Bilge Pump Dilema

M

moonular

New member
I have a 2004 Angler 19 and want to upgrade the bilge pump system. The factory installed "on-demand" pump back between the fuel tanks will do nothing but drain my battery (periodically turns on by itself to "check" for water).

Two problems; 1. There is no recess in the deck to set a bilge pump/float switch into even if I wanted to install a better one. 2. I have read in this excellent forum that water may not even drain back to the fuel tank area even if there was a way to "recess" a float switch back there (unless maybe if the fuel tanks are kept topped off). Thus many 22's have it up forward by the cabin blkhd.

I will be keeping the boat in the water all year long in the PNW and bvelieve it or not, the old funky marina it will stay in does not really have reliable shore power so installing a small batterycharger won't help either. It looks like the best choice is to have a cockpit canvas made to keep out rain & snow but I will want the pump to work while at anchor as well.

So I am wondering what my choices might be. I have a small solar panel (5W) but I know that won't do much. Should I just leave the existing bilge pump installed and install larger solar panels?

Should I get a full boat cover made instead of just a cockpit cover?

Is there any areas in the deck that even have enough depth to fab & install a recessed area for a small bilge pump & float switch?

Any and all suggestions would be great!

Thanks,

BC
 
How often will you or someone else check on the boat? The reason I ask is that you want enough available power to keep the bilge pump running between the times that you check on the boat. For me, if I'm moored in the water continuously, I want shore power and a charger to keep the battery topped off and with enough power to run the bilge pump if needed (<6A for a Rule 1100).

Since you don't have reliable shore power where you're at, a solar panel is a reasonable option, especially when complemented with a slant back canvas to keep the water out. Remember in most normal situations, the water that enters the boat is either rain water leaking in around the openings or a very slow leak through something like a leaky through-hull (the plug, some transducers). In those cases, water will accumulate quite slowly and the bilge pump will activate rarely (< once or twice a day). I Rule 1100 bilge pump that runs for even 1 hour/day only uses 6A-hours from the battery and your battery(ies) should be able to supply 10's of A-hours before going dead. A 30W solar panel can supply about of 2.5A @12V (at full sun) so on a bad day (4 hours full sun equivalent), you should get around 10A-hrs back into the battery. So if there's no reliable shore power and you won't be checking on the boat at least once/week, I'd recommend a larger solar panel to keep the batteries topped off for what I think is the most likely bad case scenario. 30W panels aren't that expensive.

Depending on how your boat is set up, you might not have any through hulls other than the plug. If the plug is old, replace it with a new one (fresh rubber on the seal). Also, if you do get a mooring cover, pay attention to how you set up any fenders or lines (or anything else) that enter into the cockpit. Lines that run downward into the cockpit (for example an unused bow line that is just laid into the cockpit floor) can serve as wicks/paths for water to enter when it's raining.
 
First I would get a good slant back cockpit cover (no need for a boat cover)--and the cockpit cover will give a tighter seal. Use a plastic "awning rail" at the aft end of the cabin house, for the welt of the forward end of the canvas--you can also use awning rail on the cabin sides, rather than snaps. Use snaps on the outside of the boat--and in the engine well--so that no water will get in the cockpit.

I would also put a larger solar panel, and controller--so you don't over charge the battery.

There is no place to put a sump in the cockpit or cabin. The balsa core floor is the bottom of the boat--although a very shallow sump can be formed by removing the core, and glassing in that area. (Which is what is done in the back of the boat).
 
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