Help - Second Bilge mounting location?

[rkim808]

Aloha Gang,

Been taking advantage of this down time due to the Coronavirus, and working on some of my Yammy Mods. So I been searching through the forum for ideas on mounting locations and techniques, on secondary bilge and Lectrotab trimtabs installation hardware Haven’t been able to find the ones I seen before. Please can u guys help me with ideas, pics, and techniques, mahalo nui loa...

 

[Scottintexas]

Look in the faq at the top of the page,

I'm going to mount my 2nd bilge higher in the engine comparment than the stock along with an alarm,
It will be my "something really bad is happening" in case it's pumping while I'm driving and doing other tasks it will vet my attention

 

[Dave burke]

Search for a post from @swatski 2-3 years ago. I followed what he did, mounted it under the cover for the clean out plugs.

If you can’t find it, let me know and I can dig it up from my posts as I remember asking him questions.

 

[rkim808]

Search for a post from @swatski 2-3 years ago. I followed what he did, mounted it under the cover for the clean out plugs.

If you can’t find it, let me know and I can dig it up from my posts as I remember asking him questions.

Aloha @Dave burke yes I was trying to find that one, yes if u can help me find that thread would be awesome.

 

[swatski]

Here is one, but there are many way to do it:

Secondary bilge pump, IMO.

Here is a quick repost of my setup:

"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.

--

 

[rkim808]

Look in the faq at the top of the page,

I'm going to mount my 2nd bilge higher in the engine comparment than the stock along with an alarm,
It will be my "something really bad is happening" in case it's pumping while I'm driving and doing other tasks it will vet my attention

Aloha @Scottintexas yeah I’ll try look that way. And interesting thought on ur second bilge location. U can name it ur “Oh Shit” Alarm, then hopefully it never goes off.

 

[rkim808]

Here is one, but there are many way to do it:

Aloha and Mahalo @swatski the particular bilge I got was one with a separate float switch. Was wondering where to mount it in the transom area.

 

[Dave burke]

Hmm, that’s a bit different. Mine has a built-in float switch like @swatski. I’d still try and mount it in the transom area, underneath the cover for the clean out ports. I was surprised how much water gets in there.

That said, it’s pretty awkward down there and I broke a couple of drill bits trying to drill screw holes in the aluminum (at least I think it was) block at the bottom. I’d suggest you remove the cover to the clean out ports and have a look. Maybe you could mount the bilge and float switch on a small piece of wood and screw that on the aluminum block.