bilge pump maintenance
 

One of the biggest safety items is a large-capacity manual bilge pump.
I was doing a routine check on ours, a diaphragm-type Edison and found
that it wasn't working properly.

OK, a big part of cruising is working on your boat in exotic (read:
inconvenient) locations. These things are very simple, and the usual
problem is gunk in the check valves. It should be a relatively short
project to take off the check valves.... complicated by the pump's
location under the aft cabin floor... clear them out, and then check
the pump again.

I was not expecting to see... the whole interior of the pump clogged
with salty chunks & salt slush! It was amazing that the pump had
worked relatively well only a few days before... we haven't been in
salt water for about four months... but we had about twenty years
accumulation of salt in the pump body & check valves.

After working at chipping out pieces of salt with a screwdriver for a
while, I decided it would be quicker & easier to dis-mount the pump,
hang it over the side in the nice fresh water of Lake Huron, and let
the salt dissolve.

After an hour of letting it soak, the pump began working much better,
and started spitting out bisquit sized chunks of salt. After ten
minutes of pumping lake water thru it, the chunks began decreasing to
dime-sized and smaller, then down to small chips.

When we get back to salt water, I am going to put the suction of the
manual bilge pump into a bucket of fresh water every week, and clean
it out. I suggest other people add this to their maintenance routine
(those who aren't already doing it).

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

bilge pump maintenance
 

wrote in message
oups.com...
One of the biggest safety items is a large-capacity manual bilge pump.
I was doing a routine check on ours, a diaphragm-type Edison and found
that it wasn't working properly.

OK, a big part of cruising is working on your boat in exotic (read:
inconvenient) locations. These things are very simple, and the usual
problem is gunk in the check valves. It should be a relatively short
project to take off the check valves.... complicated by the pump's
location under the aft cabin floor... clear them out, and then check
the pump again.

I was not expecting to see... the whole interior of the pump clogged
with salty chunks & salt slush! It was amazing that the pump had
worked relatively well only a few days before... we haven't been in
salt water for about four months... but we had about twenty years
accumulation of salt in the pump body & check valves.

After working at chipping out pieces of salt with a screwdriver for a
while, I decided it would be quicker & easier to dis-mount the pump,
hang it over the side in the nice fresh water of Lake Huron, and let
the salt dissolve.

After an hour of letting it soak, the pump began working much better,
and started spitting out bisquit sized chunks of salt. After ten
minutes of pumping lake water thru it, the chunks began decreasing to
dime-sized and smaller, then down to small chips.

When we get back to salt water, I am going to put the suction of the
manual bilge pump into a bucket of fresh water every week, and clean
it out. I suggest other people add this to their maintenance routine
(those who aren't already doing it).

Fresh Breezes- Doug King


I bet you a dollar that Boobsprite doesn't even own a manual bilge pump. I
also bet you that he DOES have a back-up for his stereo system on the boat.

bilge pump maintenance
 

On Aug 21, 3:12 pm, wrote:
One of the biggest safety items is a large-capacity manual bilge pump.
I was doing a routine check on ours, a diaphragm-type Edison and found
that it wasn't working properly.

OK, a big part of cruising is working on your boat in exotic (read:
inconvenient) locations. These things are very simple, and the usual
problem is gunk in the check valves. It should be a relatively short
project to take off the check valves.... complicated by the pump's
location under the aft cabin floor... clear them out, and then check
the pump again.

I was not expecting to see... the whole interior of the pump clogged
with salty chunks & salt slush! It was amazing that the pump had
worked relatively well only a few days before... we haven't been in
salt water for about four months... but we had about twenty years
accumulation of salt in the pump body & check valves.

After working at chipping out pieces of salt with a screwdriver for a
while, I decided it would be quicker & easier to dis-mount the pump,
hang it over the side in the nice fresh water of Lake Huron, and let
the salt dissolve.

After an hour of letting it soak, the pump began working much better,
and started spitting out bisquit sized chunks of salt. After ten
minutes of pumping lake water thru it, the chunks began decreasing to
dime-sized and smaller, then down to small chips.

When we get back to salt water, I am going to put the suction of the
manual bilge pump into a bucket of fresh water every week, and clean
it out. I suggest other people add this to their maintenance routine
(those who aren't already doing it).

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Interesting. You should have taken some pictures. Thanks for
the tip, I'll be sure to check my older pumps.

Manual bilge pumps are important on any boat. They give you
an accurate idea of how much water you are taking in per unit
time. People who rely on electric pumps suddenly discover
problems when they lose power, compounding problem on top
of problem.

bilge pump maintenance
 

Borat wrote:
Illegal as hell soaking that pump in the lake. You should know better.

??

Why is it illegal to put salt in the lake?

I guess when they salt the roads in the winter, it all ends up
someplace else?

DSK

bilge pump maintenance
 

"Bart" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Aug 21, 3:12 pm, wrote:
One of the biggest safety items is a large-capacity manual bilge
pump.
I was doing a routine check on ours, a diaphragm-type Edison and
found
that it wasn't working properly.

OK, a big part of cruising is working on your boat in exotic (read:
inconvenient) locations. These things are very simple, and the usual
problem is gunk in the check valves. It should be a relatively short
project to take off the check valves.... complicated by the pump's
location under the aft cabin floor... clear them out, and then check
the pump again.

I was not expecting to see... the whole interior of the pump clogged
with salty chunks & salt slush! It was amazing that the pump had
worked relatively well only a few days before... we haven't been in
salt water for about four months... but we had about twenty years
accumulation of salt in the pump body & check valves.

After working at chipping out pieces of salt with a screwdriver for a
while, I decided it would be quicker & easier to dis-mount the pump,
hang it over the side in the nice fresh water of Lake Huron, and let
the salt dissolve.

After an hour of letting it soak, the pump began working much better,
and started spitting out bisquit sized chunks of salt. After ten
minutes of pumping lake water thru it, the chunks began decreasing to
dime-sized and smaller, then down to small chips.

When we get back to salt water, I am going to put the suction of the
manual bilge pump into a bucket of fresh water every week, and clean
it out. I suggest other people add this to their maintenance routine
(those who aren't already doing it).

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Interesting. You should have taken some pictures. Thanks for
the tip, I'll be sure to check my older pumps.

Manual bilge pumps are important on any boat. They give you
an accurate idea of how much water you are taking in per unit
time. People who rely on electric pumps suddenly discover
problems when they lose power, compounding problem on top
of problem.


I disagree. Manual bilge pumps are unnecessary. It is rightly said that
a frightened man with a bucket can get rid of water faster than any
manual bilge pump.

Here's a hint for you that might save lots of emergency pumping or
bucketing. As many times a leak comes from a thru-hull or a
broken/jammed seacock or ball valve or hose all you need to make a
temporary fix is some toilet plungers in stock. Get the old fashioned
kind without the extra cone inside the plunger. Unscrew the handle and
store a couple of the rubber plungers. If you get a leak you can't
control at a thru hull don't pound one of those stupid wooden plugs into
it. Just jump overboard and place the plunger over the thru-hull; the
water pressure will seal it on until you can get to a yard to fix it.

This is an original idea I came up with all by my lonesome and I have
even used it to replace thru-hull ball valves while the boat was in the
water. It works great.

Wilbur Hubbard

bilge pump maintenance
 

After an hour of letting it soak, the pump began working much better,
and started spitting out bisquit sized chunks of salt. After ten
minutes of pumping lake water thru it, the chunks began decreasing to
dime-sized and smaller, then down to small chips.




"Bart" wrote
Interesting. You should have taken some pictures.

Sorry


....Thanks for
the tip, I'll be sure to check my older pumps.

Manual bilge pumps are important on any boat. They give you
an accurate idea of how much water you are taking in per unit
time.

If you keep count of the strokes, yes.

.... People who rely on electric pumps suddenly discover
problems when they lose power, compounding problem on top
of problem.

But then, they get to see the truth of whether a scared sailor with a
bucket is really as good at moving water as a bilge pump.


"Wilbur Hubbard" wrote:
I disagree. Manual bilge pumps are unnecessary.

Sure. It would be much better to have a boat that never ever leaked at
all, for any reason. Unfortunately the only way to that is to have an
imaginary boat.......


.... It is rightly said that
a frightened man with a bucket can get rid of water faster than any
manual bilge pump.


It is only "rightly said" by those that never tried it.
Some years ago I put on a few demonstrations for the Sea Scouts and
for the Power Squadron. Putting a huge tub on the dock, I then took
our small Edson portable and pumped it 3/4 full of water. Then a
volunteer would try to bail water out of the tub with a bucket faster
than I pumped it in.

Most of the time, a person could move more water for about the first
30 seconds... after that, the small pump could move more water than 3
people with buckets.... furthermore they didn't have to lift the
bucket as far as a person trying to bail out a boat.

The demo was concluded by having one of the exhausted bailers work the
pump while some fresh meat tried bailing, and it was no contest.



Here's a hint for you that might save lots of emergency pumping or
bucketing. As many times a leak comes from a thru-hull or a
broken/jammed seacock or ball valve or hose all you need to make a
temporary fix is some toilet plungers in stock.....


This is an original idea I came up with all by my lonesome and I have
even used it to replace thru-hull ball valves while the boat was in the
water. It works great.


It is an original idea, all right. Why ruin it with the pretense that
it applies to reality?

DSK

bilge pump maintenance
 

On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:54:12 -0400, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote this crap:


I disagree. Manual bilge pumps are unnecessary. It is rightly said that
a frightened man with a bucket can get rid of water faster than any
manual bilge pump.

Here's a hint for you that might save lots of emergency pumping or
bucketing. As many times a leak comes from a thru-hull or a
broken/jammed seacock or ball valve or hose all you need to make a
temporary fix is some toilet plungers in stock. Get the old fashioned
kind without the extra cone inside the plunger. Unscrew the handle and
store a couple of the rubber plungers. If you get a leak you can't
control at a thru hull don't pound one of those stupid wooden plugs into
it. Just jump overboard and place the plunger over the thru-hull; the
water pressure will seal it on until you can get to a yard to fix it.


I guess you've never heard of duct tape.





I'm Horvath and I approve of this post.

bilge pump maintenance
 

Horvath wrote:
On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:54:12 -0400, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote this crap:


I disagree. Manual bilge pumps are unnecessary. It is rightly said that
a frightened man with a bucket can get rid of water faster than any
manual bilge pump.

Here's a hint for you that might save lots of emergency pumping or
bucketing. As many times a leak comes from a thru-hull or a
broken/jammed seacock or ball valve or hose all you need to make a
temporary fix is some toilet plungers in stock. Get the old fashioned
kind without the extra cone inside the plunger. Unscrew the handle and
store a couple of the rubber plungers. If you get a leak you can't
control at a thru hull don't pound one of those stupid wooden plugs into
it. Just jump overboard and place the plunger over the thru-hull; the
water pressure will seal it on until you can get to a yard to fix it.



I guess you've never heard of duct tape.





I'm Horvath and I approve of this post.

He uses it for birth control.

bilge pump maintenance
 

My boat only has a manual bilge pump. What's really a waste is an
electric bilge pump. They just pump until the battery goes dead and
then the boat sinks.

bilge pump maintenance
 

"Ringmaster" wrote in message
ups.com...
My boat only has a manual bilge pump. What's really a waste is an
electric bilge pump. They just pump until the battery goes dead and
then the boat sinks.


How much water can your manual bilge pump pump when you are not aboard?

Do you stay aboard 24/7?

If you do not stay aboard 24/7 don't you think having an electric bilge
pump with automatic float switch might be a smart move?

You keep your boat in a slip, I believe. If you're in a slip then
connect to the shore power outlet. A small ten-amp built-in battery
charger will run a bilge pump indefinitely. Of course, most electric
bilge pumps have limited capacity compared to the horsepower a man with
a bucket can apply but a man with a bucket can't apply any horsepower if
he's not aboard.

Maybe Bobsprit is right about your ineptitude when it comes to boats???

Wilbur Hubbard