Bilge pump survey

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Mack
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Bilge pump survey

Post by Mack »

Just curious as to what brand of bilge pumps everyone is using out there. I have owned my boat for a little more than 3 years and have replaced both my bilge pumps with exactly what came with the boat - 2 Lovett 1200's. I have had some problems with the forward pump recently and have considered replacing it with an older pump that I rebuilt during the last round of replacements.

I am inclined to ditch the Lovett all together due to the belt drive system that they use. That being said, what have people had the best luck with?

Thanks in advance for your $0.02.

Mack
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Bruce
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Post by Bruce »

Rules are the norm.

Lovetts are horrible. The older ones had an outlet size of 3/4 or 5/8 and if you replace with the rule 2500 which is 1-1/8 you'll have to up grade the whole hose and outlet fitting.


Standard rule with a super switch works well. Replace every 5 years. Its cheap insurance,
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John F.
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Post by John F. »

Crae-

I've had Rules in I think every boat I've owned, including the B31. I've replaced the auto. switches, but have never had a pump break. How did your lower Bay rock trip go?

John F.
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Brewster Minton
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Post by Brewster Minton »

Rule pumps and Mayfair switchs thats the way to do it.
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Capt.Frank
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Bilge Pumps

Post by Capt.Frank »

John,
I also have used Rule on very boat I ever had no problems with the pumps, Just some wiring and switches gone bad.
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Mack
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Post by Mack »

Thanks guys. That is exactly the info I was looking for. As Bruce said, cheap insurance. Lovett is coming out - bad design with a belt drive in my opinion.

John F. - We tooke the boat down to Tilghman Island last weekend. We went down on Friday night in the wind and the rain and got to Knapp's Narrows right at dark. Althought we did not have much further to go to get to Harrison's dock for the night, it was a challenge given the conditions (thank you Furuno chart plotter for keeping me in the channels!).

We fished the Choptank for a few hours on Saturday chasing birds/jigging and did a little bit of trolling. We tried to make it out to False Channel and SI light, however the conditions went downhill has the day went on (gusts hit 40+ shortly after we tied up at the dock). We caught losts of throwbacks but had a good time on the water without kids. The wife stocked the boat before the trip so we ate well while we were out.

Sunday was not much better, but at least the sun was out. The ride home was rough, however we stayed warm and dry at the lower station!

Hope to get out to fish a few more times before I run over to the shore for haulout next month.
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Doug Crowther
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Post by Doug Crowther »

Mack,
I have three of the big rules. If you want a fishing partner one of these evenings give me a call 410-353-8240. The run out the river eats up too much time to get much fishing done for me.
Doug
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scot
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Post by scot »

3....I thought I was the only guy that needed 3 Rule pumps. Are we cautious, paranoid, smart or nervous boaters?

I think anyone that has watched a shark pass under their boat and stick out on both sides wants 3, 4 or 5 pumps.

shark wuss,
Scot
Scot
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thereheis
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bildge pump

Post by thereheis »

i was on a 65 viking this year and noticed that on the pumps that they had drilled a very very small hole on the bottom of discharge side of the pump outletclose to the pump,i asked why and the captian said that it was to break the air lock,,,,,is there any truth to this type of deal ??

phil
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Post by CaptPatrick »

Phil,

Never heard of that mod before... If the pumps were Rules, there's no need or advantage. The Rule is a centrifigul pump that is vertually open and self draining when not running.

The only problem I ever had with larger boats & Rules stemmed from the length of the discharge hose. Lengths can easily be in the 10' range & once the pump finished the water left in the hose would back flush and some times cause the pump to re-cycle. The correction for that problem was to install a flapper style check valve a foot or so above the pump.

Air locks are more common to the pickup side of vane or impeller pumps.

Br,

Patrick
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Brewster Minton
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Post by Brewster Minton »

I have two 2000 rules in the forward compartment and a 3700 extra pump. in the aft two 2000 rules both compartments have high water alarms And both compartments have crash pumps that are hooked up to the engines with hoses with screens on them. I hit a wale shark and drove my strb strut through the bottom of the boat and the pumps kept me floating. I did not use the crash pumps that time. I keep two pumps in both compartments incase one goes out in the trench in 5' waves in the dark in late november in the 100 square. Too much invested to run less pumps. My mayfair switches have never failed. The rule switches fail and have done so many times.Just my 3 cents.
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bildge pump

Post by thereheis »

when iwas taking all the thru hull fittins out i notice that all the pump thru hulls were for 3/4" hose and they had a adapter on the pump from 1 1/2" to 3/4" do i need to disguard the 3/4" and put 1 1/2"

phil
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Post by CaptPatrick »

Phil,

If your thru hull fitting is less than the size of the pump discharge then you won't be pumping to the full capacity...

Br,

Patrick
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Post by Al C »

My boat came with three Rule 2000 12volt pumps and a Rule pump that runs on shore current. The one that runs on shore current sits lowest in the boat so my batteries are not needed unless there is a real problem while at the dock.
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Kevin
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Post by Kevin »

How about that last two or three gallons in the bilge Any come up with a way to get a pick up low enough to get all the water out? I partitioned mine in front of the engines. The only water coming in is from the rain on the decks. The font stays half stays dry. When I figure out how keep the whole thing dry I will be sure to let you guys know! Going back down to the boat to continue with the wiring for now Kevin
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Post by scot »

Additional Note:

The height of the discharge outlet (or head the pump has to overcome) has a huge impact on the pumps capacity. If you look at the curves provided by Rule you'll find the GPM's drop off dramatically with an increase in head.... 1 or 2 feet makes a big difference. I try to keep my thru hull pump out exits as low as I can and still keep water from coming back in.

Scot
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Kevin
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Post by Kevin »

I know exactly what you are saying, but I will refarain from making any other commnets on that last post! Kevin
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Skipper Dick
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Post by Skipper Dick »

Kevin,

On my 83 B28, all the hatches sit in a gutter and each one has a drain hole. I took short pieces of copper tubing and flared one end and calked them in the holes then attached clear tubing to the other ends and channeled all the water into a a shower sump back by the port rudder shelf. My description sort of oversimplifies what I did, but the results are that it keeps about 99% of the water out of the bilge and it wasn't a major project.

Dick
1983 Bertram 28 FBC w/300 Merc Horizon
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Kevin
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Post by Kevin »

Skipper Dick,
I too have the copper flares for some of the drains Thought about doing what you did, but into small bucket with one of those auto rule bilge pumps Guess that would be the poor mans sump! That is sounding like the most effective way to keep out the water short of 5200 on all the hatches
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Skipper Dick
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Post by Skipper Dick »

Kevin,

I ran one line down the starboard side that included the engine hatch and the two deck hatches on the starboard side. Then I crossed it over to the port side picking up the center hatch on the stern. I ran another line from the port engine hatch that included the hatch between the engines and the two starboard hatches and tied it in with the other route at the shower sump. The shower sump was an old one that I had replaced a while back and it was a rule with a check valve and switch. I ran the outlet of the sump out with the line from the rear bilge and out the same thru hull using a T and also installing a check valve so the sump would not be pumping into the bilge through the bilge pump. I ran the lines with a gradual down hill run and tucked them out of the way so they won't interfere with getting into any one of the hatches. The center drain from the step down going into the salon was run out the port side and tied into the center bilge run and I installed a check valve there also. I can swab the deck and use all the water I want and will only get maybe a cup of water in the bilge due to overglowing the gutters. If done right, it looks clean and neat and works very well. I already had a switch panel on the port deck with an unused circuit, so it didn't take running a special dc power source to it. It may have cost me $60 for the hoses, T's, elbows and check valves. If I had to buy the sump that would have been another $80 or so depencing on where you got it. I started at the engine hatches with 3/4 inch id hose and the smaller hatches took 5/8.

I used to keep a wet/dry vacuum on standby everytime it rained so I could run down and suck all the water out. Now that is history. This was an afternoon project.

Dick
1983 Bertram 28 FBC w/300 Merc Horizon
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Kevin
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Post by Kevin »

You have me sold I can be very picky about some things Water in the bilge is one of them I have been using a hand pump to get the last of it out, but it has rained every day here Trying to get wiring done with master switches and all that stuff and seeing that 3 gallons of water gets under my skin I must be smarter thatn the water! Guess it is time for a new keyboard too Period is not working Kevin
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Post by Rawleigh »

I was able to carefully port all of mine together and dump them through a thru hull in the transom.
Rawleigh
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Kevin
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Post by Kevin »

You mean just letting gravity do the work simmilar set up, just with a thru hull instead of sump?
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Post by Dave Kosh R.I.P. »

I have 3 big Rules, 3 super switches, one Rule High Water alarm with the float sensor mounted with epoxy on top of one of the stern bilge pumps. Works great , replace every 5 years like Bruce says. 1 1/8" discharge hose (thick sani type) and 1 1/8" Thru hull mounted high at stern rear sides P & S so you can here and see them running from the bridge. Dave K
Keep Fishing...
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Bruce
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Post by Bruce »

You can never pump all the water out 100%. The closest you can come is using a bronze pickup foot and a positive priming pump such as a shurflo.

You need to allow some standing water to keep the fiberglass from drying out.
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Rawleigh
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Post by Rawleigh »

Kevin: Gravity doesn't break or run the batteries down!! I have two Rule 2000's - one front and one rear, and a Rule 3700 up front with the switch set higher that the switch for the 2000.

I don't know of any way to automatically dry out the bilge. You can use a small shopvac to dry it out when you leave the boat. Also change to dripless stuffing boxes. i keep my boat in a boathouse, and in the Spring the bilge is so dry that I can brush and vacuum the dirt out of it!
Rawleigh
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Capt. Mike Holmes
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Thru-hulls

Post by Capt. Mike Holmes »

A thought on thru-hulls. I was advised by an old timer in the boat business long ago to always have the thru-hull of any discharge as high above the waterline as feasible, to avoid the problem of the boat sinking accidently. I have since caught several boats going down because the builder (See Ray was one) put the AC water discharge in the bootstripe to be more aesthetically pleasing. On one, someone had disconnected the hose from the unit, failed to plug it, and when the boat settled a bit due to a dripping packing gland and was healed over a bit by an onside wind, water pretty much poured in through the opening. Not that many bilge pump systems have check valves installed, and they can fail at a critical time.
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scot
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Post by scot »

Mike,

Obviously SeaRay screwed up that installation. No boat should ever sink because a hose is left off a fitting. But I'm not sure you would need to go a high as feasible? Granted this methodology does provides insurance if the installation is not properly evaluated.

On the thru hull height placement I take a couple of things into consideration;

1) If the discharge fitting is located aft of the boats CB (as most are) then the fitting only need be higher than the deck drains / cockpit scuppers. Once water starts in the scuppers all bets are off and she's going down fast unless the pumps can stay ahead of the incoming water, or the deck is completely, 100% sealed.

2) Ensure that the water level cannot get to the fitting "unless" the boat is already sinking.

3) I measure from the scupper level and go up around 6"-8", any higher is just taking away from the pumps ability to move water.

4) It is critical to know exactly "where" in the hull the water is going to settle and put the pumps there. Doesn't matter how many pumps you have if they are not in the lowest portion of the hull.

The RULE 1500 drops of as follows;

0 head=1500gph
2' head=1300gph
4' head=1100gph

If you had 2 pumps on board the difference between a 2' head and a 4' head is 400gph, that's a considerable amount of water not exiting the boat.

I guess fitting placement comes down to what version of "worst case" makes you comfortable.

Scot
Scot
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Post by IRGuy »

I have in my B33 3 Rule 2000 pumps with external “Rule-A-Matic” float switches (each in a protecting box).. one fwd below the floor next to the head door, one between the engines, and one below the genny at the transom.. also have two high water alarms, one midship and one aft.. both next to, and above, the bilge pumps. One alarms on the flybridge, the other in the cabin. I am going to replace the wimpy Rule alarm buzzers and install high volume electronic alarms from Radio Shack.. I tested one in my shop, and you can hardly stand to be in the same room as them when they are screaming. Cost is less than $20 each. People outside the boat can hear them going off.. hopefully if at my slip a neighbor might respond if they went off. Power comes straight from busses connected to separate batteries.. no breakers in the line, only a fuse for each. There is no way for anyone to accidentally turn off power except at the main bilge pump switch panel I made, and I will make a bar to drop in place so a visitor or kid can’t shut off the power without my knowledge.

I saw another setup recently I like and will install over the winter.. next to the large bilge pump between the engines (where the bilge seems to be the deepest, and some water always is present under the pump) a small self contained pump was installed as low as possible in the bilge. This removes that nagging few gallons of water the larger pump can't. A major leak will overwhelm this pump, but that is why the larger pump is there next to and slightly above it.

I will never install a check valve in a bilge pump discharge line.. and I am changing my discharge lines and their through hull fittings so all have an internal diameter as large as the pump's discharge. And all hose has smooth walls, not the corrugated flex stuff. Centrifugal pumps are very sensitive to backpressure.. the less backpressure the more water the pump moves. Check valves are in themselves restrictions, and can hang up and restrict flow severely. Corrugated hose creates some amount of backpressure, so smooth wall is best.

Even a relatively small leak can let into a boat a huge amount of water.. Pascoe says that a 1½” dia hole (as in losing a prop shaft) can let in 50 gallons a minute, a Rule 2000 pump is supposed to move 2000 gallons an HOUR if there are no flow restrictions in the discharge line and there is zero head, This is 33.3 gallons per minute under ideal test circumstances, but in a boat nothing is “ideal”. I feel it is best to assume that these pumps can probably move about 50-60% of their rated flow when installed in the average boat (assuming the installer didn’t do something stupid), so you need at three Rule 2000 pumps to deal with such a leak. And this presupposes that all these pumps see the leak and can respond as one large pump.. but practicality says that most likely the pumps farthest away from the leak might not be much help because by the time they get flooded the other end of the boat has so much water in it that it might be too late to do any good as far as saving the boat is concerned.

I don’t yet have “crash pumps”.. but am considering them.. I would appreciate suggestions as I have considered several setups but each seems to have too many negatives.
Frank B
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Trump lied! Washington DC isn't a swamp.. it is a cesspool!
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John Brownlee
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Post by John Brownlee »

I use the UltraSwitch on my three 2000 gph Rule pumps. The "Sr." model has an internal alarm mechanism that turns all of your bilge pumps into high water alarms, and these things are bullet proof, the best I've seen anyway.

http://wolfwire.com/tefgel/frameset.htm
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scot
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Post by scot »

Here's a cheap crash pump.

I use a raw plumbing set up for my "crash" pump.

In line above the seacock/valve I install an 1 1/2" brass "TEE" fitting. In the TEE I install a 1 1/2" female cam lock fitting. Under normal operating conditions I keep a male plug locked into the cam lock. I have another male cam lock that attaches to the garden hose to run the boat at home for flushing, etc.

Here's the crash pump...In the boat I keep a 3ft long section of 1 1/2" hose with male 1 1/2" cam lock fitting. In the event of a massive leak I can;

1) Close the seacock.
2) Pop the 3ft section of hose into the TEE via the cam lock.
3) Use the raw water pump on the engine to pump out the water.

Those pumps can move anywhere from 40-60 gallons per MINUTE....as long as the engine is running. With this set up the only place the engine can draw raw water is via the hose, i.e the water flooding into the boat.

This takes care of the problem with running the batteries down if you are offshore with a huge leak. The seacock can be "throttled" a bit if the water coming into the boat doesn't keep up with the raw water pump.

I have never had to use this but it provides some comfort knowing that you could push 50 GPM out of your boat for as long as your engine's fuel supply lasted.

Cost is under $100 bucks.

Scot
Scot
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Bilge pumps

Post by JGomber »

Scott,
The simpler the better but don't you need some kind of strainer or filter on the hose to keep "stuff" from being sucked into the engine water pump? Hate to admit it but there are a few lost screws and nuts in my bilges that I just cannot find. No idea what is in there that I don't know about even though I frequently flush and clean from the bow to the garboard plug in the transom.
Jerry, Triton II
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Post by Mikey »

Kevin, in the immortal words of Bugs Bunny, "never try to outrun something you can outsmart." Not sure humans have figured out how to outrun water 100%
Rule's the Rule. Been using them as far back as my ancient brain will allow. Never a failure. Putting in three Rules in the renovation. One at the stern in the lowest position, one three inches above that with a horn, one in the cabin which is cordonned off from the stern.
Also doing what Rawleigh said about routing all deck drains together and allowing gravity to do the work. Must be something in the waters here in Lancaster county VA, heh, Rawleigh? Even for a comehere.
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scot
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Post by scot »

On my current boat the TEE is located on the intake side of a Groco strainer, so the strainer basket would catch the crap before it hit the impeller. The raw water system functions the same in either mode, only the source of the water changes.
Scot
1969 Bertram 25 "Roly Poly"
she'll float one of these days.. no really it will :-0
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Post by Bob S »

I also have Rule pumps. I had a Lovett but it stoped working due to the belt slipping and replaced with Rule. I have also added asecond engine room pump to get that last drop. It is a Whale Gusher (220 I think). I have it mounted on the bulkhead with a separte float switch (a litlle lower than the rule so it comes on first). It has a hose with a flat bronze stainer that sits in the bilge and it is a diaphraghm pump so it can run dry and still work. In the cockpit I have a three way auto/man/off switch and when I am done with washdown I switch to man and the bilge is completely dry in about a minute.
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Post by Chiles »

I have two big Rules in the stern and a high water alarm mounted in mid ship on the top of the lowest stringer (B26). The primary is also conected to the house batteries (dual group 27's) with it's own fuse so the dash switch stays powered, even if the main switches are cut off.

I also have an LED light wired to the primary pump (the lower of the two by about an inch) so I can tell by watching the helm when it cuts on and off. It's a nice warm a fuzzy feeling when coming up on plane and watching the lights come on and then looking at the stern to see the stream run out.

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Rawleigh
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Post by Rawleigh »

I also have a similar setup to what Scot has. I use a Groco ball valve Safety seacock with the port built in. It is also downstream of the strainer. It is one of the best built pieces of boating equipment I have seen!! It even makes Apollo call valves seem cheesy!!! Smooth and easy to operate! I am also going to add a high water alarm switch with a relay so that my horns blow when the water gets too high!! Prompt attention before the battery drains will be better that it slowly going down without being heard!! My drain out the transom for my hatch drains is 3/4" and is above the bootstripe. Any punp should easly handle any water that could get in there, even with the hose off!
I'm glad to see that you are only copying my good habits Mikey!!
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Post by IRGuy »

Scot...
Thanks for the info! I like the idea of having something multipurpose.. and the camlock idea is great!

I am not sure if I have room to slip a tee between my seacock and strainer, but I will check it out.. using the raw water strainer instead of a seperate one makes sense if I can do it, and I like the idea of being able to mix raw water and bilge water if necessary to keep the engine temp under control.
Frank B
1983 Bertram 33 FBC "Phoenix"
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Trump lied! Washington DC isn't a swamp.. it is a cesspool!
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Capt. Mike Holmes
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Bilge pumps

Post by Capt. Mike Holmes »

At least on my boat, the lowest point at rest is under the cabin sole. All water from rain leakage and washdown collects there and trips the float switch on that pump before the back pump ever turns on. When running, the aft pumps would get all the load, but more boats sink at the dock than when moving, so I considered "crash" pumps, but didn't do it. I do have a big stainless steel 120v pump with float switch, with a 1 1'4" discharge in addition to the two Rule 2000's. At the dock, or running with the genset on, this is my emergency pump.

John, thanks for the heads up on the Ultra switch, looks great.
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thereheis
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bildge pump

Post by thereheis »

so whe n you mount your pumps as low as possible you don't use those glassed in pads at all ?just screw the base in the very bottom of the hull ??to keep water from running in to the cabin from the engine comp.did you glass in the drain in the forward bulkhead ? also
the drains on the forward bulkhead on the inboard stringers under the engines do i need to glass the in ? to keep any bildge water from entering the cabin are bildge ?
thanks phil
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Capt. Mike Holmes
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Bilges

Post by Capt. Mike Holmes »

Bilges are there for a reason, and I can testify that a 31 Bertram will hold one hell of a lot of water and keep going offshore! If that water could not get under the cabin sole, it would concentrate under the engines and cause a bigger problem than when spread out, seems to me.

Also, besides what Bruce said about needing water in there to keep the glass from drying out, it also helps in the casual boating approach to cleaning the bilges, just squirt some soap in occasionally, let it slosh around and get taken care of by the bilge pumps - keeps the boat clean to have a little leak.
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Post by JP Dalik »

With the rule units they have a removable base. You can glue or epoxy the base let it dry and then attach the pumb via the plastic tabs. I would not screw anything to the bottom of the boat. Remember we try to make as few holes in the bottom as possible.(this keeps these things floatin)

This allows the pump to be as low as possible in the boat. You can either attach the auto float to the base with the rule plastic adapter or epoxy that in as well.

We only have the plywood in the stern, this way the pump is in clean water out of any debris that may find its was to the transom while running.
At rest all the water lays under the engines. We have the cabin section partioned off with another 1800 up forward.
KR


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Rawleigh
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Post by Rawleigh »

I've thought about closing off my cabin bilge, but I agree with Mike about the water concentration. If anything happened to the bilge pump between the engines, or if you take a lot of water over the transom, it will tend to lower the stern instead of running amidship. That can lower the scuppers to the point that they are vulnerable to taking on even more water. Maybe I'm just paraniod, but i'd rather have the water farther forward. Couldn't you accomplish the same thing by raising the hole through the bulkhead about 4", thereby keeping the rainwater aft, but allowing any amount of water to drain forward? To keep my bilge clean, each time I wash the boat I dump the residue from my wash bucket in the bilge.
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Eddy G
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Post by Eddy G »

I have several buddies with "dry bilge" boats that can't understand the wet bilge design of the smaller Bertrams. They make themselves nuts trying to locate and correct sources of the constant small drips in their clean, shiny bilges. Once you get used to the wet bilge concept, as long as the liquid isn't orange, red or black, it's all good.
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Post by JP Dalik »

The main idea for for us to petition at the bulkhead is two fold. First it keeps any of the fluids that hit the bilge albeit blood oil antifreeze or soap residue from moving under the cabin, where it becomes difficult to clean like when it gets under the water tank. Or further forward under the V Berth deck.
We dug 2 gallons of mung out of the bilges last year. The boat had that stinko funk and by adding this petition we can clean the spots that get the most abuse (cabin bulkhead back) and allow the cabin to keep smelling minty fresh.

If there ever was an issue I'd be happier knowing I've got a bulkhead to stop water from moving forward. Have you ever watched a boat sink at the dock. Inboards normally go down bow first. With the bulkhead blocked as water is taken on if your mid pump fails the stern pumb will turn on well before you dip the scuppers. I know, I tested it with a garden hose.

My call, keep the funk in the back and keep it clean under the cabin. Paint the bilges from time to time but keep the bow section dry as possible, mold stinks.
KR


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Kevin
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Post by Kevin »

That is why I partitioned mine. With exception of the AC condensation dripping into forward bilge, it stays pretty dry. Prior to partition and the re-power all the water went all the way forward. In my case it was nasty oily water. Now, the water sits between the engines. It can still get forward if it goes higher than the limber holes in the stringers, but would only be if a pump failed. I do have 4 pumps. 3 rule 2000 and a 500. I do have dripless seals so once I get engine hatches modified to actually fit over the engines I will do the custom drain setup mentioned above Despite having new power and fresh paint wverywhere in the bilge, it is truly amazing how much nasty crap is trapped under the tank. It gets cleaner every time I run her though. I will probably rig raw water intakes to pump bilge in emergency situation. With all the good ideas tossed around here in the sand box I hope to never hear about anyones boat going down.
Ohya, I would like to hear more about the fiberglass drying out. Never heard of that before. Bruce, could you elaborate on that. Kevin
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Post by Rawleigh »

I hear it shrinks and cracks open when it dries!!!
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Post by thereheis »

jp how high are your hole in the bulkhead once you glassed it up ?how many did you drill and what size arethey ????

phil
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Post by JP Dalik »

There are no holes. The water is bulkheaded off.
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Post by scot »

Sorry it took so long to get some pictures of the "el cheapo" pump out system posted on the web site, there are not very clear but I think you guys can make them out.

http://www.cssims.com/crash_pump.htm

Scot
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1969 Bertram 25 "Roly Poly"
she'll float one of these days.. no really it will :-0
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