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Old 04-26-2011, 06:29 PM   #1
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High Water Bilge Alarm

Hello All


Reading an anchoring thread on another section - a high water bilge alarm was mentioned. It reminded me of a large capacity bilge pump I installed a year or so ago, complete with a new thru hull and larger diameter hose.
I intentionally installed this pump 6" or so higher than the original smaller pump. During the wiring portion, I ran a new wire from my lower helm horn button to the positive (+) wire coming OUT of the float switch.
My dock neighbor at the time, who had a knack of making any project extremely COMPLICATED, pointed out that design was flawed. I should install a one-way diode, or better yet, use a relay wired in to feed the horn circuit.
Of course his idea would have worked, at least as long as the additional terminal connections required didn't corrode. KISS I say. The only negative in my circuit I figured, was the pump got to spin occasionally when I blew the horn!
Was I being too hard on the dock neighbor?
Was I being too easy on myself?

-- Edited by Forkliftt on Tuesday 26th of April 2011 07:32:47 PM
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Old 04-26-2011, 08:51 PM   #2
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High Water Bilge Alarm

KISS works as long as you understand what is happening.* What about somebody else?

You might consider installing a switch to disable the horn if the high bilge alarm/pump is activated.* It can get noisy while you're trying to figure out what's going on.


-- Edited by Jay N on Tuesday 26th of April 2011 09:52:40 PM
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Old 04-27-2011, 07:13 PM   #3
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RE: High Water Bilge Alarm

Quote:
Jay N wrote:


KISS works as long as you understand what is happening.* What about somebody else?

You might consider installing a switch to disable the horn if the high bilge alarm/pump is activated.* It can get noisy while you're trying to figure out what's going on.


-- Edited by Jay N on Tuesday 26th of April 2011 09:52:40 PM


That's a good idea Jay, and simple enough to do. I guess in an emergency it could get pretty distracting to have the horn continuously going off. Kinda like a firetruck trying to get past you at a red light. Sometimes at night on the ship I run through in my mind what it could be like if a through hull failed or the hull got breached. Chances are it would never happen in the daylight in 4' of water.
I keep a Brinkman on a clip beside the bed and it ALWAYS gets put back there after it is used. You can't fix what you can't see!
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Old 04-28-2011, 09:29 AM   #4
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High Water Bilge Alarm

Quote:
Forkliftt wrote:
Hello All Reading an anchoring thread on another section - a high water bilge alarm was mentioned. It reminded me of a large capacity bilge pump I installed a year or so ago, complete with a new thru hull and larger diameter hose. I intentionally installed this pump 6" or so higher than the original smaller pump. During the wiring portion, I ran a new wire from my lower helm horn button to the positive (+) wire coming OUT of the float switch. My dock neighbor at the time, who had a knack of making any project extremely COMPLICATED, pointed out that design was flawed. I should install a one-way diode, or better yet, use a relay wired in to feed the horn circuit. Of course his idea would have worked, at least as long as the additional terminal connections required didn't corrode. KISS I say. The only negative in my circuit I figured, was the pump got to spin occasionally when I blew the horn! Was I being too hard on the dock neighbor? Was I being too easy on myself?

-- Edited by Forkliftt on Tuesday 26th of April 2011 07:32:47 PM

Easier than that would be to use a seperate horn for the high water alarm.* And yes, have a way to turn it off while you're trying to find the problem.

Now if you want to get comlicated,*use a double pole switch and a light to tell you that the horn is in the "silence" mode.*
*


-- Edited by rwidman on Thursday 28th of April 2011 10:31:55 AM
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Old 04-28-2011, 06:14 PM   #5
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RE: High Water Bilge Alarm

Charles
That's a great approach and SIMPLE to boot!!!
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Old 04-29-2011, 02:43 PM   #6
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RE: High Water Bilge Alarm

I guess I should feel lucky, because my boat came from the factory with a high water alarm that sounds if either of the bilge pumps kick in. Two alarms, one at each helm.
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Old 04-29-2011, 03:17 PM   #7
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RE: High Water Bilge Alarm

I have yet to figure out what would make my high water alarm sound.* I think I need to bump that up the to do list, thanks for the ideas on how it SHOULD be wired.
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Old 04-29-2011, 05:12 PM   #8
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RE: High Water Bilge Alarm

Quote:
Pineapple Girl wrote:


I have yet to figure out what would make my high water alarm sound.* I think I need to bump that up the to do list, thanks for the ideas on how it SHOULD be wired.

Thanks??
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Old 04-30-2011, 03:53 AM   #9
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RE: High Water Bilge Alarm

I have yet to figure out what would make my high water alarm sound.

Another question is what sound should it make?

My choice is for a stand alone system with a BELL.
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Old 04-30-2011, 09:47 AM   #10
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RE: High Water Bilge Alarm

When I rewired the alarm systems, went with a two-tone siren (it's very loud) for high bilge, ER heat, electrical panel heat, and smoke sensors.* Along with a*switch to disable the noise (diodes keep the alarm lights lite when an alarm condition remains).

Went with a bell for engine sensors (oil, water, exhaust temp), activated by ignition switch.* As above, can disable the noise when needed/troubleshooting.
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Old 04-30-2011, 09:48 AM   #11
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RE: High Water Bilge Alarm

Quote:
FF wrote:
I have yet to figure out what would make my high water alarm sound.

Another question is what sound should it make?

My choice is for a stand alone system with a BELL.

*Oooooogaaaa, oooooogaaaa. (As in dive! dive! dive!)
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Old 05-01-2011, 12:12 PM   #12
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RE: High Water Bilge Alarm

A good way not to lose the key for turning off the alarm.
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Old 05-01-2011, 10:06 PM   #13
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RE: High Water Bilge Alarm

Quote:
Forkliftt wrote:Pineapple Girl wrote:
*

I have yet to figure out what would make my high water alarm sound.* I think I need to bump that up the to do list, thanks for the ideas on how it SHOULD be wired.
Thanks??

LOL.* always looking*for ideas.*

well the float switch that turns*on the bilge pump does not turn*on the alarm, which is a bell BTW.* We couldn't find a second float switch*so it appears we*have a problem!**ok, that is now item #... oh... 347?* we'll have*to work on our prioritization at some point...*
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Old 05-03-2011, 04:11 PM   #14
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RE: High Water Bilge Alarm

From personal experience, I can highly recommend the Ultra Pumpswitch series of bilge pump float switches. They are more expensive than the "flopper" type, but made for easy servicing and longevity (I know of one that has been in continuous service since 2003). At least one model has a built-in hi-level alarm circuit.

http://www.wolfwire.com/tefgel/pumpswitch.htm
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Old 05-03-2011, 04:37 PM   #15
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RE: High Water Bilge Alarm

We use the*the Aqualarm system for high water (2 sensors/2 bilges) and 4 other paramters.* It is an easy and simple system to*install.* The bell/alarm goes off at 100 dB.*

https://www.aqualarm.net/comerus/sto...Categories.asp
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Old 05-03-2011, 04:40 PM   #16
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RE: High Water Bilge Alarm

I second the Ultra switch. I've converted all of mine to that. Results? A worry free system.
My high water pump/alarm went off a week ago. Somehow my on/off/auto engine room bilge pump switch had been bumped to off. 4 a.m. I awoke to the alarm going off while the high water pump was operating. Checked the switch and set it back to auto, no problem. I have no idea how long it was that way, but the secondary system did exactly what it was supposed to. Highly recommended for any boat.
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Old 05-03-2011, 04:53 PM   #17
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RE: High Water Bilge Alarm

** Eucalyptus Fly Ball said KISS.

However he did not say *KISS what or who !

*Did he mean just plain simple ?

*I wonder how many electrical gadgets that Eucalyptus has on his yacht .

Another prominent Yachtsman said " if you cant fix it" !*

Where will it end, a switch for this and a fuse for that and more wire than Ma Bell.*

*Welcome to the age of the push button .

You may add as many gadgets *as you so may please , you know it all becomes just one more item to fix.

*i am not waiting for some *party noisemaker that may not *go off to tell me that there is water in *the *bilge , I prefer the" Golden Eye".

*
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Old 05-10-2011, 01:53 PM   #18
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RE: High Water Bilge Alarm

I have a complete second bilge pump mounted higher than the first (pimary) pump.

I bought two loud 12v annunciators from Radio Shack. Wired them each in parallel with the float switch of the second (higher) bilge pump. One annunciator is mounted on the fly bridge and the other is in the engine room area. This gives me the opportunity to know that the water is flooding while I am running the boat on the fly bridge, and also if I am sleeping in the aft cabin.

A second method is to use a remote camera to look at the bilge, seen here on my old engine

http://tinyurl.com/4m5cewf

This allows me to visually monitor the bilge even before it gets up to the high water float switch.

R.
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Old 05-11-2011, 08:25 AM   #19
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RE: High Water Bilge Alarm

Over the years I have added extra wire, multi stand,*between the pilot hour and engine room so it would be easy to wire the float switchs to the horn, which is on my to due list.* We still are having cold/rainy/cloudy days and have not*in the*To Do mood yet.*
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Old 05-12-2011, 05:14 PM   #20
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RE: High Water Bilge Alarm

Man,
All these ideas are great. I'm not sure if my simple way is the way to go.........
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