CD25D Bilge: Seepage, Bilge Pump

[jddj]

I seem to have a slight salt water seepage into my bilge. Not cleaqr where it is coming from. I know this topic has been talked about before, but have others seen this, what is the best way to install an electric bilge pump and where to drain it, and has anyone tried any sort of water soluble sealant that can be poured into the bilge and seal up the seepage places? I had used LifeCaulk in wet places around the wood boards on which the cockpit seacoks are mounted with success.

I'm leaning to putting in an electric pump as a safeguard even though the seepage would take a long time to fill the bilge.

Any advice would help
jim

[bhartley]

Jim,

We have an electric bilge pump t-ed into our gusher line out the transom. We ordered the right fittings from either Defender or Jamestown (Can't remember which). The switch for the bilge pump is installed on the side of the quarter berth settee (toward the ladder)

So far its been a great system.

Bly

[Dean Abramson]

Jim,

Is the engine's drip tray full of water? If so, your water could be from the stuffing box (then to the drip tray, then to the bilge). Of course, it won't be full if you have recently been sailing and heeled.

Just a thought.

Dean

[Russell]

How does one T two bilge pumps into the same outlet? I imagine you would have to rely on check valves of some kind. Not something I would want to do for such a crucial system.

Personally I definately suggest an electric bilge pump, even if you were not seeing some seepage. And I suggest installing a seperate dedicated thru hull fitting for it. A very worthwhile upgrade for your boat.

[Oswego John]

How does one T two bilge pumps into the same outlet? I imagine you would have to rely on check valves of some kind. Not something I would want to do for such a crucial system.

Yes, a bilge discharge line is a crucial part of the system. It is a personal choice made by each boat owner. However, there are several different, valid concepts as to how it should be installed.

Some people like it to be as uncomplicated as possible, a direct run from the pump to the through hull, plain vanilla.

On the other hand, it is not unheard of to tap a smaller discharge into a larger one before it reaches the through hull fitting. If you do opt to tap one discharge into a larger one, there is one method that I consider better than another.

Rather than use a "tee" fitting, it might be more practical to use a "wye" fitting installed inline in the larger discharge line. With a wye, both discharge lines are running toward the transom and there is less angle to impede the flow of water.

A good percentage of people are gunshy of using check valves. Personally, I can't see how they would be of any use in a bilge pump system. The integral valve system of the gusher pump acts as a check valve, as well as the impeller of an electric bilge pump, (if it is a rotary pump).

What I do like to use is an air block loop between the wye fitting and the transom outlet. This adds a little insurance in preventing any possible reverse siphoning as well as any intrusion from a following sea.

But, again, it's a personal choice. Install it in the manner you are most comfortable with. Peace of mind is a wonderful thing.

O J

[bhartley]

OJ,

You are quite correct. What we have is a Y not a T. There is an air loop. As our outlet is sigificantly above the waterline and we are on an inland lake, this has been a good option for us.

Bly

P.S. Aren't you supposed to be getting ready to leave???

[rtbates]

This is a been there done that case for me, as concerns the bilge pump, not the leak. I have a very strong opinion based on having more than one RULE, all in one drop in pump, fail to pump because of the smallest amount of foreign matter stopping the impeller from turning. IMHO they are useless and even dangerous IF relied on to pump when no one is around. My recommendation is to use an external mounted diaphram pump, such as Jabsco makes. Use a pick up with a built in one way valve to prevent the back wash from the lines draining back into the bilge when the pump shuts off. Finally use a solid state switch not a float switch. I now use the model 230 from http://www.waterwitch.info/products/bilgeswitch.html. My pump is mounted in the port cockpit locker and shares the manual bilge pump's transom discharge, via a Y fitting(no valve). By the way I also share this same transom discharge and the manual pump. via Y VALVE to pump out my holding tank when off shore. When sharing either intake or discharge lines among different sources use Y valves NOT check valves. It requires the switching of a few Y valves, but they are failsafe.
As for your leak source, I'd certainly look at the stuffing box as the source. As for sealing an actual bilge leaking from the keel area, I'd be very hesitant to seal from the inside trapping the water in the hull. I'd go at it from the outside.

good luck

[RC James]

Saltwater in bilge?

Perhaps a slow leak from the Grounding block on the Starboard side of the bilge...

Perhaps a weeping from a bad O-ring from the knotmeter if it's located on the Port side of the bilge...

And I've even seen the sink seacock leak from not being tightened enough to keep it from leaking. It would run straight into the bilge (as would the cockpit seacocks) and not pool in the engine pan.

The stuffing box will fill the engine pan before overflowing into the bilge.

Hope you find it. The bilge pump is always a good idea....wired and fused direct to battery. RC

[jddj]

I found the leak in my 25D's bilge. Cleaned it all out, dried it with towels and watched. Shortly after, a couple of drops appeared at th forward bottom end of the bilge in an area where the bilge joins a vertical piece that is likely the back end of the holding tank. It sort of oozes out of the area and puddles. About 10cc a day I'd say. Seems to come and go. I'm going to install an electrical bilge pump just in case it gets worse. No leaks from shaft (PSS Dripless) and no leaks from sink seacock. I'll keep you posted.

Another little known source of bilge leaks in the 25D is the anchor locker front drain. On a cruise 10 years ago in my 25D off the coast of New Jersey with rain and bow breaking waves, I noticed that the bilge was taking on water. Turns out that the tube that drains the anchor locker to the drain hole in the front of the bow had come apart. This allowed water to run between the hull liner and the bilge. I found that odd route by doing the taste test (finger in bilge + fresh water) and verified back home by putting a hose in the locker and watching fresh water flow from the shower drain hose into the bilge rather than out of the drain hole in the bow. Easy fix: epoxy the tube so that the anchor locker drains directly to the hole in the bow.

My present problem is something else: where is the water coming from - the bottom of the bilge is below the cutless aperute where posisbly water could leak in between the stern tube and the hull. In any case, the engine pan is always dry. I wonder if water is oozing up from the joint between the rudder bottom and the hull.

May never know unless some of you have great ideas - such as using radioactive tracers (maybe dyes woud be safer) in the bilge to see where they might leak out from the keel when the boat is on the hard.

jim

[Oswego John]

Jim,

That is an old trick, using food coloring dye to trace the source of a leak.

Good luck in your search.
O J