When my bilge pump come on it works fine but when it turns off water rushes back in from the hose ...Is this normal ? Is there a better pump?
Bilge pump
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Check valve or put the float switch in a higher place. Their is a danger about the check valve should something become stuck in it. I am having the same problem. After going through many pumps/swiches I finally found the right combination. I think I am going to put the check valve in. I prefer a dry bilge.
Don Casey, of This Old Boat, recommends installing a small second pump with an internal float at the lowest point in the bilge. Use 1/2" hose for discharge and keep the run as short as possible. Of course, the best solution is to eliminate the source of the water in the first place.
The boat is a 1982 Catalina 30 and do use the shower wich drains into the bilge and we also drain cooler that is under table into it , i guess i am looking for the pump that will draw the water down to th lowest level and not let it run back in when pump is turned off
http://www.iboats.com/Johnson-Ultim...1429238--session_id.732440114--view_id.341286. With a shower sump like this one, you can stop dumping your shower and cooler water into the bilge.
Oh gosh, oh gee...
The RIGHT solution to this problem requires just a LITTLE <gasp> manual labor!
It'll ad all of 5 minutes to your closing-up-the-boat routine to use a manual dinghy bailer, sponge and bucket or a wet vac and a sponge to mop up that last gallon or so of water left by the run back from the bilge pump.
As for the shower drain into the bilge, install a sump! The bacteria, soap scum etc in "gray water" ("shower, bath and galley water") will make the whole boat smell like a swamp or even a sewer if it's allowed to drain into the bilge. Sumps can stink too, if they aren't maintained...but sumps are a LOT easier to keep clean than whole bilges! (See discussions on this topic in the HM forum).
Why do builders drain ice boxes, fridges and showers into the bilge instead of sumps? Because sumps add to their cost! If the lack of sumps results in a boat that stinks, that's YOUR problem, not theirs.
The RIGHT solution to this problem requires just a LITTLE <gasp> manual labor!
It'll ad all of 5 minutes to your closing-up-the-boat routine to use a manual dinghy bailer, sponge and bucket or a wet vac and a sponge to mop up that last gallon or so of water left by the run back from the bilge pump.
As for the shower drain into the bilge, install a sump! The bacteria, soap scum etc in "gray water" ("shower, bath and galley water") will make the whole boat smell like a swamp or even a sewer if it's allowed to drain into the bilge. Sumps can stink too, if they aren't maintained...but sumps are a LOT easier to keep clean than whole bilges! (See discussions on this topic in the HM forum).
Why do builders drain ice boxes, fridges and showers into the bilge instead of sumps? Because sumps add to their cost! If the lack of sumps results in a boat that stinks, that's YOUR problem, not theirs.
Check valves are really not a good idea. They make the discharge hose smaller and there are chances that you could plug up the discharge too.
I dont think you can completely eliminate this problem because the pump cannot pump water with air and that is what you end up with once the pump has emptied the bilge.
Get a sponge!
I dont think you can completely eliminate this problem because the pump cannot pump water with air and that is what you end up with once the pump has emptied the bilge.
Get a sponge!
One solution is a very small pump (360 or 500) as low as it can be installed and a check valve in the line. This is the maintenance pump. A larger pump without a check valve and its float mounted higher for bigger issues. Each hose should go to a dedicated through hull with an anti-siphon loop mounted as high as possible.
how much comes back into the boat--mine sounds like itis rushing in also, but very very little amount comes into boat. isnt worth the hassle to make the bilge bone dry, especially with a packing system that is spozed to make water into boat bilges.
my ericson hasnt a sump with pump but i used a lot of bilge soap in her. this formosa has a shower sump and it drains the shower water overboard nicely. i dont have fridge.....and i dont use ice in my icebox.
my ericson hasnt a sump with pump but i used a lot of bilge soap in her. this formosa has a shower sump and it drains the shower water overboard nicely. i dont have fridge.....and i dont use ice in my icebox.
My boat and I'm sure many others cannot have a shower sump installed by the way they were built
.....every year I explore this hoping I come up with a solution :dance: ,for now we hardly rarely use the shower with soap or shampoo and clean my bilge out on a regular basis
Hi everyone ..Thanks for all the advice , i might just look for a self priming pump such as a surflow Rv pump and use that to suck up all the water shower sumo does not look like it will fit in bilge
Planning Pump switch placement
When installing a bilge pump with a separate float switch, it is a good idea to place the float switch higher than the point where the backflow bilge water ends up. This prevents an endless cycle....
Although check valves are notoriously bad mouthed, they can be used. I use one with a rubber diaphragm that can't jam closed.
Small hoses will reduce volume returned to bilge but also decrease gallons per hour pumped in an emergency.
I like 2 pumps, one small one down low to take care of the nuisance bilge water, and one higher up to really pump out water in a hurry.
If your bilge water collects where your keel bolts are, it is a good idea to keep them dry and coated in grease.
When installing a bilge pump with a separate float switch, it is a good idea to place the float switch higher than the point where the backflow bilge water ends up. This prevents an endless cycle....
Although check valves are notoriously bad mouthed, they can be used. I use one with a rubber diaphragm that can't jam closed.
Small hoses will reduce volume returned to bilge but also decrease gallons per hour pumped in an emergency.
I like 2 pumps, one small one down low to take care of the nuisance bilge water, and one higher up to really pump out water in a hurry.
If your bilge water collects where your keel bolts are, it is a good idea to keep them dry and coated in grease.
Bilges are designed as collection points to hold water. What is this obssesion with having dry bilges? You may sponge dry a bilge and as soon as the boat rocks a little some of the water that may lay trapped in the stringers will get it wet again. Oh yes there may be gallons of water trapped under the cabin sole liner.
The days of wooden boats and sloshing bilges are gone for the most part. Bilges can be kept pretty dry now. As posted keel bolts are better off dry as well.
Gallons of water trapped under the cabin sole liner?
Maybe on your Hunter but not on my boat.
Gallons of water trapped under the cabin sole liner?
Maybe on your Hunter but not on my boat.
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