backup bilge pump for 07 22' cruiser

C

Capital Sea

New member
I have noted Q&A about 06 and pre 06 cruiser's with two bilge pumps but have seen very little about backup or 2nd bilge pumps on 22's with only one standard pump.
I have a house battery, and a fused outlet for the cockpit (used for shrimp puller power).
My desire is to have a means to extract water at a good rate in an emergency from either the cabin or the cockpit. Also, as the main pump has been blocked with gunk more than once, I would use a backup to extract water from the rear well so I can clean things out in an inch or less of water rather than the three I have twice been faced with.

So my plan is to mount a 2nd bilge pump on an alloy plate 5"X5"X3/4" and wire it with an 8' power cord. I would intend to pump over the side of the boat.
Will this work? If I use a larger pump will that compensate for the added rise? Will I need to manually prime the pump with this set up?
Helpful advice would be appreciated.
 
What I am really looking for is a recommendation of pump size in order to get good flow with a 2' rise and a hose length of 6' or so.

It is interesting that thy force with which water shoots out of the through hull dedicated to the existing bilge pump is strong enough that one could, it appears, just attach a fitting to a backup pump that is aimed up at say 45 degrees and you could fire hose the water out of the boat.
 
These little centrifical pumps do a decent job of moving wate, but just not over a high head. You should do well with a 1000 gallons an hour pump. I keep a 3700 gallon an hour pump around the house/boat etc. (1 1/2" hose) I also have an older diaphram Jabsco pump--More of a water vacuum, since it will get down to 1/4" or less, using the cut end of the hose.

With the 800 to 1000 gal an hour you can stick with managable 3/4" hose, and it should do fine over the gunnel.
 
Added a second bilge pump, same as factory in rear sump, glued with down with 5200, worked good. Removed the drain from the rear live bait well, and ran new bilge pump to that thru hull fitting, I ran directly to 2nd battery installed in this compartment. Really nice having each pump on separate battery's. I also installed a manual toggle switch for the new pump in the compartment.Hope this helps.
 
Steve,

When we installed a second bilge pump I used a 1000gph pump from West Marine with a built-in automatic float switch. The pump and switch are situated adjacent to the small sump inboard of the bilge plug.

The pump itself is wired directly to the #2 battery in the port lazarette (so it's hot all the time, no on/off switch required), and plumbed into the outlet for the bait tank located in the port lazarette, so there is very little vertical rise for the pump to overcome.

It's probably unnecessary, but it give you some peace-of-mind when at anchor in the outback.

Casey
C-Dory Naknek
 
I have had two of my 1000 gph RuleMate pumps get stuck and burn fuses. When it happens, I take the pump out of the basket, unscrew the impeller housing and get the thing turning freely again. The first time there was something stuck between the impeller and housing. The second time, I couldn't see anything which led me to believe it seized inside or something was hidden under the impeller.

I have 2 identical pumps, but only one is installed (I've swapped them). My goal is to put both pumps in the bilge, one on each battery, and only one wired to the helm override switch. The second one I will install maybe 1/2" higher than the first so it will only come on if the first fails, or if the cockpit gets hit by a big wave. :shock:

I was considering just using the through hull that the port compartment drains too, and let the port compartment drain onto the gas tank. Another option is to pump the water up into the motor well so it can drain out that way, but the existing unused hole I planned on using points right at the outboard and I don't really want to blast water at it.

Any ideas/thoughts?
 
I replaced my aft bilge pump (a 550 gal/hr ) with a ne, old style 1500 pump. It takes the larger hose (1.5" I belive) and puts out like a fire hose now. I would have used the Rule 1100 but when they did the re-design, they changed the switch on the new ones from a float to an electronic sensor so that the pump would not pump out oil or gas. AND if they are mixed with water, it won't pump that out either. The re-design went into the 500, 750, and 1100, so I went with the 1500. It is bigger and heavier, but pumps 3x what I had there originally. BTW, I stuck it down with 4200 fast set.

Not that I want to pump oil or gas into the ocean, but in the event that that stuff is floating around in the 22 bilge I think I'll have bigger problems to worry about, and I want whatever is in that cockpit out NOW.

I would have put a 1500 in the door step bilge, but it would not fit so had to go with the new design 1100 there. That was another reason to go with the 1500 aft. If that new design doesn't pump, I need double capacity from the sole remaining active pump in the stern.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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Both of mine (that came with the boat) are float style 1100s. My 2006 only has one bilge between the tanks. My cockpit has a permanent flat floor and no bulkhead opening to a cabin bilge like some boats have.
 
Don't get me wrong - all good discussion here, but best to keep in mind that your typical bilge pump does nothing in case of an "emergency".

A 1500 gph pump will output only 25 gpm (at 0 head). That's not much. Especially when you are in water up to your knees... If you are having an "emergency" you have much more than 25 gallons on board. I once calculated the cockpit of my 2004 22' could hold about 600 gal of water (with the door closed (!)). Assuming I took a pooping wave aboard of only half that size, it would take about 30 min (with 3' of head and a 1500 gph pump) to pump it out. You might think that's acceptable but for the fact that 300 gallons of water would weigh in at over 2500 pounds. That's about 2200 pounds too much for too long. My boat would be swamped and sinking in far sooner than 30 minutes. It's not the volume (gallons); it's the weight you must be concerned about.

Anyway, my point is: back up bilge pump = yes; relying on a typical bilge pump in an "emergency" = no.
 
My intent is to prevent water from getting up to the bottom of the cabin door in the marina if one pump fails during *heavy* rain or when we're out of town. It's going to be a reserve pump, which is why it will be mounted higher (only the lowest working one comes on in a normal situation). I'm not planning on having them both run at the same time.
 
They will both pump if there's enough water, but the idea is to have it be a backup or reserve pump, and only run it after the first one fails due to clogging or wearing out.
 
I'm not sure what the hose sizes are on your two pumps, but I've in the past rigged up a "nuisance water" pump and then a higher/bigger "crash pump" (which, as has been pointed out is not really going to save a true quick sinking, but at least may help in some circumstances).

For the nuisance water pump (everyday pump) I went with one that uses 3/4" hose, so that there was the minimum volume of water to slide back after each pumping cycle. The bigger pump was set higher up so that it would not normally be in use and it was a larger pump with larger hose (that would have let a more annoying volume of water slide back after each cycle if it was used as the nuisance water pump).

This may not be directly applicable to a C-Dory, but since at the moment I'm just sitting here waiting for rain to go away I thought I'd post.
 
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