1984 160SS Bilge Pump

[pastorbobnlnh]

Hi,

I'm new to boating and new to the forum. This spring I bought a very nice 1984 160SS. Completed the NH Safe Boating course in mid May and put it in the water for a test run once. A few days ago I launched it for the summer and now have it in a small lake and docked at our property.

My question is about the Bilge Pump. When I pull the control knob on the dash I do not hear the pump run. Yesterday I was concerned because we had heavy rain all day and even though I had it covered, I'm certain some water entered the hull. I need to explore where the pump is located (I'm guessing below the area where the fuel can is stored in the aft section).

Any suggestions for checking the working order of the pump? If it appears to be original, does it make sense to replace with a new one? I see online that an automatic pump is not that expensive and it looks as if installation is rather easy. Thank you for any guidance and advice.

Bob

Pictures:

 

[Watermann]

:welcome: aboard and to the Starmada Pastorbob, your new SS is in super nice shape. :thumb:

I would check the wiring to the bilge pump, start at the switch and see if you have power to it for the pump and if the switch is good. If you have power to then switch, time to dive in under the splashwell and check the connections to the pump. There may also be an inline fuse.

 

[pastorbobnlnh]

Thanks for the warm welcome Watermann! Yes, it is a beauty that was stored indoors and apparently not used by the OO for a decade plus. The second owner also took great care of it and also stored it indoors over the winter. I hope to care for and keep this beauty for another few decades!

I'll take my electrical meter and check the connections. Do you know if the bilge pump works without the ignition key engaged? Would the original bilge pump be automatic or completely manual? Is it easy to access the splashwell?

Thanks for your help and any insights! I'm very much a newbie to boating, despite being 58 years old!

 

[Watermann]

You should be able to tell if the power going to the switch comes from the key or heads off into the wiring harness but most of the time the pump switch is wired hot all the time especially if has a float switch. 30+ year old boats have had a lot of time for PO's to have made changes or upgrades so you'll have to look at the pump to see if it's original or a replacement. Normally these old SCs have a manual only if original.

At the stern of the boat where the doors are under the splashwell is your only access to the bilge where the pump is located. You have to remove whats in the way, fuel tank, battery and just belly whomp up under there or for a quick way to see what's going on is to reach in with a camera and start snapping pics to see what's down there.

 

[pastorbobnlnh]

Watermann, thanks again for the response. Much appreciated!

Turned out my meter was not working so I couldn't use it to determine if there was a bad wire/connection. There is a 15 amp mini circuit breaker under the door, and I'm not certain what it is for. I disconnected from it and the ignition to the engine still worked.

But back to the bilge pump: I tried hot wiring it directly to the battery and it still did not work. It is a Bison (if I was reading it correctly) and appears to be original in that it appears to be riveted to an aluminum bracket that appears to be riveted to the hull. I'm guessing I'm going to need to carefully (very carefully ) drill the rivets out in order to remove it.

Just a quick look on the web and I found an automatic Seafol bilge pump (750GPM) sold through Amazon for $30.

West Marine sells their branded manual model (500GPM) for $25.

Any thoughts on which of these makes sense for my boat or are there other suggestions?

 

[Watermann]

I've not heard of that brand before. So one of things about iboats here is they're an online retailer like the other 2 you mentioned and our gracious forum host. Personally I always shop here first and iboats has a huge selection of bilge pumps that are all high quality. They also have price match too on like brands as well as if you look above at the top of the page it says 5% discount for forum members.

 

[pastorbobnlnh]

Thanks for the tip on iBoat. I realized after I posted that they also sold parts. I'll check out what they have.

 

[GA_Boater]

Welcome to the Land of Tin Nuts. Bob.

Good, clean looking SS you have there.

I prefer separate bilge pumps and float switches. My pump is about 5 years old with a separate float switch and the switch has already been replaced once. If the pump and switch were all in one, I would have had to replace the entire pump.

But any working bilge pump set up is better than one that doesn't work.

 

[pastorbobnlnh]

GA_Boater GA_Boater thanks for that tip. I will definitely look into this as a possibility.

An update: I found in the shed of our new (to us) lake cottage a small 12 volt submersible pump. I hooked it up to a garden hose, hot wired it to the battery, and was able to pump almost all the water out of the bilge! Afterwards I connected the existing bilge hose to this small pump and now have it ready to use as an interim pump after the next big rain storm (had one last night).

 

[GA_Boater]

GA_Boater GA_Boater thanks for that tip. I will definitely look into this as a possibility.

An update: I found in the shed of our new (to us) lake cottage a small 12 volt submersible pump. I hooked it up to a garden hose, hot wired it to the battery, and was able to pump almost all the water out of the bilge! Afterwards I connected the existing bilge hose to this small pump and now have it ready to use as an interim pump after the next big rain storm (had one last night).

Ingenuity! :smile:

To expand on the pump in my Starcraft. I have two of them. One is manual, wired to a dash switch and the other is on the float switch. The switched pump is wired directly to the battery with no dash control switch, so this auto pump is the primary. The dash controlled pump is the backup, I guess. I feel safer having the two pumps. So far an untested theory, but that's good.

 

[Watermann]

You should think about covering that boat up so water doesn't get in it. The elements are the worst enemy of our boats.

 

[pastorbobnlnh]

You should think about covering that boat up so water doesn't get in it. The elements are the worst enemy of our boats.

Thanks for the suggestion. I am covering it but the cover is not doing the job I hoped for. It is designed for when the boat is on the trailer and not while it is in the water. Over the winter I'll have a local marina make custom snap covers. For the rest of the season I need to come up with a more weather tight system.

 

[Watermann]

Thanks for the suggestion. I am covering it but the cover is not doing the job I hoped for. It is designed for when the boat is on the trailer and not while it is in the water. Over the winter I'll have a local marina make custom snap covers. For the rest of the season I need to come up with a more weather tight system.

You've got the boat moored without a working float switched bilge pump and a leaky cover? ​

 

[pastorbobnlnh]

You've got the boat moored without a working float switched bilge pump and a leaky cover? ​

Unfortunately, yes. But the new automatic bilge pump arrived yesterday. So that will go in tomorrow. I'm at the boat daily so I've been manually operating the temporary pump each day.

As I said, I'm new to boating and boat owning (despite my age), so this is a learning curve. I do appreciate the advise here. It has been very helpful and I'm certain I'll turn to this community often as I progress through the summer and then prepare to winterize and store the boat during the off season.

I've been thinking about a better cover solution until I can have the snap covers made over the winter. I'm thinking that by somehow "tenting" a tarp over the boat might be my best bet. This will require building a frame of some sort and then weighting the ends of the tarp with maybe water jugs? Anyone else needed to do this?

Thanks!