An electric bilge pump in addation to hand bilge pump.

[Craig Weis]

I posted this to the Yahoo Com-pac Owners site with photographs that won't appear here and copied it to this site as well.

Yes I have both the factory manual hand pump that is mounted on the port side midships in my cockpit surround. Everyone has a pump mounted about here.

I used one spring steel clip up under the settee hatch cover to hold the handle in reserve [at the ready] and that handle is labeled as the "Bilge Pump Handle" plainly visible when one lifts this hatch open. The 'crew' knows what to do.
I think this is the '400' manual pump from West Marine on my boat. Gallon per Hour 600 [?] or 10.0 gallon per minute. Maybe. Smallest Gusher made.
Guzzler 400 Surface Mount Bilge Pump  #107516  GH-400-H $69.00

Additionally I have a 12 volt DC 750 Gallon per HOUR pump. Or 12-1/2 gallon per minute: The pump from West Marine is:
Rule-Mate 750; Draw: 2.8A @ 12V DC, Port: 3/4", Dimensions: 4"H x 5"L x 2 1/2"D
#150602 RM750 $77.99

I sail with a 1000 cold cranking amp battery. So in theory I could run this pump for
about 357 minutes or 5.9 hours. Don't kid yourself she'll fag out in lets say 2-1/2 hours.
Just a guess as my battery is most likely never up to full charge, even with a solar cell
trickle of 18 volt-3000 [or is it 300] milliamps? No matter. She's done when she's done.
And the West Marine switch for this pump is: WM Model #: 215228 
Man'f.. Part #: 45 $22.00 Note S/W# 43 pictured...but close. See my picture.

Comes with a handy switch plate I mounted right next to my boat's electric panel.
~Push and hold to the left: Test. I can here pump run. But she's dry.
~Park switch in middle: Automatic. Runs when I pour in a bucket of water. Otherwise no-run if dry but on 'stand-by' if water should be forth coming. A nice feature in this mode is the pump runs for 10 seconds and sucking air to continue pumping the line dry resulting in less back flow into the bilge.
~park to the right: Run steady. I can here pump run, but she's dry. I don't think this pump will 'burn-out' if run dry.

Assembly:
1~Clean the bilge compartment of that grey paint the factory put in there. Don't want that be ingested into the pump's centrifugal fwd curve non-overloading impeller.
2~Realize that the pump will not stay put without help. What with the outlet hose, and the heeling of the hull. It's going to move around.
3~This pump has a detachable inlet grillage that acts like a pump base and the pump is snapped onto this base. So I used 3-M contact spray cemented the pump inlet base to a 3" x 3" x 5-1/2" Aluminium angle. And then 3-M sprayed the cleaned bilge fiberglass and the roughed up aluminum bottom of the angle and cemented the angle to the bilge floor. When dried the next day I snapped on the pump. Wired and plumbed.
4~Knowing that the electric centrifugal pump will not 'pump past' the manual diaphragm pump, a tee will have to be added to the plumbing down stream of the diagram pump and then this bilge pump will share the same 'scupper hole' used by the manual pump with out worry of sucking in the sea or the sea free flowing past the manual pump. The manual pump is the sea-stop.
5~A circuit breaker and wired with two 14 ga wires instead of one for each connection and soldered. I connected the pump and switch using a 'straight to the battery' connection through the circuit breaker.
The 14 gauge wire is twisted together using an electric drill then pvc taped to create the electrical cabling.

I have enclosed photographs in this e-mail that will not appear on the message portion of the Com-Pac site. I hope this helps. skip.

[Bob23]

Skip:
   I did sort of the same thing for "Koinonia" except I think I used a bigger pump. It's a Rule but can't remember which one. I wired it basically the same as yours and it works fine. I usually dump some fresh water into the bilge a couple times a season to check it out. I like having both a belt and suspenders holding up my pants!
   I decided that each pump should have it's own outlet to the outside of the ship. So I just drilled a hole in the transom behind the boarding ladder, connected it all up with mech reinforced plastic hose from HD and some pvc angles and couplings and that was that. The pvc fittings and hose aren't really compatible size-wise but with a little presuasion from my Makita heat gun, they got along just fine. Plus when the hose cools down after being installed over the pvc, it's a super tight connection. Of course, hose clamps are still installed.
Bob23

[Joseph]

I do no care much for electric bilge pumps automatically triggered by water in the bilge because they tend to make sailors less aware of what could be going on in the bilge. Twice automatic electric bilge pumps delayed my realization that the boat under my feet was sinking: once the leak was from the stuffing box (in a brand new Beneteau) and the other was a puncture in the engine water intake hose below the level of the residual water in the bilge. They also tend to fail when they are needed the most, i.e., as the water inside the hull reaches the batteries. I favor electric bilge pumps for convenience and if not used automatically. Old mariners recommended inspecting the bilge regularly (i.e., on the hour) and keeping a record of the number of pump actions to empty it (or, if using an electric pump, measuring the time it takes to empty it) and taking action accordingly.

J.

[Gil Weiss]

I installed  essentially the same set up as Skip last year in Suo Gan. I replumbed the manual bilge pump and put a "T" in on the down side of the run to the transome. No extra holes and it works fine. Solar panels keep my battery pretty well charged so the automatic pump is some insurance during the week when the boat sits unattended in the marina. I agree about checking the bilge. I too know of people who lost boats because they did not know there was a leak - until  the batteries ran out . . .

I also just yesterday installed a volt meter to monitor my battery state. There is a file of pictures from last year in the photo gallery on the Yahoo ComPac site of Suo Gan and one shows my electrical panel just below the hatch in the wood panel that supports the step. I bought a 2" automotive panel mount volt meter and installed it to the left of my switch panel. A very practical addition. There are several good photos from this year of Suo Gan under way.

I have a three socket cigarette lighter plug panel mounted on the rear of the step (flip up) panel that doesn't show in the photo. this is controlled by the electronics switch on my switch panel. I use this for satellite radio and to charge my VFH portable radio and/or cell phone.

I also replaced all my running rigging blocks this year which made a nuce difference in how the sheet lines operate.

Making positive "tweaks" to improve performance is fun.

Gil