New Rule Bilge Pumps

[Lepke]

Interesting about the freezing bilge water. I have a wood boat and always live aboard. In the coldest weather the water got down to 40° with the air temps about 10° above and the bilge temps measuring 34°. I never had a freeze up.
Maybe Rule got tired of everyone copying their bilge pump design. The cleanout is handy, but any debris will hold it open. With a proper vented loop it should safe from siphon.

 

[BandB]

Many of us were waiting to see what Xylem would do with Rule. They have three pump lines-Flojet, Rule, and Jabsco. So, they already had all they needed to make this pump, pulling from existing product lines. For those now saying they'll never buy another Jabsco or another Rule, well, you can run from either one but you're just filling the company's left pocket instead of right. It does appear this pump is an upgrade over previous Rule products. Bilge pumps have also been much like disposable, throw away short life products. I don't like something as crucial being that nature and would rather pay more for greater reliability.

 

[Bigsfish]

I guess I have been lucky because I have been using rule for 40 plus years and the pump has never been a problem I do use Ulfra float switches and clean them every five of so years but I also have a dry bilge which may be the reason I'm problem free (with rule anyway).

 

[FF]

A real quality bilge pump can be hard to find and big bucks.

By simply installing second cheepo bilge pump, higher than the first ,on a different circuit with an alarm,(I prefer a bell) the boat can be kept afloat .

 

[sdowney717]

Interesting about the freezing bilge water. I have a wood boat and always live aboard. In the coldest weather the water got down to 40° with the air temps about 10° above and the bilge temps measuring 34°. I never had a freeze up.
Maybe Rule got tired of everyone copying their bilge pump design. The cleanout is handy, but any debris will hold it open. With a proper vented loop it should safe from siphon.

I don't live on the boat and was not running any bilge heaters or heaters. Sometimes I do put a light bulb in the bilge, put they can break.
My boat bilge collects rain water, which freezes at higher temp than saltier Chesapeake Bay water. I always have 2 inches of water in the bilge. Yes, would like a dry bilge. I think would require a diaphragm pump. That picture, boat was in the Back river near LAFB and it got exceptionally cold. I have had only a few times where bilge water freezes solid, more times will get a crusty ice layer on top of the bilge water, still the pumps wont work well with ice in the bilges.
I also have 2 separate bilges.

All my pumps are Rule, and they all thawed and worked fine. I have no pump problems with Rule, I have had lots of Rule switches fail. I have 6 bilge pumps. I have another used Rule 1500 which is not connected.

So forward bilge has Ruel 2000, Rule 3700, Rule 3700, Rule 300 (part of the shower pump).

Aft bilge has Rule 2000, Rule 500.
None of those could have worked when the bilge froze. That year we had a snowstorm dumped 2 foot of snow on the boat. And as the snow melts, some of the snow flows into the bilge. So when it melts and the bilge is frozen, the boat just has to cope one way or another.

Regarding the entire aft bilge, cockpit will fill with snow and all of that water will flow into the aft bilge. At least snow takes up a lot more space than liquid water.

 

[dhays]

As long as I have power on the boat, I don't have to worry about freezing. I have the oil pan heater now which keeps the engine warm even in the coldest temperatures. However, if the power goes out, that could be an issue after a few days. Those events are fortunately very rare here.

If you have power to the boat, you could consider some type of heater for the boat to keep it just above freezing. Heat the engine, and the bilge won't freeze and the heat will rise.

 

[Bigsfish]

In all my many decades boating in Miami I have never had any hose freeze. ��

 

[BandB]

In all my many decades boating in Miami I have never had any hose freeze. ��

Oh, really. Well, we lived on a lake in NC and there were very few days we ever had to worry but we did keep a heater on the boat for those few days and nights. There were always a few people around to have freeze damage

 

[Bigsfish]

I have some property I Lakeland, FL with water lines above ground and every few years they freeze and burst. The boat doesn't go that far north in winter. ��

Enjoy your trip.

 

[BandB]

I have some property I Lakeland, FL with water lines above ground and every few years they freeze and burst. The boat doesn't go that far north in winter. ��

Enjoy your trip.

Coldest I think I've ever been in my life was in Lakeland. I don't remember details but remember overall and my mother certainly told me more about it. My grandmother and great uncle lived outside Lakeland, had orange groves. She had lost a good bit of sight and hearing as they were both well into their 80's. We'd visit late December. They had no central heat, just a wood burning stove in the living room. One winter it got exceptionally cold. We couldn't sleep from freezing. We were so happy to leave and head back to NC where we could get warm again.

 

[Bigsfish]

BandB

Something else we have in common. I have seen ice cover the grass and when the wind blew the wind chill factor was almost death level (ha ha), I have never been colder.