Greetings...........I have a 75 Hunter 27 ft. Recently I have been getting a lot more water into my bilge and probably need new packing in my stuffing box. Has anyone found a "creative" way of raising the floor toinstall an electric pump with float switch
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Two
Michael, The previous owners of my 76 installed two, one by cutting away some of the floor just forward of the motor, but within the motor cover, and a larger second one aft of the motor. I can't say how well it works, as I haven't got the boat in the water yet, but it looks like they gave it some thought.
Michael, The previous owners of my 76 installed two, one by cutting away some of the floor just forward of the motor, but within the motor cover, and a larger second one aft of the motor. I can't say how well it works, as I haven't got the boat in the water yet, but it looks like they gave it some thought.
Go Automatic
The problem with the shallow bilge is that a foot switch does not have adequate clearance to operate well. Some other float type switches may be used but are not very reliable. In my 1983 27 SL I addressed the issue by installing an electronic automatic pump. It is sold by rule and it is a 500 GPH pump same size as the manual and it costs $52.00. It cycles every 2 1/2 minutes for a couple of seconds and will check for water resitance on the impeller, if it finds some it will continue to run until all is expelled and then shut itself off. The backflow will return to the bilge but the pump will be already off for the next 2 1/2 minutes. It draws very little electricity and it will last a couple of years before the bearings burn out. My packing gland leaks with drops in the millisecond interval and the pump will spurt out water like once every two hours the rest of the time it just silently cycles. Advantages; No foot or float to foul, works at any degree of heel or pitch, reliable. Disadvantages, cost. I have an inboard battery charger but have left it off for a week at a time on a single battery and has not drained the battery at all. I find this system works very well and I have had a dry sole when sailing since I installed it. Mind you it is the only bilge pump I run on the boat.
The problem with the shallow bilge is that a foot switch does not have adequate clearance to operate well. Some other float type switches may be used but are not very reliable. In my 1983 27 SL I addressed the issue by installing an electronic automatic pump. It is sold by rule and it is a 500 GPH pump same size as the manual and it costs $52.00. It cycles every 2 1/2 minutes for a couple of seconds and will check for water resitance on the impeller, if it finds some it will continue to run until all is expelled and then shut itself off. The backflow will return to the bilge but the pump will be already off for the next 2 1/2 minutes. It draws very little electricity and it will last a couple of years before the bearings burn out. My packing gland leaks with drops in the millisecond interval and the pump will spurt out water like once every two hours the rest of the time it just silently cycles. Advantages; No foot or float to foul, works at any degree of heel or pitch, reliable. Disadvantages, cost. I have an inboard battery charger but have left it off for a week at a time on a single battery and has not drained the battery at all. I find this system works very well and I have had a dry sole when sailing since I installed it. Mind you it is the only bilge pump I run on the boat.
glad to see you are keeping watch- Status