On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 10:39:36 +1100, "David Flew"
wrote:

I've taken this back to just single post to rec boats building .... Someone
else can cross post it if they wish.
I'll start off the straw poll.
I've had two float switch failures and one pump failure.
My other comment is that I'd never put the float switch after the pump, that
makes the pump and both wires to the float switch permanently live. If the
float switch is first, it's only the wire to the float switch and the switch
itself that is live.

A previous owner of my previous small clinker fishing boat had wired it pump
then switch. And the wires ran through the bilge water. Insulation
breakdown on the wire from pump to switch. This resulted in electrolytic
attack and complete destruction on several copper nails in what I think is
called the cover strip - at any rate nails which had been long enough to go
well down into a very old keelson. It didn't quite sink .... After this
was all fixed up, and new pump etc fitted, the boat still leaked. Turned
out the electrolysis had also eaten away most of the 3/8" dia copper engine
bed bolts. By the time we had fixed all this and a few other things we were
pretty good at getting the engine out - the record was 20 minutes!.

David

Very good point, found a good page on bilge pumps that raises a couple
of other points:

http://www.yachtsurvey.com/bilge_pumps.htm

cheers,
Pete.