Bilge pump mounting ideas?

[jdrutten]

I have a Hunter 306 and recently discovered that the float switch (Seachoice 19407) for my bilge pump (Rule 800) was not working (a story for another day). The float switch was screwed directly into the bottom of the bilge and the screw completely disintegrated when I tried to remove it. So I've temporarily zip-tied the new float switch to a nearby grounding cable connected to a keel bolt. In the process of sorting all this out, I discovered that the bilge pump is not secured to the bilge at all. There seem to be several small screw holes where they might have once been installed, but I found that I did not have any luck getting a screw to easily bite into the preexisting holes.

So I need to figure out how I want to secure this stuff to the bottom of the bilge. Needless to say, I'm nervous putting a new hole into the bottom of the bilge. I've seen that some people might epoxy in a block of wood or something in the bottom of the bilge to screw into. Alternatively, the switch and pump both have detachable bases, and I thought about attaching the bases directly to the bilge with a few spots of epoxy, but figured that might be a hassle if I want to switch to a different model/brand switch/pump. And then there's the question of epoxy or perhaps an adhesive (e.g. 3M 4200). So I thought I'd see if anyone had any better ideas first.

Here are the options I'm aware of: 1) screw directly into the bilge; 2) Use epoxy/adhesive to attach wood to screw into; 3) Use epoxy/adhesive to attach device directly to the bilge. Any other tips? Anything else I'm missing?

 

[Whatfiero1]

I glue all mine down with the ever so popular 3m5200 clean and dry surface with acetone a gob of glue and block or books to keep it down till dry

 

[DayDreamer41]

I screwed the float switch to a piece of 1/2" piece of wood then glued to the bottom of the bilge, the pump just sits in the bilge and stays in place under its own weight.

 

[pilott]

I mounted my float switch onto the end of a length of 3/4" pvc pipe, then stood the pipe in the bilge, and fastened the top of the pipe. So if the float switch clogs, it's easy to lift it out and clean it.

 

[jdrutten]

Thanks for the comments. I went with the adhesive option. Lowes doesn't seem to carry 3M products, so instead I used Loctite PL Marine Fast Cure after giving the bilge a good cleaning. So far, so good!

 

[Rich Stidger]

My bilge pump and the float switch are mounted on an "L" shaped bracket that is tall enough to reach and extract the pump and switch for service. It just sits on the bottom of the bilge.

 

[Ken13559]

My bilge pump has built-in float switch. The base cover/strainer is screwed down on the bilge and the pump assembly mount(clip) on the base. no separate float switch. Kept a brand new exact same Bilge Pump as spare, just-in-case current one fails.

Ken Y

 

[Dalliance]

My bilge pumps and float switches are also held in place with screws, which I’m not thrilled about. I’ve considered using 3M Dual Lock mushroom lock fastener tape, possibly the non adhesive type with a dab of epoxy because I’m not sure if the adhesive tape would hold up in the bilge. It would be easy to pull them up occasionally to clean under them and the pumps and float switches would be easily removable when (not if) it’s time to replace them. Just pull out the old, epoxy a new piece of Dual Lock to the replacement and stick it down. I haven’t tried this yet, other things higher on the list, so I can’t say for sure how well it would work, but it’s an idea.

Fasteners

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