Knot Fast
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2018
- Messages
- 243
- Location
- United States
- Vessel Name
- Knot Fast
- Vessel Make
- Great Harbour GH37
I am evaluating my Bilge Pump set-up and would appreciate some feedback.
Knot Fast (2001, Great Harbour GH37) has thru hulls in the engine room and cockpit lazarette, and these spaces have bilge pumps. Bilges forward of the ER have no pumps; one space as two transducer through hulls in good condition, the other bilges have no thru hulls. All bilge pumps on Knot Fast are 19 years old, tested and work normally.
Engine Room (2 shafts & 4 strainer thru hulls)
A. Low Water: Rule 25D, 500gph (310gph@5’ head), self-priming, 12v, 2.5A fuse rating (3A fuse in place)
Lazarette (2 rudder shaft thru hulls)
Pump Unknown! All labeling has faded. Estimate: Jabsco / Rule 10, 2000gph (1600gph@5’head), 12v, 9A, 15A fuse rating (15A fuse in place)
Q1: What is the service life of a bilge pump and float? Should pumps be replaced proactively every 20 years? My test runs are only for ~2 minutes – I don’t want to put more water in these spaces to run a longer test. On the other hand, I do not know if my high water engine room pump will fail after 5 minutes of run time.
Q2: What alarms are most helpful? I have none. The Ultra Safety Senior switches have alarm activation wires not in use. Better to have an alarm on the Low Water switch or the High Water switch? Better to have the alarm device independent from the switch?
Q3: What is the view on electronic bilge pump switches?
A “Manual On” seems desirable, to remove small amounts of water that do not trip the float switches. I’d rather not wire in a switch and introduce another potential point of failure. Ultra Safety switches are hard to manually trigger. With an electronic switch, I suspect I could lick my fingers touch the sensor to trigger a short term manual on run.
There is more than one way to manage this set-up. I’ll appreciate our community’s feedback!
Knot Fast (2001, Great Harbour GH37) has thru hulls in the engine room and cockpit lazarette, and these spaces have bilge pumps. Bilges forward of the ER have no pumps; one space as two transducer through hulls in good condition, the other bilges have no thru hulls. All bilge pumps on Knot Fast are 19 years old, tested and work normally.
Engine Room (2 shafts & 4 strainer thru hulls)
A. Low Water: Rule 25D, 500gph (310gph@5’ head), self-priming, 12v, 2.5A fuse rating (3A fuse in place)
i. Ultra Safety Senior Bilge Switch. 12V, new condition.
ii. Pump works fine, base clips broken off and no longer retain the pump to base, but gravity and the short stiff discharge hose do. Model 275 Replacement Strainer Bases are available (~$10)
B. High Water: Jabsco 30250, 3550gph (2800gph@5’ head), self-priming, 12v, 20A, 25A fuse rating (25A fuse in place)ii. Pump works fine, base clips broken off and no longer retain the pump to base, but gravity and the short stiff discharge hose do. Model 275 Replacement Strainer Bases are available (~$10)
i. Ultra Safety Senior Bilge Switch. 12V, good condition.
ii. Pump works fine, base clips are loose and no longer retain the pump to base, but gravity and the short stiff discharge hose do. Model 279 Replacement Strainer Bases are available (~$10)
ii. Pump works fine, base clips are loose and no longer retain the pump to base, but gravity and the short stiff discharge hose do. Model 279 Replacement Strainer Bases are available (~$10)
Lazarette (2 rudder shaft thru hulls)
Pump Unknown! All labeling has faded. Estimate: Jabsco / Rule 10, 2000gph (1600gph@5’head), 12v, 9A, 15A fuse rating (15A fuse in place)
i. Ultra Safety Junior Bilge Switch. 12V, fair condition
ii. Pump works fine; disconcerting not knowing what pump it is (picture).
ii. Pump works fine; disconcerting not knowing what pump it is (picture).
Q1: What is the service life of a bilge pump and float? Should pumps be replaced proactively every 20 years? My test runs are only for ~2 minutes – I don’t want to put more water in these spaces to run a longer test. On the other hand, I do not know if my high water engine room pump will fail after 5 minutes of run time.
Q2: What alarms are most helpful? I have none. The Ultra Safety Senior switches have alarm activation wires not in use. Better to have an alarm on the Low Water switch or the High Water switch? Better to have the alarm device independent from the switch?
Q3: What is the view on electronic bilge pump switches?
A “Manual On” seems desirable, to remove small amounts of water that do not trip the float switches. I’d rather not wire in a switch and introduce another potential point of failure. Ultra Safety switches are hard to manually trigger. With an electronic switch, I suspect I could lick my fingers touch the sensor to trigger a short term manual on run.
There is more than one way to manage this set-up. I’ll appreciate our community’s feedback!