Refrigerator drains to bilge?

[butchrobbins]

In my 2001 Catalina 310, there is a small white tube that drains water from the refrigerator to the bilge. Is this the proper place to drain?

It keeps the bilge pump going amost all the time, because the float switch will engage the pump and when it shuts off, a great deal of water flows backward into the bilge and this keeps cycling. Finally last night I sponged out the bilge so I could get some sleep. I did manually run the pump until it was sucking air and I let it run a bit longer than normal. That seemed to keep the water from coming back in the bilge somewhat.

Will the pump continue to pump air if I let it run?
Will the pump burn up?
How bad is all this work on the bilge pump?
Should I be concerned about a fire?

 

[valcour]

fridge drain

I have a 2003 model, and my fridge drain is hooked with a "Y" valve into the shower sump drain. I don't put ice in the fridge, so the amount of water that drains is minimal unless I am defrosting the fridge. Even then, the water will only back up in the bottom of the fridge under the perforated shelf until I pump it dry with the shower sump pump. Are you sure there is not another freshwater leak? Even if you use ice in the fridge, it should not be enough to cycle the bilge pump very often. Letting the pump run dry a few moments to suck the last little bit of water out won't hurt it, but if your float switch is getting hung up, that could burn out the pump. I believe my bilge hose has a check valve in it, but I would have to check to be sure.

My own personal preference is to switch my bilge pump completely off from "auto", and cycle it only when I need it. That way I know exactly how often it runs. Others may want the pump on auto in case of a leak, but I doubt it could keep up in the event of a real problem. To each his own.

 

[Tom J]

Sounds like you have a couple of issues here. Like Valcour says, my 2003 drains the frig to the Y-valve under the head sink. From there, the frig can be drained using the shower sump pump. Draining the frig into the bilge shouldn't be a problem, though, if the bilge pump is working properly. Therein lies the second issue. Obviously, the bilge pump should shut off when the proper water level is reached, and the water in the output hose should not run back into the bilge.
When I bought my 310, the bilge pump had burned out, and the owner supplied me with a new pump. After I installed the new pump, I noticed that the pump would not shut off automatically. Once it turned on, it would continue to run, even when the pump was sucking air. The problem turned out to be with the float switch. The installation manual called for the switch to be mounted 1/4 " higher than the pump, so that the switch would turn off before the pump started sucking air. Unfortunately, the factory had installed the switch on the same level as the pump, so the switch never shut off. The result was a burned out pump. The other potential problem is short-cycling. If the check valve at the output of the bilge pump is stuck open, the water pumped into the hose will drain back into the bilge when the pump shuts off, and the lpump will turn again, and again, and again. The check valve is not difficult to take apart and clean, but I've found that running fresh water through the bilge pump occasionally, keeps the check valve from sticking. I have also had the check valve stick closed, so the bilge pump runs, but doesn't pump. The fresh water flush also has prevented this from happening again.
I'd strongly recommend a high-water alarm be installed. I installed another float switch, at a higher level in the bilge than the pump, and hooked it up to a 12 volt siren. Then, if there is a problem with the bilge pump, you'll know about it before it is too late.
I personally never shut off the auto functon of the bilge pump. It's impossible to know just when you'll need that pump!

 

[SceptreSailor]

Are you sure it is the Refer draining into the bilge? As others have commented here my set up is a drain with a y value that you use the shower sump pump to drain the fridge, Now the ice box to the left of the fridge drains into the bilge, so if you fill it with ice ( I use mine for dry storage) it will drain into the bilge.

 

[Witzend]

My ice box has no drain at all, have to pump it out, go figure?

 

[rpwillia]

Here is the drawing

From the drawing the ice box and the shower sump are connected through a "Y" valve to the hull valve through a filter and pump. One note is you need to clean the filter out of the hair and stuff periodically. We mostly use our ice box for dry food storage so I have never had to drain it, but it is just a simple matter of flipping the "Y" valve and running the pump.

 

[Witzend]

Rp,
So you drain is from the Ice box and not from the Refrig into the "Y" valve?

 

[rpwillia]

Correct - Ice Box Trains to Thru Hull

Ice melts and there is no other way to cool the ice box. The refrigerator may drain to the bilge.

 

[SceptreSailor]

Ice melts and there is no other way to cool the ice box. The refrigerator may drain to the bilge.

In the early HULL l numbers the "Ice Box" i.e. Dry Storage i.e. "Cooler" did not have a drain std. it was an option. my 310 is a 2004 model Hull #282 AND THE ICE BOX DRY STORAGE WHAT EVER YOU CALL IT DRAINS TO BILGE AND THE REFER the one that uses batteries to cool uses a y value to drain with using the shower sump.