Hi Rodd,

Use a SS plate or aluminum plate – it sinks and and will stay down and won't corrode. You could also use 1/2 acrylic. Don't use wood. It floats. It rots. It smells bad.

Bob

On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 5:03 AM, Rodd Leeds < ([email][/email])> wrote:

In preparation for in-water storage this winter I want to install a rule 500 bilge pump and a float switch in the deep bilge. My question is how best to anchor the pump and switch in the bilge. I thought perhaps to mount both items on a peice of wood and then screw the wood to the bottom of the deep bilge. Any ideas here would be helpful.

Thanks.

Rodd Leeds
Windseeker

—
Bob Fine
s/v Pelican
Hull #8

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Rodd,

A PO mounted the electric bilge pump and float switch in my boat on a 3/8″ thick, rectangular stainless steel plate with 4 small, stainless bales welded around it. Lines tied to these bales lead pyramid-fashion to a single hoisting line, which in turn ties to a vertical floor timber within reach from the open hatch above. This way I can lift the entire bilge pump assembly up and out of the bilge for service, or just to get it out of the way so I can climb down in there for general access, things that would be pretty awkward to do if you screw a mounting pad into the floor of the sump. The sheer weight of the stainless plate obviates the need to fasten it to the bottom of the bilge. The plate is sized to fit the breadth of the sump floor so that it will not move no matter how the boat rocks or heels.

I then wired the bilge pump float switch to sound a beeper in the nav station, and to yellow LED lights in the nav station and in the cockpit, so I’ll be aware when it’s cycling on. I have not installed a counter, but they’re a good idea, too, so you’ll know if the pump has been working – and how often – in your absence.

In addition, I mounted another float switch on a small shelf about 18″ above the sump floor as a high water alarm switch. That leads to a car horn mounted in the nav station, and also to red LED lights located as above.

Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rod,
Many of us have mounted the pump and switch on a board of wood or plastic hung from the inside frame of the floor hatch. You just cut the board to the depth of the bilge. Then it is relatively easy to pull the pump and switch up for periodic maintenance or replacement. My setup is described at: Cleaning up the Bilge Mess. I used a 1×1/2 wooded board that I painted. The board has lasted for over 6 years, but can be easily replaced. Maybe all that crud that collects in the bilge is really a wood preservative.:)

John

On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 8:38 AM, Robert Fine < ([email][/email])> wrote:

Hi Rodd,

Use a SS plate or aluminum plate – it sinks and and will stay down and won't corrode. You could also use 1/2 acrylic. Don't use wood. It floats. It rots. It smells bad.

Bob

On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 5:03 AM, Rodd Leeds < ([email][/email])> wrote:

In preparation for in-water storage this winter I want to install a rule 500 bilge pump and a float switch in the deep bilge. My question is how best to anchor the pump and switch in the bilge. I thought perhaps to mount both items on a peice of wood and then screw the wood to the bottom of the deep bilge. Any ideas here would be helpful.

Thanks.

Rodd Leeds
Windseeker

—
Bob Fine
s/v Pelican
Hull #8

—
Regards,
John Stevenson
http://www.svsarah.com

Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum

+1 on wood. I replaced the wood post that ran down from the cabin sole to the plate the pump was mounted on with vinyl wood substitute. The old wood had absorbed diesel and God knows what else and STUNK. I put it in the car to take it for disposal, and a few hours later I could barely get in the car.

<.. snip>

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Walter,

Sounds like maybe it’s time to clean your boat’s bilge. If you then paint it (white!), you’ll be able to spot leaks in the future as they occur, whether oil or water, and deal with them early on.

Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is clean now, and has been for a long time, but I think this wood post was 30 years old.

<.. snip>

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I like the idea of a sideboard with everything mounted to it better than everything sitting on a platform because it will allow you to get the pump all the way to the bottom of the bilge, just a thought.

-p

<.. snip>

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You’re right, Pat, in that my pump is necessarily 3/8″ off the bottom of the sump because the stainless steel mounting plate is that thick. In addition, the float switch, also 3/8″ off the bottom because of the mounting plate, needs a little additional water level to kick in. However, the manual bilge pump is as flat on the bottom as can be and that keeps the water level down to a sliver.

Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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I have long planned on pouring three to six inches of additional ballast in the bilge, leaving a small portion of the forward part of the bilge its original depth. In this area, I’ll call it a sump, I plan to install a small bilge pump with an automatic switch. I expect this pump to do 99.999% of the pumping. Additionally, I plan on installing a second bilge pump in the 2 to 3.7 thousand gallons per minute range, several inches above the height of the newly installed ballast. This will be my Oh S**t pump and I really hope to never have to use it.

Lee

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Yikes that a big pump….. which one are you looking at? How are you going to power something like that?
alan

— On Mon, 10/6/08, Lee Yonkers <> wrote:

Oh, Lee, now you’re opening up one of those thousand-opinions subjects. OK, I’ll play. Here’s my set up, which I’m presently in the process of finishing up:

– 1 electric pump, float-switch activated
– 2nd electric pump, remote, manually activated
– 1 manual pump by the helm
– 2nd manual pump in the cockpit, via a Y-valve allowing the holding tank’s Whale Gusher pump-out to pull from the bilge
– Engine raw water pump via a Y-valve to pull from the bilge, through a bilge screen and the raw water strainer
– Possibly: Y-valve to allow the deck washdown pump to pull from the bilge

All of these pull from what I call the deep sump, that wonderfully cavernous area abaft the ballast shelf and forward of the engine into which all bilge water eventually empties – at least, on my boat.

If things get really scary, I also have a few buckets aboard.

Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Right now I am looking at two 12V Rules one is a 2000 GPH and the other is a 3700 GPH. These GPH numbers are always suspect because they are measured at what amounts to a perfectly horizontal flow – no lifting allowed. The 3700 GPH draws 15.5Amps with a 25 amp fuse.

Lee

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I looked into filling the sump area with a lightweight concrete product a couple of years ago. I found a distributor out in Arizona who supplies various mixes that use expanded polystyrene beads. The material is light enough to float, but almost as strong as regular concrete. I only needed three or four bags however. He couldn’t be bothered with such a small order. I’m still interested if anyone finds a source.

http://www.foamliteconcrete.com/

—
Rich Carter
Blacksheep #47

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I replaced the manual bilge pump a couple of years ago. I thought the old Whale pump was broken and couldn’t find a repair kit. After removing it, I found a small piece of wood jammed in the intake valve. I replaced with a Plastimo manual pump. The handle stows in the lid of the pump face, making it convenient. We use it exclusively to drain the sump. That way, we’re sure that the darn thing works if we ever need it. We of course have a large capacity electric pump with a float switch, but we never let the water level get that high unless we clean the bilge out. We also have a Y valve on the shower sump pump. I also keep a 115V sump pump on the boat. I can run that off the inverter.

—
Rich Carter

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Sounds good, Rich. I guess the point is to have several separate pumps available, electric and manual, with plenty of extra pumping capacity if things get dicey.

Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Holy crap! Do you have a 700# bilge pump?

3/8 stainless to support it? I would think 1/8 would be overkill 🙂

My bilge thingy is made from 1/2” starboard.

On 10/6/08 11:07 AM, Silver Heels wrote :

We hang ours on a baton which we put one screw in to hold it in place.. then we can lift it out of the bottom of the bilge whenever we feel like looking at it.. It's really low tech and low cost.

– pat

On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 3:32 PM, Aaron Lynch < ([email][/email])> wrote:

Use a piece of that dense white stuff==Starboard?–. It sinks, won’t corrode, and shows through nicely when the bilge fluid is clear water. I tied cords to ours, one forward and two astern to enable me to pull the pump a switch up if needed.

Norris Larson, Easy Reach #206

— On Mon, 10/6/08, Silver Heels <> wrote: