components in Hedge End supply all three.

Dear bilge pump sperts

After the float has dropped to a level where is cuts the pump out should the contents of the pipe which hasn’t been expelled out of the boat return into the bilge or should there be a non-return valve in the pump to stop this happening.

After shutting off I have noticed that my Johnson pump returns the water back into the bilge. The amount of water is not enough to kick the pump in, but this gets on my nerves, as I really want the engine bay to be dry.

As to why the water is in there in the first place is still under investigation.

Cheers

Mark

Mark
I had this problem with my Avon.
You do need a non-return valve, positioned next to the pump itself, on the "out" pipe.
That fixed it.

Water also ALWAYS used to enter between the two hulls, despite initially there being "absolutely no way it could get in". But it did. Loads of it. And of course the only way to drain it was to lift the boat out of the water, tip it up, and take out the 4 inch long, high quality, hugely expensive, brass ("this will definatley not leak water into your boat, sir") bung.
So eventually I had one pump on a float switch operating in the inter-hull gap and another sitting at the lowest point in the outboard engine well at the stern. Both pumps wired to be permanently live.
Worked beautifully that. Until one day some seaweed got caught in the float switch, jamming it permanently open and burned the pump out before draining the battery.
Ho Hum.

I dont like the idea of pumps as they are permanetly connected to the battery,you might think just because the pump is off this dosent matter much, however before we fitted battery switches to the boat we had serious electrolisis taking place at the anodes .Bear in mind this is with everything off, there are often times when fumbiling around in the console with wet hands especially if you have cuts you can touch off things and due to moisture etc etc get shocked from the 12 volt system, its not a shock but a tingle.But more importantly it shows that with stuff switched off you can, in damp conditions get stray current flow or Leakage.This leakage is deadly when it comes to electrolisis as it excells it.Pumps which often submerge in water and have water flowing tro their casings are bound to suffer from electricial leakage, especially pumps as they are often in damp bilges or partially covered in water until the float mechasim switches.I feel that fitting pumps permanetly wired to your rib is dangerous as it is an electricial load which may stick on, or worse, potentially leaks electrically and apart from running a battery down in a fault situation, is in damp conditions potentially leaking current is causing increased electrolisis .My work takes me to domestic houses ,schools, offices etc and you would not believe the amount of leaks from equipment leaking current considered normal in bone dry conditions.I am talking miliamps here but thats all that is needed to electroplate for instance never mind electrical corrision which is a huge problem on boats.i would steer clear of auto wired pumps

Try a simple check valve from B&Q for a cheap option. All brass construction, easy to fit to 1/2" hose, simple flap inside which opens or closes according to water pressure. The uppermost one in the picture is also easily servicable.
regards
Jizm

Originally posted by Brian
Worked beautifully that. Until one day some seaweed got caught in the float switch, jamming it permanently open and burned the pump out before draining the battery.
Ho Hum. Yup, we're talking about boats.

Now, I've only had my RIB for, oooh about three days now, :rolleyes: but I've looked after a hard boat for a few years and come to the conclusion that sod's law, or Murphy's law, always applies to boats.

I reckon that local conditions apply to these sort of things, so if your area is prone to weed, then contamination is your enemy. But I also have resigned myself to the fact that batteries WILL run flat, and electric motors WILL burn out...

Anyway, the hard boat never sank, so now that I've got a RIB to look after, is should be easier shouldn't it? with those tubes either side... (yeah, something's bound to go wrong!)

Gavin
Appreciate your professional expertise and would not challenge it in any way.

Let me ask the question and tell me what you would do.

Problem: Boat permanently on marina mooring. Rain falls on boat (marina sometimes seriously stormy as well in winter) and whichever way you cover it, water will get in to both the deck area and into the inner hull. You are away for several weeks at a time. How do you stop boat filling up with water and maybe flooding badly?

I thought I had the answer and until you pointed out the seriousness of my solution, I was prepared to accept what I thought was a minimal risk. Was I wrong to make so light of it?

Morning Richard

Are my eyes deceiving me or have you bought Alans old Scorpion. If you have congratulations. Where are you keeping her then. ??? You should bring her to Deauville on 18th July with us all.

Julian

Julian
Are you trying to tell Richard something about Blue Ices bilge pumps here? Something he doesn't know perhaps?

Blue Ice's bilge pump works perfectly I'll have you know!
Or at least it did last weekend;)

Yes - bilge pump was still working on Sunday evening (I did a quick test with a bucket full of water into the well!) :)

Juian - yes, completed the deal with Alan at the weekend. Picture posted in the gallery section.

Originally posted by Jizm
Try a simple check valve from B&Q for a cheap option. All brass construction, easy to fit to 1/2" hose, simple flap inside which opens or closes according to water pressure. The uppermost one in the picture is also easily servicable.
regards
Jizm

Whilst your there you could also pick up a consumer unit and fit a ring main to your rib. Alternatively, you could pop into Aquafax in the hamble, and purchase a Non return valve, designed for the purpose.

Part no 9-42149

Cheers Diggers

I wasn't sure if the pump was at fault or whether this was a common issue. I’ll give Aquafax a call and get some valves.

The consumer unit was a bugger to fit but with the RCD on all sockets I feel much safer. My next DIY plan is to fit guttering around the tubes to improve the dryness of the boat.:p

Thanks again

Mark

Reccomend one of these for a cabin, comes with toughened perspex windows and everthing!!!
I think this thread is de-generating!!!

Jizm

Now I've never seen the boat but I'm afraid its already been done !

Regards

Mark ( man with non-return valves on order )

There is an old fishing boat near my dad's place on a trailer that has an old potting shed for the cabin, (guttering and shelving still in place!). The guy has even cut a large hole in the front for a 'windscreen'! Apparently he uses it a couple of times a year with a few mates. Will attempt to get a pic next time I am at the old man's.

Originally posted by MarkWildey
Cheers Diggers

I. My next DIY plan is to fit guttering around the tubes to improve the dryness of the boat.:p

Thanks again

Mark

would that make it a Trimaran.

Thanks guys by the way for the input, it's good stuff and I feel a round of implementation coming up.

Hi Guy's & Girl's

Stuart, I tried to ring you the other night to discuss in person, I want to fit an automatic bilge pump but cannot decided what size of pump would suit 6m rib. Or wheather manual bump would be better?

Bearing in mind what was said about live electrics and water. Is it a DIY job or one for the experts.

JIZM do fit out aswell as supply? I am in pompey.

Any advice is as always gratefully recieved.

Regards

AY

What is the intended location of the bilge pump, engine bay, well in transom or somewhere else.

If in an engine bay insure that any electrical connections are as high as possible and waterproof as possible.

Also something that boat manufactures don't think about is maintenance. Locate the pump in the best position for its purpose but also insure you can get to it to clean it out.

Get the biggest pump you need or can afford.

Cheers

Mark

I have a pair of 500 Rule fully auto pumps and they work great, with two if one fails you still have the other but so far nither has failed.

John

Hi Mark,

At the stern on my boat there is an inspection hatch going down into the hull, access is to F/F Transducer. This is also the location of my drain plug in the transom.

I assume this is the best location for a pump as it always drains a little water when I undo the plug after a run. Volume of water depends on how rough it has been.

I also have an Elephants trunk to drain the deck area, Should I need to.

On a recent day out covered about 80Nm. On the way home Boat on the plane smooth seas boat started to Chine walk(wobling side to side) for no apparent reason. As soon as I throtled off everything ok.

Fuel was low nearly empty. Once back on the slip undid the drain plug and a couple of gallons empitied onto the slip.

This is deffinately more than normal. Any views/thoughts?

I assume water sloshing around in the bottom of a boat will affect handling? I know I have not hit anything to cause damage.

Scubakid, I have looked at the Rule pump with Auto Float switch, pumps 500Gals/Hr not bad price wise. Wavehumper has had reliability problems with these units! Anyone else experienced this?

Do you know if need to consider Head hight to lift water from bilge to over the top of Transom?

Cheers

Ageing Youth

I would first invest some time and money looking at why you have water in the hull. If the drain plug or inspection hatch is faulty have them fixed as it will only get worse and potentially cause a major problem in the future.

Open the drain plug and fill your boat, upto the inspection hatch, with water and see if any comes out of the drain. If so then the hatch is at fault

I have two Rule-Mate 500 pumps on my boat and they appear to be fine. I clean them on a regular basis and they are also cable-tied down to stop them jumping out.

Regards

Mark

Another place that (rain) water can get into the hull is anywhere you have something screwed into the floor, console,Fuel tank retaining straps. If the sealing around the screws has broken down you would be amazed how much water can ingress.

And yes it will seriously affect the handling!

Another place is if you have an anchor locker that drains into the hull then obviously, the more time you put wet rope into the locker , the more water gets into the hull.

We always have good quality stainless steel bungs fitted to our boats. Our boats are generally lifted and drained each evening. I would not be surprised that even with good bungs that a boat left afloat for weeks at a time would take some water into the hull !

Hope this is of help!

Best wishes,

Stuart
www.powerboat.org

Brian I agree it is a problem and when you are not about especially, I had an avon before and it would fill quite easy I would try an visit the Marina often to bail it, we now have same problem on the Hysucat , but as it is a cat two hulls can fill with rain water and the boat also, we hand pump this once a week at worse , if you are going to connect a pump all the time all you can do is ensure you have anodes in contact with the water all the time and they are in good condition , hopefully they will go first.

Hi

The Rule 500 pumps I have are the electronic ones they do not have a float switch but detect the strain on the pump so when it is working and pumping water they stay on when the load is gone they stop they then spin up every so often to see if there is any water to get out.

Hope this helps

John