Bilge Pump Questions

[Krats]

Hey All, I am trying to layout my approach to a back up bilge. It's actually going to be lower than the factory installed bilge so in theory it will be the primary. I'm putting it right about the rear main drain plug. My thoughts in order to keep it as simple as possible is to put the outlet on the starboard side but further back. It allows me to drill straight out of that area and not have to run the bilge hose through any other compartment (s).

Also. I did replace my factory installed bilge with one with an integrated float. I went black to black, brown to brown, and caped off the brown w/white (auto). My thinking is that I just keep the bilge set to "on" through Connext and if water is detected by the float, it will be on and start pumping. It tests out perfectly. HOWEVER. I see an image of the bilge indicator largely displayed on the Connext screen which I never saw before. (See below).

So all of this said, any advice or tips on either of these issues is greatly appreciated as usual.

in

 

[Dave burke]

I put mine in the same place. Wired it directly to the battery with a fuse. And I ran the hose through the starboard gunwale behind the pee holes like you’re thinking.

@swatski posted a detailed thread about what he did 2-3 years ago. I followed this and it was very helpful. Let me know if you can’t find it and I’ll try and dig it up.

 

[Krats]

I put mine in the same place. Wired it directly to the battery with a fuse. And I ran the hose through the starboard gunwale behind the pee holes like you’re thinking.

@swatski posted a detailed thread about what he did 2-3 years ago. I followed this and it was very helpful. Let me know if you can’t find it and I’ll try and dig it up.

I'll look for it, thanks

 

[Scottintexas]

Put a water alarm in your engine bay as insurance

 

[swatski]

I put mine in the same place. Wired it directly to the battery with a fuse. And I ran the hose through the starboard gunwale behind the pee holes like you’re thinking.

@swatski posted a detailed thread about what he did 2-3 years ago. I followed this and it was very helpful. Let me know if you can’t find it and I’ll try and dig it up.

Here is a quick repost of my setup (post #2):

"I don't particularly care for the factory bilge pump set up. I don't really like leaving the boat with battery switches on, if it can be avoided.... So, in my boat I finally got a backup bilge pump installed - the way I like it - direct to the battery (fused).

I use the simplest of all pumps - an automatic with a float switch. Attwood or Rule, doesn't matter, they are all the same. They all get terrible reviews, but I think it is primarily due to installation and maintenance issues.
The Ultra (brand) switch is about the only thing that will not fail - and something I would get if I wet slipped.

Otherwise, they all can get stuck in either "off" or "on" position, but I believe those inexpensive float switch automatics are actuslly the most reliable, if frequently tested and kept reasonably clean. One of my past boats leaked heavily (before I rebuilt the transom) - I had a chance to test various setups over the few years I kept it, lol.

Basically - the cycling ones (like the OEM pump) sense a load, any load - so it could be debris that will keep those on and drain your battery pretty quickly leaving the boat unprotected. Same with the "actual liquid sensing" (conductance, optical or whatever) - those can be fooled/activated by dirt - and stay "on". What is even more worrisome, neither of those two types (or the newer ones that "sense" but then default to "cycling" if they think it is just dirt) will actually pump if gasoline or oil is present...
(I'm all for clean environment, but if my boat sinks....)

Here is my backup bilge pump setup (inside the stern):

The pump's base is screwed and 5200-ed to one of the support beams (for the ride plate underneath the hull) at the bottom of the bilge. This backup pump operates completely independently of the factory bilge pump and is the only device in my boat that is live when all battery switches are "OFF". I have it wired directly to the house battery with a 16awg wire (using ground-black, and automatic - brown, with the brown/white - manual sealed off) running in a loom (top in the picture) - going into the engine compartment inside another large loom, along steering cables. The hot wire is fused within few inches of the positive terminal with a 5A fuse. The drain hose (bottom) is a standard 5ft 3/4" with a dedicated thru-hull outlet fitting installed above/forward off of the strbd rear cleat (don't have a picture).

Oh, I forgot to add - the pump is accessible through the cleanout tray hatch/opening - I can reach it to test the pump with the little dial knob. "

EDIT: Here is a picture of the outlet - the pump ejects a 5ft long stream. When putting this kind of back up together - I think it is very important to have an independent hose line/outlet, a well designed system with a short, clear path is more important than the nominal "GPH" rating of a pump, which is often based on unrealistic circumstances.

 

[Krats]

Here is a quick repost of my setup (post #2):

"I don't particularly care for the factory bilge pump set up. I don't really like leaving the boat with battery switches on, if it can be avoided.... So, in my boat I finally got a backup bilge pump installed - the way I like it - direct to the battery (fused).

I use the simplest of all pumps - an automatic with a float switch. Attwood or Rule, doesn't matter, they are all the same. They all get terrible reviews, but I think it is primarily due to installation and maintenance issues.
The Ultra (brand) switch is about the only thing that will not fail - and something I would get if I wet slipped.

Otherwise, they all can get stuck in either "off" or "on" position, but I believe those inexpensive float switch automatics are actuslly the most reliable, if frequently tested and kept reasonably clean. One of my past boats leaked heavily (before I rebuilt the transom) - I had a chance to test various setups over the few years I kept it, lol.

Basically - the cycling ones (like the OEM pump) sense a load, any load - so it could be debris that will keep those on and drain your battery pretty quickly leaving the boat unprotected. Same with the "actual liquid sensing" (conductance, optical or whatever) - those can be fooled/activated by dirt - and stay "on". What is even more worrisome, neither of those two types (or the newer ones that "sense" but then default to "cycling" if they think it is just dirt) will actually pump if gasoline or oil is present...
(I'm all for clean environment, but if my boat sinks....)

Here is my backup bilge pump setup (inside the stern):

The pump's base is screwed and 5200-ed to one of the support beams (for the ride plate underneath the hull) at the bottom of the bilge. This backup pump operates completely independently of the factory bilge pump and is the only device in my boat that is live when all battery switches are "OFF". I have it wired directly to the house battery with a 16awg wire (using ground-black, and automatic - brown, with the brown/white - manual sealed off) running in a loom (top in the picture) - going into the engine compartment inside another large loom, along steering cables. The hot wire is fused within few inches of the positive terminal with a 5A fuse. The drain hose (bottom) is a standard 5ft 3/4" with a dedicated thru-hull outlet fitting installed above/forward off of the strbd rear cleat (don't have a picture).

Oh, I forgot to add - the pump is accessible through the cleanout tray hatch/opening - I can reach it to test the pump with the little dial knob. "

EDIT: Here is a picture of the outlet - the pump ejects a 5ft long stream. When putting this kind of back up together - I think it is very important to have an independent hose line/outlet, a well designed system with a short, clear path is more important than the nominal "GPH" rating of a pump, which is often based on unrealistic circumstances.

Thanks for this it makes me feel much better with my approach.