Check Your bilge pump hose

[alldodge]

During the process of cleaning my bilge while the engine is out I grab the hose and if felt hard. Gave it a slight pull and it cracked like almost an egg. Just prior to pulling the engine and during winterization I had the hose in and the pump was working fine. All other hoses in the engine compartment of the same size and larger are pliable. Recon being under the engine it managed to get a bit more heat and dried it out. The fist pic is prior to me grabbing it, and it looks fine.

Replacing all of it. Did check all remaining hoses and they are good

 

[fishrdan]

AD, is that bilge hose the cheap/thin corrugated bilge hose, or heavy duty reinforced bilge hose? (can't tell from the pics)

I won't use the cheap corrugated bilge hose after finding it degrade and break after 5-6 years.

My current boat had the heavy duty reinforced bilge hose when I bought the boat. The hose was hard as a rock as it had been sitting in fuel a lot, boat had leaking fuel tank. The hose was hard as a rock, but I couldn't break it, changed it out for new $4/foot bilge hose. Maybe your bilge hose got hard since it's the lowest hose in the boat and subjected to more bilge-petrol contact?

 

[alldodge]

AD, is that bilge hose the cheap/thin corrugated bilge hose, or heavy duty reinforced bilge hose? (can't tell from the pics)

I won't use the cheap corrugated bilge hose after finding it degrade and break after 5-6 years.

My current boat had the heavy duty reinforced bilge hose when I bought the boat. The hose was hard as a rock as it had been sitting in fuel a lot, boat had leaking fuel tank. The hose was hard as a rock, but I couldn't break it, changed it out for new $4/foot bilge hose. Maybe your bilge hose got hard since it's the lowest hose in the boat and subjected to more bilge-petrol contact?

This is the heavy corrugated hose, not the real cheap stuff but also not the high dollar either, it's in my 1994 Formula (20 years old). All the hose of the same type used for drains and cabin bilge are all good, only this one. It may have come in contact with stuff over the years which made it brittle, don't know. Will be replacing it with the good stuff, just thought I would put it out there, because I check hoses but never reached under the engine to check that one. Figured if all the others were in good shape that one would be also, no longer

 

[alldodge]

I found the hose, it's shields multiflex 141

http://www.iboats.com/Multiflex-Hos...272208--session_id.464592738--view_id.1186550

 

[redneck joe]

I was just thinking about mine last night. I'll check.

 

[bruceb58]

I am going to check mine now.

 

[tpenfield]

I have used some of that stuff in the past for an auxiliary bilge pump. Interesting to see that it gets so brittle with age. Definitely something to keep in mind as a regular maintenance check.

Whenever I have to disconnected old hoses, etc.,I usually use a heat gun to soften them up a bit. Not sure that would have made any difference in this case though.

 

[alldodge]

I have used some of that stuff in the past for an auxiliary bilge pump. Interesting to see that it gets so brittle with age. Definitely something to keep in mind as a regular maintenance check.

Whenever I have to disconnected old hoses, etc.,I usually use a heat gun to soften them up a bit. Not sure that would have made any difference in this case though.

I could probably have used heat to get it off, but the hose just turned brittle. Go figure, have 4 other hoses of the same size and type in the engine compartment and those four are still easy to bend.

 

[Watermann]

When rebuilding my first boat I was needing some bilge pump hose and noticed I had some left over pond pump hose from my Koi pond project. I thought if it was good enough to run on a pump 24/7 in a pond that it would be good for the bilge pump application and they were the same diameter so I installed it after checking the hose in the pond. The pond hose had been on there for 6 years and was still in great shape, pliable, with no cracking even after being outside and in the water for years.