2nd bilge, but where?

[Donna]

I am looking for the second bildge pump. Listing said 2. Survey found one but although the surveyor was very good, he did not see a second bildge and moved on to something else.

I know as I have found out, things are hidden very well. Any clue as to where it might be? 1986 Marine Trader Sundeck 36ft.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Ms. D. Most likely installation would be one fore and one aft. Trace out all your through hulls above the water line. IF there is, in fact, a second pump, it must be connected to a through hull or if the pump was removed, you'll find a capped off (hopefully properly done) unused fitting. More crawling about I'm afraid...

 

[Donna]

LOL! My poor knees! Thanks RT. Will do that.

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

You could also turn pump switch on to Manual and follow/trace the sound of the pump.

 

[DHeckrotte]

Donna, Donna, donn'a mispel bidlge!

Second pump, it any, is possibly under the vee/forward berth. If your hull shape is like ours, the narrower, forward part of the boat is deeper even as the keel rises toward the bow. Quite possibly, it would pump into the main bilge sump; you'd see a hose ending in the sump that begins at the other pump.

On our sailboat, I wired the forward pump to come on when the main pump was switched on both automatically and manually. Otherwise, there was never enough water to switch on that pump, but plenty to smell.

 

[Phil Fill]

I installed another back up bilge pump with its own float switch and alarm for peace of mind. You can not to many alarms and bilge pumps.

 

[alormaria]

You may want to keep a dedicated set of knee pads on board.

All you need to do is kneel on a small socket just once.

It makes an impression in more ways than one.

 

[menzies]

Donna, where is the one you know about?

And do you have two manual switches/breakers or just one?