2nd Bilge Pump

How are you guys wiring a 2nd automatic bilge pump. A local mechanic recommended that I add a second pump being it is docked this year. The boat does not take on water, but if it rains or if a shift bellow breaks I would like the added saftey.

Does it do good to wire in a sound device so if the auto pump enguages it will alert the dock personnel? I find this a waste if it was just a little rain water.

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump

Fordiesel69 said:

Does it do good to wire in a sound device so if the auto pump enguages it will alert the dock personnel? I find this a waste if it was just a little rain water.

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if it were me and i decided to add a second along with an alarm, i think i would install it a couple inches higher than the other. that way if it does just rain the the first will take care of that.... but if its major then the alarm would sound also.

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump

I have fore and aft bilge pumps. Two pumps, two completely separate circuits for redundancy.

Wiring your bilge pump to a horn will make you a very, very unpopular with your neighbors. Can?t imagine trying to relax on my boat and have the neighbor?s horns blaring off and on all the day. Couldn?t wait for the batteries to die and shut the thing up.

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump

cedarjunki said:

if it were me and i decided to add a second along with an alarm, i think i would install it a couple inches higher than the other. that way if it does just rain the the first will take care of that.... but if its major then the alarm would sound also.

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Total agreement with mounting it a little higher. I was just about to post that after reading the initial post and found this one.
I would skip the alarm though personally.

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump

I forgot to add, I have a factory pump that is manual and switched on from the dash, so it will not run unless I manually run it. It is also glassed over and mounted real well enough I don;t want to rip it out for an auto.

Rather I want just one more wired straight to the battery (with fuse of course) and have that one run only if there becomes a problem.

Then I was thinking of mounting a float switch seperate from the pump to activate the horn if there becomes a major problem.

Can I use the same outlet port and just add check valves, or do I need to cut another hole in my boat?

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump

I would add the thru-hull. If the reason for flooding is a broken thru-hull on pump 1, pump 2 would do you no good if it was shared.

Terry

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump

Since I have a slip for the season and my boat only has one manually controlled bilge pump, I put in a second pump with a float switch directly from the battery and a bit higher than the manually controlled pump. I also put in a totally independent discharge that will pee on the dock if it comes on .... wet dock = wet boat.

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump

I guess I?m missing something.

The only reason to add a second pump is for capacity. If both pumps are not automatically activated what have you really accomplished? Why not convert your manual pump to an automatic pump by installing float switch to the existing bilge pump? The second pump would then add capaicty to the system.

What do you hope to accomplish with your horn? The horn sounds, now what?

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump

dingbat said:

I guess I?m missing something.

The only reason to add a second pump is for capacity. If both pumps are not automatically activated what have you really accomplished? Why not convert your manual pump to an automatic pump by installing float switch to the existing bilge pump? The second pump would then add capaicty to the system.

What do you hope to accomplish with your horn? The horn sounds, now what?

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I disagree with your statement that I bolded. Lots of people want a second pump in case the first pump doesn't work. I can't imagine leaving a boat on the water unattended having only one bilge pump. Mechanical things can (and do) break.

Wiring the pump to the horn sounds like a bad idea. Seems like a really good way to tick off your neighbors, and possibly open your boat up to vandilism.

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump

security6 said:

I disagree with your statement that I bolded. Lots of people want a second pump in case the first pump doesn't work. I can't imagine leaving a boat on the water unattended having only one bilge pump. Mechanical things can (and do) break.

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http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/sinking/default.asp

When a boat sinks at the dock, the question most likely to be asked is: ?What happened to the bilge pump?? That?s the wrong question, however. By dutifully emptying the bilge periodically, a bilge pump can actually hide a problem--until the pump clogs or the battery goes dead. Water, not bilge pumps, sinks boats. The correct question should be: Where did the water come from?

In 50% of the dockside sinking claims, water found its way into the bilge through leaks at underwater fittings. The majority of the leaks were at stuffing boxes (12), followed by outdrive or shift bellows (11), failed hoses or hose clamps (eight), sea strainers (four), and drain plugs (four). There were two sinkings each from air conditioning fittings, gate valves, transducers, mounting bolts, and mufflers. One boat went to the bottom as a result of a leaking speedometer impeller. It is certainly possible that more than one fitting had been leaking.

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This of course beings up another question, how big of a pump do you need?

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump

Forget the horn idea. Add a float switch to the current setup and add another pump and float switch a little higher on a separate circuit for capacity and redundancy.

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump

Not sure what kinda boaters everyone boats with but if an alarm was going off in our boat other boaters would check it out to see what was up. Guess you all dock around a rough crowd or something. Personally a horn sounds like a good idea to me. Not something that would be ear piercing but something to draw some attention.

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump

I agree with jcupo6...you can add a float switch to your existing pump. Run 1 wire from the float switch and tie into your bilge (hot wire) and run the other float switch wire to the battery pos side with an in line fuse. This way if the bilge fills with water and your not there the float switch will kick on your bilge. You can still manually turn on and off the bilge at the helm. Also a second bilge mounted higher can be wired the same way.

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump

I read this thread and wonder about the boating community around where the posters here dock their boat.

I am presently installing a bilge alarm in my boat, it is set so that if the water in the bilge raises above a predetermined level it would go off. I also plan to get another very large bilge pump to connect to it. I will actually be posting a thread concerning the size after I do some more research on here.

We were sitting at a table in my yacht club and a gentleman who i would say "is not the most friendly guy", walked all the way back from almost the furthest berth to notify us that something was making a buzzing sound on a boat in a slip, a few before his, and he was concerned. it turned out to be an alarm clock but he walked back to check.
I would rather harass my neighbors, if they were so unfriendly, and have them report me to the marina manager, so that i could have someone check out my boat. than to have them call me to say its under water but never disturbed anyone while it was afloat.
Please attach a float switch to the first pump and have it work for small water ingress, like rain etc. however install your second pump with the float switch a bit higher than the first, so that if the first fails, the second would work for you, and DO install your alarm on it, so that it could notify you, or your "unfriendly" neighbors, that something is wrong on your boat, either you are taking on more water than your first pump can handle, or it has failed.
Imagine you are underway, and you develop a leak say a busted bellows or on a trailered boat forgot the drain plug, and your main pump comes on unnoticed but cannot handle the water, at what point do u want to be notified. when the engine bay is full and the boat starts to get sluggish and is now almost impossible to save.
Dont mean to be rude here, i understand that some here are more experienced than me. but take my stupid advice. INSTALL YOUR BILGE ALARM, regardless of what anyone else thinks about it. they are not expensive, and compared to the cost of a boat, they are cheap insurance. I rather my neighbors hate me than to not have a boat so that they could be my neighbors
I plan to install one in my engine bay and one under the floor in the cabin where my second pump is presently mounted.

cheers
P Still No Fuss

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump

nofuss said:

I read this thread and wonder about the boating community around where the posters here dock their boat.

I am presently installing a bilge alarm in my boat, it is set so that if the water in the bilge raises above a predetermined level it would go off. I also plan to get another very large bilge pump to connect to it. I will actually be posting a thread concerning the size after I do some more research on here.

We were sitting at a table in my yacht club and a gentleman who i would say "is not the most friendly guy", walked all the way back from almost the furthest berth to notify us that something was making a buzzing sound on a boat in a slip, a few before his, and he was concerned. it turned out to be an alarm clock but he walked back to check.
I would rather harass my neighbors, if they were so unfriendly, and have them report me to the marina manager, so that i could have someone check out my boat. than to have them call me to say its under water but never disturbed anyone while it was afloat.
Please attach a float switch to the first pump and have it work for small water ingress, like rain etc. however install your second pump with the float switch a bit higher than the first, so that if the first fails, the second would work for you, and DO install your alarm on it, so that it could notify you, or your "unfriendly" neighbors, that something is wrong on your boat, either you are taking on more water than your first pump can handle, or it has failed.
Imagine you are underway, and you develop a leak say a busted bellows or on a trailered boat forgot the drain plug, and your main pump comes on unnoticed but cannot handle the water, at what point do u want to be notified. when the engine bay is full and the boat starts to get sluggish and is now almost impossible to save.
Dont mean to be rude here, i understand that some here are more experienced than me. but take my stupid advice. INSTALL YOUR BILGE ALARM, regardless of what anyone else thinks about it. they are not expensive, and compared to the cost of a boat, they are cheap insurance. I rather my neighbors hate me than to not have a boat so that they could be my neighbors
I plan to install one in my engine bay and one under the floor in the cabin where my second pump is presently mounted.

cheers
P Still No Fuss

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While I think 98% of boaters who hear an alarm going off would stop to help or atleast see what's wrong, I do think you are sending an invitation for the childish 2% to mess with you. I think the theory of the alarm is great, I just worry when it comes to trusting others after some of the things I have seen.