Bilge pump question

rossjo · Post by **rossjo** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 12:29 pm

Yes sir, the Y-Valve makes sense. I know of at least one boat saved by using the engine's seawater pumps to pump out. But you need the Y-Valve (and someone monitoring closely) to keep water going to the engine when the water has been sucked out.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 12:36 pm

I would rate Rule pumps better then attwood but not by a whole lot . Lovett makes one of the best pumps around . the only proplem with them is the biggist the make is a 1500 . opps make that 1200

gjrylands · Post by **gjrylands** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 2:38 pm

Itâ€™s a good idea to have a bilge pump light at the helm that indicates when the bilge pump is running. If the pump runs for an abnormal amount of time it will alert you to a potential problem. There may be something holding the float switch up, in which case removing it will save the pump from burning out. It may also be running because there is water coming into the boat and alert you to the problem.

Water can get in a few ways. The most common way is to have a hole in the boat. This could be from hitting something, something breaking, or something coming loose. In any case, find where the water is coming in and try to stop or slow the water from entering. You may not be able to stop it, but you may be able to slow it enough to have the bilge pumps keep up until you can fix it. Certainly using the engines to pump out water is a good emergency method, but never under estimate the amount of water can you bail with a bucket.

If you have hit something and have a large hole you may only have enough time to prepare to abandon ship. Get life preservers on, radio a "May Day" and prepare to get wet. It will take a little while for the boat to sink. Stay with it as long as you can and wait for help. On the other hand, you may have enough time to cover the hole with raincoat or plastic bag, or anything else you may have to slow the flow. If you can get the bag or coat to cover the hole on the outside of the boat, the pressure of the water trying to enter will hold and seal the bag to the hole and dramatically slow the flow. This could be the difference of sinking or not.

Maybe a packing nut came loose and just needs to be screwed back on or a drain plug came out and can be put back in.

If something broke, such as a hose, you may only have to shut off the seacock. If an engine hose split and is dumping water in the bilge rather then over board you can shut down the engine and make temporary repairs. Duct tape may work well enough to get you back to port.

If you are in heavy seas and have water washing over and in the boat swamping you, try slowing up or changing directions. Try to keep the water from getting into the bilge or cabin. Cover the hatch joints with plastic bags. Cover a broken window with a seat cushion, raincoat, or anything else you may have.

When in survival mode, donâ€™t hesitate to cannibalize parts of the boat to save the crew and the boat. Stopping the water from coming in is more important then trying to get the water out. The boat will still float with a lot of water in it but not if water cotinues to get in.

reelfishin · Post by **reelfishin** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 6:31 pm

We have three bilge pumps. One forward, one mid and one aft. All three are monitored with lights at the helm. Also all three have manual switches we can turn on at the helm. The mid and aft have high water alarms on them and they do work.
We installed a pump with a internal switch. I do have my reservations about this type. We have had trash get stuck in it and cause a high water alarm. Now I make sure I vacuum out the bildge area and watch for trash.

AuxiliaryComms · Post by **AuxiliaryComms** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 11:36 pm

Regarding bilge pumps in the engine bilge, how do you get around the dangers of pumping oil overboard?

Also, for damage control, for a large hole a seat cushion or mattress braced by a couple of boat poles can do a bit to help slow or stop the water.

LandVF36 · Post by **LandVF36** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 12:32 am

I've been thinking about installing the "Y" valve idea on the engine water pump intakes. I had that set up on my previous boat. I orginally set it up for winterization. At haul out, I'd drain the blocks and manifolds, move the lever to divert water from being drawn from the scupper to a hose on the other side of the "Y" stuck into a 5 gallon bucket I'd filled with antifreeze.

The last season we had that boat, I was out for a Sunday cruise. I had let my brother take the helm and had went up to sit on the bow deck with my first mate and snoozed off listening to the drown of the twin V8s at about 900 RPM. I'd been away from the helm for an hour or two, just enjoying the sun, when I noticed the engines sounded like they were working harder than they had been. Looking over the bow rail, it seemed like we were plowing a little extra water too. We were running pretty slow, and I just assume that my brother had tipped the trim tabs all the down, causeing the heavy bow and the extra load (not to mention my 260lb butt sitting up front with 3 other sun-bathers.)

As I walked back down the gunwalls to the cockpit, sudden panick strick in as I realized that we were actually sitting about a foot lower in the water that we were suppose too! I could hear all sorts of water splashing around under the engine hatches. We were sinking!

I moved a chair and opened the starboard hatch to find that the exhaust hose on that engine had a hole in it the size of a softball pumping water into the bildge! We immediately shut that engine down. The bildge pumps were running, but not keeping up. I stepped between the enginers into nearly knee deep water. The top of the battery boxes and spark plugs just 4-5 inches above the water line.

Anyway, I reached down in the water to see if some sort of debris was blocking the bildge pumps. I didn't find anything but my hand crossed over the "Y" valve. I simply moved the valve to the "winterize" side and tada the water started going down. We wrapped the exhaust manifold with duct tape and used both engines to pump the bildge.

Interesting point, the cause of the hole was a cracked exhaust log. The uncooled exhaust coming through a crack in the water jacket had melted the hose.

As noted in a post above, its good advice to have lights at your helm to indicate when your bildges are running. I've also installed CO gas detectors in the bildge of our Trojan. Hopefully if something like this happens again, I'd get a warning from the gas detector right away and see the bilge lights. Addtionally, the CO detector is also a great safety feature for your guests that travel in the salon on inclimate days.

Mitch

reelfishin · Post by **reelfishin** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 6:58 am

We keep mats under our engines to catch what oil they might drop. So far our engines do not leak very much oil at all. If they start dripping oil we will have them repaired.

David Kane · Post by **David Kane** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 9:05 am

Captain Ross is right on track with having both electrically operated and hand operated pumps on board. Let's not forget that anything electrically operated can fail for any of a bunch of reasons. When are you most likely to know when it's failed? When you need to use it, of course!!! I'ts always a good idea to have 1-2 manual pumps at the ready just in case.

rossjo · Post by **rossjo** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 10:05 am

I should also mention that we never leave the dock without (2) 5-gallon buckets. We use 1 with trash bags for a trash can, and usually a 2nd with out, or as a bait bucket (for melting Ballyhoo for example).

Those 5-gallon buckets can be handy, although I'd sure hate to have the boat so far down that I would have to bail with them!

One older gentlemen at the Marina we fish out of hit a Coast Guard buoy @ 5:30am in the dark, and had to keep his 58 footer on plane to keep the hole above the water line. His only choice to avoid sinking was to run the boat up on the beach (SC has shallow sand beaches). Ouch.

Another boat, a 62 foot Viking owned by a prominent boat manufacturer here, lost one of his rudders during a tournament. They noticed the bilge water and steam, so they stuffed a rag in the 3" rudder box along with a hammer handle and fished all day, then returned home with the mate sitting below decks watching that rag. Ouch again.

Things can happen in the ocean or the dock - best to be prepared! I've been the 1st on the scene on 2 sinkings (both smaller 21' size boats) and its not a pretty situation ...