adding a second bilge pump

[carl]

am going to add another small electric bilge pump in keel cavity as a backup. my thinking is to just wire it in parallel with the current pump which has on off auto switch. also will mount pump float switch up higher than primary pump switch. then it will only operate as needed. also can i tee into the existing outflow hose with 2 check valves or are these generally too restriction for the smaller under 1000gpm pumps. thanks for advice carl

 

[Big Windy]

Second Pump

I think if I was going to have a second bilge pump, I'd have it wired to a second battery. Don't know, but seems to me that bilge pump failures are more a result of no battery power than the pump actually failing.

 

[Scott]

No Check Valves

I tried a check valve on a single pump and discarge. Worked in my fish pond while experimenting. However in practice the water in the bilge and I suppose the restrition of the check valve would not alow the bilge pump to prime so I removed it. Scott "On Eagles Wings"

 

[Don]

secondary bilge pump

What you suggest doesn't make a lot of sense to me Carl. The usual purpose of a secondary pump if mounted higher, is to slow the rate of flooding in the event you get more water into the boat than the primary low pump can handle. The conventional wisdom is to mount the largest pump you can fit in a higher location.Also, the actual discharge rate of the pump is compromised by two things - the head the pump has to push against to raise the water out of the boat and the restriction of the hose size and type. Combining both pumps into one hose will decrease the capacity of both to pump the boat.For emergency purposes, mount the largest pump you can afford higher than the normally expected level water could reasonably be expected to reach and run that pump into a smooth hose (not the corrugated stuff) of equal or larger ID than the pump discharge fitting and don't use a check valve since it restricts flow and often gets stuck making the whole system inoperative.Also, keep in mind that the most frequently broken item in a boat is the float switch - you don't want to depend on one for two pumps.

 

[carl]

bilge pump hoses

don, i guess i wasnt clear enough. i want to have two pumps and two float switches. one float switch will be higher higher than the other. both pumps will be at the same level. thanks for the advice on using seperate hoses, was kind of thinking that was the way to go.