Hunter 40.5 location in bilge of manual bilge pump hose

[smokey73]

For some reason my Whale manual pump does not seem to be pumping.

Does any 40.5 owner know where I can lay my eyes on where the manual bilge pump hose takes a suction in the bilge. When I pump with the handle it does not pump out any water. The discharge hose is clear.

I disconnected it and it draws a very good suction on my hand, in fact I can't even get in a full stroke before the vacuum is too strong.

Its possible that when I was testing it the hose was above the water level or maybe there is a hole in the suction line. I can't seem to see where it is in the bilge on a Hunter 40.5.

I'm going to put more fresh water in the bilge (pull out the electric pump) and see if it works. I will also see if it will suck out water with a shopvac. Need to get this sorted.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance

 

[splax]

I think a vacuum on the pump end of the suction line is a good idea. You will find where the other end is and solve questions of hose integrity. There has got to be some kind of trap available to clean where the hose would take suction.

 

[Marco Garcia]

The hose pick up screen is on the most aft section of the bilge. Below the engine start battery

 

[artboas]

Suggestion

For some reason my Whale manual pump does not seem to be pumping.

Does any 40.5 owner know where I can lay my eyes on where the manual bilge pump hose takes a suction in the bilge. When I pump with the handle it does not pump out any water. The discharge hose is clear.

I disconnected it and it draws a very good suction on my hand, in fact I can't even get in a full stroke before the vacuum is too strong.

Its possible that when I was testing it the hose was above the water level or maybe there is a hole in the suction line. I can't seem to see where it is in the bilge on a Hunter 40.5.

I'm going to put more fresh water in the bilge (pull out the electric pump) and see if it works. I will also see if it will suck out water with a shopvac. Need to get this sorted.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance

I would go the opposite way.
If the screen is all plugged up, you could clear it by attaching a water hose to the pump inlet. This should just shoot fresh water down into the bilge.
Take a dock hose, insert it into the bilge pump hose, and wind about 10 feet of duct tape around it, sealing it off.
This should work.

 

[Hunter legend collabsa]

I would go the opposite way. If the screen is all plugged up, you could clear it by attaching a water hose to the pump inlet. This should just shoot fresh water down into the bilge. Take a dock hose, insert it into the bilge pump hose, and wind about 10 feet of duct tape around it, sealing it off. This should work.

Sounds like the pipe is split somewhere. I have been looking under the port aft cabin sole boards and can see a lot of it running under there. It's not secured very well so it's probably chafed against the hull etc. previous post is right it's under the start battery which will mean taking the battery out etc. hunter used that funny hose were you glue the end fittings on (don't like the idea if it) once removed from the strainer you can do the same test, then I suspect you will be pulling a new length of hose through. Good luck sure you will do it no probs. let me know.
Matt

 

[David Knauer]

Smokey 73,
I'll second what Marco said. Be sure that you put water in the bilge and that it is present in the aft most part of the bilge under the starting battery before you test it.

 

[smokey73]

Manual pump suction seems very high in the bilge.

Smokey 73,
I'll second what Marco said. Be sure that you put water in the bilge and that it is present in the aft most part of the bilge under the starting battery before you test it.

All - is the manual pump pickup high in the bilge just below the battery? I mean "just below the battery shelf". I ran water through the hose look into the aft most bilge with a flashlight (hard to do) and it came out a lot higher in the bilge than I expected. The water would only be a few inches to a foot below the battery shelf before the whale manual pump would have a suction. Is there something wrong with what I"m seeing? I'd expect the whale manual pump pickup point to be lower in the bilge so you wouldn't have wait until there was that much water in the bilge to use it (so you could stay ahead of a problem).

It doesn't look like anything is blocked but rather that I just didn't have enough water in the bilge. I would never have guessed it would be that high up in the bilge.

Let me know if what I'm seeing is somehow incorrect and the pickup should be lower in the bilge? If you have to pull it out how in the world would you reach the suction strainer without removing not just the battery but the battery shelf (which looks to be glassed in place)

Thanks in advance

 

[smokey73]

Re: Manual pump suction seems very high in the bilge.

I had to pull the start battery today to put in the new Battery Charger. I found that there was a hole in the battery shelf just below the battery - surprise for a good design. I noticed that the manual bilge pump hose with strainer was pulled way up and just below the shelf. I don't know how or when that happened. There was plenty of slack so I just fed the hose and the strainer closer to the lower portion of the aft bilge and all is well now. Thanks for all the help - this forum is great.