I’m the new owner of NS 460 and I’m having an automatic bilge pump installed. What pump do I want and how do I want it installed?
Dan Mills
NS30U sakina
West River, MD.
If a pro is doing it, he/she should know. Otherwise, a simple on/off/auto switch with a light that supplies power directly from a battery – not through the battery switch. Obviously you need some type of float switch in the bilge. Most pumps come with a diagram.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
Dan,
How wet is your bilge? Several inches or dry? I’ve installed a second pump that takes out all the water down to the very bottom. Normal bilge pumps only take out down to an inch or more. I don’t want any water for stuff to grow and smell foul.
https://www.seaflousa.com/product/seaflo-dry-bilge-system/
You can set this to run on any schedule you want and it’s self-priming.
Bob Gehrman
NS30U #396 “Quickbeam”
Baltimore, Maryland
Good morning everyone,
I have a NS26C that I recently moved down to the Chesapeake Bay. I had a similar question but am more focused on how to plumb an automatic bilge pump? I have a whale gusher pump that manually drains the bilge out a thru hull on the stern. What have people found practical for draining an electrical pump? Out the stern seems like a long way to go. Has everyone put in a vented loop and a thru-hull high on the topside mid ship? Any guidance would be appreciated.
Regards,
Cameron
Cameron Pforr
NS26C #48 Cat’s Cradle
Deale, MD
Yes, through the side with the vented loop. I think mine is about 16 inches above the waterline. Do not install a back flow preventer as it will freeze in the winter unless drained.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
How high do you mount the inside loop? I have had my side decks under water on occasions.
Mark Powers
I don’t remember, Mark, but it’s pretty high.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
Always winterize the pump with antifreeze for the winter. Bob Horne 1989 N26C 248. Encore. Pocasset, MA.
Hi Cameron,
My 26C has the automatic bilge pump plumbed to the sink drain, using a T to that drain line just below the sink. This is how it came from the factory new in 1983. I always wondered why it was done this way, but clearly it is the shortest route for this plumbing and does not require another through hull.
Cheers,
Greg Silver
Misty Cat 26C #121
St. Peter’s, Cape Breton
Nova Scotia
I just put in a Sherwood and Water Witch…works very well.
Dan-
There’s lots of different ways to approach your bilge pump setup, almost all with tradeoffs. I’ll offer what I’ve done on my boats. Everyone probably has a different approach- this is my solution. Perhaps it is because I grew up with wooden boats where springing a leak wasn’t that uncommon.
- Since I get minimal or no water intrusion from rain or leaks, my primary pump is a small capacity (500 GPH or so) pump. If you’re getting more than minimal water intrusion, you should address that. I’ve found the Water Witch electronic switches to be more reliable than float switches, which seem to fail after a few years. The minimal standby draw hasn’t been an issue. The small pumps can remove down to 1/8" water level in manual mode. Having a small outlet hose diameter also means less backflow after the pump shuts off. I don’t connect to a thru-hull (like a sink), because I close my seacocks when leaving (weak points of hoses aside, I’ve cleaned out too many barnacles from thru-hulls to leave them open). I generally go out the stern when I can. I don’t like to exit through the gunwale, no matter how high.
- I set the switch for the small pump to come on only when the water is over the level the residual water might reach from the heeling or wave motion, usually 1-2". Water Witches, with their delayed on/off, are handy for this.
- Since my pump should never come on while underway, I wire the small pump/switch into a buzzer in the engine room I can hear from the cockpit even with the engine running. I also include a switch to turn off the buzzer… the last thing you need in an emergency is to have an an obnoxious noise adding to your stress or interfering with communications. Plus, usually I am pumping the bilge manually, and don’t want to hear the noise while I do so. I have used those backup beepers. If hear that beeper/buzzer while on board, I take note. If I’m too busy to check the bilge immediately and it doesn’t stop in about a minute, I know I have a problem.
- My secondary pump is mounted a couple inches higher in the bilge, on a float switch, no buzzer. It is as large as I can install. I’m not expecting it to keep the boat afloat in the event of a serious leak, just buy me time to slow or stop the leak, radio for assistance, etc.
'hope that’s of some use to you.
Dan Weinstein
Look Farther, 30C #205
East Greenwich RI
Here’s another idea to install an electric bilge pump, if you already have a manual one. It may sound strange to you, but hear me out.
- Get a normal submersible bilge pump with the same output diameter as the hose that’s in your bilge, connected to the manual pump.
- Undo the suction strainer from the hose (in the bilge) of the manual pump.
- Connect the electrical bilge pump to the hose of the manual pump.
- wire it up with a float switch
- done.
No extra holes in your boat’s stern or bulkheads, no T-connections and bilge water bubbling up your sink and… no extra hoses!
Manual bilge pumps contain two valves. They both open in the same direction. When pressurized from the input side, they open up. Electrical submersible pumps are “open” when not running. You can just suck water through them with another pump.
What about resistance when installing them in series? Yes, there will be more resistance. However, if you did get an electrical pump with an output as large as the input of your manual pump, you’ll have plenty of power to push through your manual pump. The resistance of a submersible pump is very minimal.
mark h
n36#25 Cotton Eye Joe
europe, netherlands