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Bilge Option

edcourter

Member
What's the downside of taking an automatic bilge pump and wiring the manual override wire threw another separate float switch, powered with the positive feed to the other(built in) float switch? Belt and Suspenders or Dumb Disaster? Best K
 
if you want a redundant float switch setup, that should be ok, as long as you make the connections watertight...and keep the manual override option so you can activate the pump when needed.
 
My Sailflo pump starts 9 out of ten times and often when 2 inches above the top of the pump. Pump seems strong, but switch is lame. 1100 GPH $29 ???
 
I could never (in good conscientiousness) recommend or install a Self-Contained Automatic Bilge Pump.

I suggest a larger than necessary bilge pump with a good quality separate float switch, and with an Un-Interruptible power source to the Float Switch.
Mount the float switch at a slightly higher elevation than the pump's lowest draw-down-capability.

Also...... say NO to the Auto/Off/Manual helm switches.
(you do not want any means for accidentally leaving the power turned off)
 
I could never (in good conscientiousness) recommend or install a Self-Contained Automatic Bilge Pump.

I suggest a larger than necessary bilge pump with a good quality separate float switch, and with an Un-Interruptible power source to the Float Switch.
Mount the float switch at a slightly higher elevation than the pump's lowest draw-down-capability.

Also...... say NO to the Auto/Off/Manual helm switches.
(you do not want any means for accidentally leaving the power turned off)

DITTO.... I work in a big box marine store during the spring and summer... The failure rate on pumps with built in automatic feature is horrible.
Arguably, the worse technology is that which runs the pump every min or so and "senses" if water is pumping.

My advice to you is to disconnect the automatic feed to the pump totally, and install a good quality float switch to the manual feed. I prefer the ones in a "cage". You do need to keep the bilge clean of oil residue. One of the failure modes of built in automatic switches is to never turn off, draining the battery and burning out the pump.
 
capt bob- how important if you use 2 bilge pumps- is putting one way valves in? Can one or the other pump water back thru the other one? Is it necessary to put one way valve to prevent that from happening?

Mine is totally manual- there is a switch on the console to turn power on- I would like to wire it such that it turns on if necessary--via float switch or whatever without any effort from me like you say- accidently turning it on (when you dont need it) or off when you do---or forgetting to do either- could spell disaster with dead batteries or a flooded boat---but maybe I should just leave things as they are. Thanks
 
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