Bilge pump hoses

[jorgefife]

My bilge pump was not working, and since I don't even know how to use a multi meter to establish if there was power going to the pump, (I need to learn how to use it ), I connected the 2 wires onto a battery, and found it was not working
So far so good
I had a new 500 gallon per hour pump I got ( West Marine never saw such a pump) which I installed, but it seems not to be strong, as the noise it makes is very subdued: it is a Sealsense made in France
Now here is the problem: the previous owner messed up the hoses: gooing into the bilge, there is a piece abot 10 inches of the kind that has rings, made of plastic; then, under the sole, it is made of rubber, thinner, and it goes all the way to the top, and again 10 inches just before it discharges into the hole on starboard, where the water goes out, same story.
At first I thought the hose was clogged up, so I brought it down to the floor by the toilet, and by blowing on it, I could feel the air coming out, so it is not blocked
I have 2 questions:
1) Could it be that the pump I had was not strong enough to push the water up the hose and to the discharge outlet?
2) The hose seems to be stuck just by the bilge where it disappears from sight, under the sole: where do I follow that hose? Can it be traced someplace else, so I can feed through and install a new hose, all of the same size?
Apparently the previous owner messed up, because there is another thinner hose coming out into the bilge, thinner that the one there, of the same corrugated plastic, but doing nothing. How does one instal a new one? I didn't want to start yanking out the hoses and then not kjnowing how they feed under the sole
Anyone has a H33 like mine?
A awit your help, thanks

 

[Paul F]

Don't know about the pump. You could do a test and see if it pumps water out of a pail and how high it will pump - lift the water. It may very well be that it is not strong enough for the job. The bilge hoses can become plugged. When this happens I run fresh water from the dock under pressure back-filling the bilge hose from the outside. That should unblock any obstruction. The second bilge hose is the drain from the ice box.

 

[jorgefife]

Ahaaa, so that is what the other hose is for: the ice box!
Makes sense
In your case, Paul, what pump do you have in your boat? 500, 800, 1000 GPH ?
You have the same boat as I do; I like the idea of running water under pressure into the bilge hose, from the outside so that iy will fill the bilge
Will try that
As for my other question, should I want to replace the hose, can it be traced along the sole?

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

You might have a check valve somewhere (typically near the bottom) which, if stuck closed, would prevent any flow.
Also, you should be able to find specs for the pump which will tell you the head it can pump to indicate if the outlet is too high. Note the design head capacity is for unrestricted flow at 12+ volts.
You might have some bad connections and therefore too low a voltage for the pump to run at design capacity.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Hey jorgefife
I'm thinking the pump should be strong enough to pump at least some water out the discharge. Do you have it wired correctly? If you reverse the wires (+ for -) the pump will run backward and they don't do much pumping in that mode. to check pull the hose off the pump and start it. Water should shoot out. If the pump runs and water does not shoot out then either the bilge is dry or below the level the pump can pump, the pump is not priming or it is running backward. You might have to take a garden hose and add some water to the bilge.
The second hose is probably to your manual bilge pump. The pump is probably located near the helm. Ideally you should be able to helm the boat and operate the handle. The handle normally is stowed and the pump looks like a metal circle with a smaller hole for the pump handle.

 

[jorgefife]

Hello Bill
Yes, I tried to take the hose off, the new pump works and it shoots water, so that is not the problem; and the bilge had enough water, I just think it is not a good pump.
I saw it on e-bay a while back, and while all the others were from $ 50.00 upwards ( 800 gph or more), this one was about $12.00 so I thought, wow, what a bargain
I see there is one or 2 on e-bay still, around $10.00. The make is Seasense, made in France, I will try a known brand, such as Rule, Atwood, etc
Still need some idea where the hose runs under the sole, where I can access it in case it does not thread to it's place, once I start... if I decide to replace, do I start from the bilge side or from the side where it discharges out of the boat?

 

[Paul F]

I too have thought of replacing the hose under the cabin sole. Each time I have looked at it, I have backed away and not done anything. Sometimes if something works it is better to leave it alone. The space seems to be very tight and I am unsure how to pull a new hose through this space. While the old hose is very old it works well.

Can recommend adding a float switch to your bilge pump system so that it can guard the boat while you are away.

 

[Bill Roosa]

I believe some of these hoses are put in prior to Hunter laying up the ribs. I know some of my hoses run in places I can never hope to access.
I'd recommend using the old hose as a messenger. Just clamp a nipple onto the old and clamp the new one onto that then pull the old one out the other end dragging the new one with it. Be sure to allow for those unseen bends and buy a longer length than you think you need.

 

[Scott F. Murphy]

I check bilge pump hose a while back and came to the same conclusion as Paul. As I remember to get to the hose I needed to remove the drawers under the pilot berth, in front of the head door. The hose comes under the sole into that compartment, through the bulkhead into the head cabinet, up into the medicine cabinet and there makes a ridiculously sharp bend( 90° in 6") to the through hull. I had to replace my through hull last spring and could not figure out how they made the hose bend like that without a kink, which is probably why Jorge has corrugated pipe there.
I don't think there is enough clearance under the sole for a hose clamp.

 

[Benny17441]

Is that french pump a self priming pump? For the pump to get water out of the discharge thruhull there has to be enough water in the bilge to fill the ldischarge hose. You may test the pump by submering it in a bucket full of water and attaching a short hose just to see if it is priming and pumping. After you determine that it is working then you move on to see if it is strong enough to lift enough heads to the discharge port.

 

[gray_penguin]

When I was working on fixing and replacing thru hulls, hose ect last spring I tried for 4 hrs to get a new (same diameter) bilge hose ran where the original one goes. After a lot of sweating and cussing I submitted to the fact that it cant be done. I could get an Electricians fish tape to run the distance but pulling the hose in the direction the fish tape went was impossible. I tried from both directions and even a smaller hose.

I agree with Bill Roosa that those hoses had to be put in place before the floor/interior piece was put in place.

I ended up using the old hose with a new pump. I did manage to run a new larger hose out the fore part of the bilge into the port side forward hanging closet where I put in a new above water thru hull.

Now I have 2 pumps in the bilge, although I still have to run new wire for it.