bilge pump setup

[sgreen5]

im going to be keeping my boat in the water this summer. i want to know what bilge pump to get and how should i wire it? while im posting is there anything else i need to do or know about when haveing a slip besides bottom paint. thanks

 

[cr2k]

Re: bilge pump setup

Get an automatic pump and wire as directed by instructions.
If your boat will go unused for long periods you may think about a battery tender (if shore power is available) or a solar panel to keep your battery up.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: bilge pump setup

well a lot depends on the boat--self bailers aren't at risk as much as all-bilge boats. If it's all bilge, a cover to shed rain water is a good idea.
what is important is to check it once a week or so if there has been a lot of rain and after a storm--keep the battery charged.
If you bought a new battery at the beginning of the summer, you wouldn't need trickle or solar; and I don't like shore power due to electrolysis.
wiring diagrams are easy to find--you want a battery switch to cut off your battery, but have the float switch wired directly to the battery.

 

[sgreen5]

Re: bilge pump setup

well a lot depends on the boat--self bailers aren't at risk as much as all-bilge boats. If it's all bilge, a cover to shed rain water is a good idea..

how do you know if you have a self bailer?
any recomandations on a good brand of pump?

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: bilge pump setup

brand really doesn't matter.

Does your boat have drains at the stern, going through the transom, so that if you get water in the boat, it washes out the back? And if it rains, does it run out those holes (the holes are higher than the water line)? that's one form of self-bailing.

Another is a boat that while moored, you can pull the plug and it won't fill with water. Rain water will drain out. But when you get in the boat to use it, it starts filling up. Boston Whaler and Carolina Skiff do this--but it depends on motor size (weight) too.

Or do you have a floor drain, and water that gets in your boat drains down under the deck, and has to be pumped out or run out?

I started to say, I sure hope your boat came with a bilge pump. But that's making assumptions. Many smaller open boats don't have them; you just bail them out or run them out. Many small boats don't have batteries, so no pump. I made a float switch bilge pump for my whaler out of a D-cell pump b/c I didn't want to add a boat battery (pull-start motor) but I sitting low and getting some slime from the small amount of water in the stern.

what is your boat?

 

[coastalrichard]

Re: bilge pump setup

What make and model boat do you have?