bilge pumps

[Mike C]

before embarking on a recent short cruise, I installed a new master bilge pump with built in auto-on switches. One quiet evening while watching Orion Belt come up on the horizon, I hurd the bilge pump running, listening for a while and it did not stop. after the immediate panic, I checked and found the auto switch was stuck ON and would not turn the pump OFF. Putting my spare in its place I checked it out when shore wise. The auto switch would sometimes stick on and sometimes stick in the off position. I returned the pump to West Marine, I replaced the Rule with the same and the second has the same problem. I have now talked to three others with the same problem with the same pump.

I have a high bilge water alarm but until this incidence I trusted the bilge pump to work.

[rtbates]

Over the past years I have found that the submersible type bilge pumps are more than useless. They give a very wrong feeling of being protected. The switches is just the first problem. The other, and in my opinion the biggest issue, is the pump itself. They are centrfugal type that will fail with any debris at all. The debris prevents the pump from pumping as the battery runs down.

I've thrown all my Rule type pumps away. I don't know anyone that I dislike enough to give them the pump.

I've gone over to diagraph remote bige pump from Jabsco, It is mounted high above the waterline in a cockpit locker. The sensor switch is a solid state affair that uses a metal rod to detect water. AND it knows the difference between water and diesel or oil. IT WON"T turn on the pump if it's diesel or oil. No overboard discharge fine. Finally the pickup has a built in one way valve that prevents the backflow from the discharge hose when the pump shuts off. AND, no you can not install a one way valve in the output line of a Rule submersible pump. It does not provide enough 'push' to open the valve (I tried).

I sleep much better now.

Best of luck.

[Paul Grecay]

Randy,
I have been looking for the pump you describe but I have not found one. Can you suggest a source. My search for a 'diagraph' comes up with nothing. I would like to get rid of my submersible bilge pump as well...I don't trust it.

[tartansailor]

Paul,
I think Randy meant diaphragm. See page 410 of West Marine's catalog. I have one only with a manual switch. Works great but mine is a noisy bugger.
Dick

[rtbates]

Yes, I am a no spelling fool. Yes, West Marine carries the Jabsco line of diaphragm pumps. Yes they are noisy, but that noise eliminates the need for an alarm to let you know when it's pumping. Best news about diaphragm pumps is that they are fairly hard to clog. A good feature for a bilge pump

[bottomscraper]

Electric diaphragm pumps have some advantages but one of them is not capacity. Centrifugal pumps like the Rule submersibles have a clear advantage for capacity. Personally I'm not a big fan of "automatic" pumps or pumps with built in float switch. I'm not really a fan of typical "float" switches either. The electronic switches with no moving parts like the Waterwitch are more reliable. The enclosed switches like the Aqualarm Smart Bilge Pump Switch seem to work well also.

On Mahalo we have 2 electric bilge pumps. We have a small diaphragm pump remotely mounted with the pickup at the bottom of the bilge hooked to a Waterwitch switch mounted about 3" from the bottom of the bilge. The second pump is a high capacity Rule 3700 which is mounted on a frame made from HDPE. This pump sits about 6" up from the bottom of the bilge. It has a Aqualarm switch (30 Amp).

Other than for testing each spring the Rule pump doesn't run or even get wet. The small diaphragm pump takes care of whatever water gets in the bilge.

The only negative with electronic switches is they have a small standby current (0.006 amps for Waterwitch). Another decent option for a switch is something like the JABSCO Hydro Air Bilge Switch which moves the electric connections out of the bilge.

We also have the original manual pump. That was rebuilt last spring and the hose was replaced. The hose was getting very brittle. This is something that should be checked every year. A small crack on the suction side can make these pumps useless.

[Ron Turner]

On my recent trek to Charleston and back with the admiral aboard I had a close call with the Bilge pump. On day four, after shutting down the engine from a 6 hour run I noticed the voltmeter reading way too low. Initial assumption was alternator had gone bad. I opened engine cover and immediately smelled the bad motor smell.
The alternator was cool so it was not the problem. The next biggest 12 volt motor was the bilge pump, a Jabsco "water puppy" it was too hot to touch and direct wired to the battery. The bilge pump switch showed that the float switch wanted the pump to run. I disconnected the pump from the battery and started the investigation.
The float switch was an electronic "SensaSwitch" and it had been in use for 18 months or so. The bilge pump had a footvalve so as to keep water in the pump since it is a "do not run dry "pump.
My diagnosis was that the float switch failed and the bilge pump ran dry. It did not blow the 15 amp fuse that jabsco recommended be used.
Jabsco replaced the pump with no questions asked. SensaSwithc no longer makes the "float switch" but I managed to talk to the guy who used to be in charge of that product. He asked a lot of questions and deduced that the "water puppy" start up current had degraded the switch over time. He had a new old unit and shipped it to me, gratis.
I now have the new old switch in use with a smaller bilge pump. Sometimes goood enough is good enough and I should not try to them sooo much better.

[rtbates]

Scary indeed. Would some method of knowing when the pump is running have alerted you? What size wire? Too small a wire will cause a voltage drop that in turn will cause a current increase.

[Ron Turner]

Randy,

The bilge pump switch has a red "pump on" light. But I never noticed it the whole 6 hours. Maybe an audible of some sort would get my attention, unless I turned it off, of course.