Yesterday's Question:

[Concordia...41]

What kind of freaking giant total dumb a$$ leaves their boat without checking to see if the bilge pumps are on??? :mad:

Especially when said freaking giant total dumb a$$ just participated in a light parade with all kinds of extra stuff like a generator and 2500 watt inverter wired in for the occasion... :(

[davidagage]

What kind of freaking giant total dumb a$$ leaves their boat without checking to see if the bilge pumps are on??? :mad:

Especially when said freaking giant total dumb a$$ just participated in a light parade with all kinds of extra stuff like a generator and 2500 watt inverter wired in for the occasion... :(


Did I do that?:o (in a blind dark effort to make radio operable)

[hokiefan]

In case anyone is concerned, I just gave Margo a call to see if she might need a hand, and other than a "little" more water in the bilge than desired, there is no major problem with Sarah. A lesson learned as she put it.

Cheers,

Bobby

[StevenBauer]

We really need to keep these threads near the top, don't we? :D

Just exactly how deep was the water in the bilge?


Steven

[John B]

Yeah, and how deep is the water at the dock?:D

[ben2go]

Knee deep at the dock and in the bilge. :D

At least the error was caught before she hit bottom.

BTW My boat sits beneath the surface.All that can be seen is her outline.I'll walk into the water and puller out in spring,hang the motor on the transom and go fishin.The only good thing about aluminum boats,they can be stored under water. LOL

[boylesboats]

uh oh...........

[TimH]

Someone should be a more grateful member.

[Raka025]

Hey Margo - I hope there isn't a tomorrow's question coming up? Get them out of your system before the New Year!

My Concordia is officially covered after 16 plus years of being in and out of the weather - mostly out. :D

[Ed Harrow]

Oh dear, do I note a grammatical blunder. ;)

[Mrleft8]

Guess it's a good thing her guts are still out in the sunshine eh? Don't worry boss, she needed to "take up" a lil' more anyway.....;)

[The Bigfella]

Umm - how come they (the bilge pumps) can be turned off?

I'd be changing that.....

[Concordia...41]

Umm - how come they (the bilge pumps) can be turned off?

I'd be changing that.....

Yes sir. That's an affirmative...

[Ian McColgin]

Hope it was a couple of weeks before the water got that deep.

While hardwiring the pumps, add a counter so you can see how many times it cycled since last check. Autopumps put out about equal amounts of water each cycle so this will give an idea of the seepage/leakage.

Anyway, good thing the floorboards float . . .

G'luck

[gimmellsmom]

What kind of freaking giant total dumb a$$ leaves their boat without checking to see if the bilge pumps are on??? :mad:


Um, me... been there done that... hard lesson learned! Hardwiring the main bilge over the winter. And removing the switch to the secondary bilge so little "pirates" can't kick them off by accident. :o

[woodboat]

Even our provincial police force is not immune... then again, SUV's (yes that is their tow vehicle in front) do not come with bilge pumps nor drain plugs. Every year we have at least one boat go down due bilge pump and plug issues. For my part - been there done that too... as if my old wood boat does not have enough trouble keeping the lake at bay :( (lake Nipissing, Ontario, CA)

http://www.baytoday.ca/uploads/content/OPPsink1.JPG

[The Bigfella]

Ooops

[bob easton]

Looks like you've had a whole week full of Mondays Margo ... all except that very fine retrospective of pictures through the years.

Hope the bad luck has run its course and you can show us MORE PICTURES soon.

Sarah is looking fine, and you're a great role model for anyone taking care of boats.

[Concordia...41]

Well... I knew no one would believe me if I told you I went down there this afternoon and the bilge was full of water again because the FREAKING BATTERY SWITCH WAS OFF :eek: :(

[The Bigfella]

please refer to post #12

[ben2go]

Sounds like you have someone trying to sink your boat.Probably some smart @$$ kid, thinking it will be funny.Do you have shore power and could you rig up a camera and a motion sensing light?

[ben2go]

Umm - how come they (the bilge pumps) can be turned off?

I'd be changing that.....

I agree with this 100%.

[The Bigfella]

Margo - I run two bilge pumps, off separate batteries. Each one has its own float switch and each is wired direct to its own battery. They both have a separate fuse near the battery. For me to turn either one off, I have to disconnect it from the battery, or remove its fuse. To check them, which I do pretty much every trip to the boat, I have to raise the float switch.

I wouldn't have it any other way - with the possible exception of wiring them to an always live bus bar rather than the batteries.

[redbopeep]

Well... I knew no one would believe me if I told you I went down there this afternoon and the bilge was full of water again because the FREAKING BATTERY SWITCH WAS OFF :eek: :(

Hi, Margo,

Umm...is that a circuit breaker that you're using as a switch? If so, your beaker could be telling you somthin' :confused:

[redbopeep]

Margo - I run two bilge pumps, off separate batteries. Each one has its own float switch and each is wired direct to its own battery. They both have a separate fuse near the battery. For me to turn either one off, I have to disconnect it from the battery, or remove its fuse. To check them, which I do pretty much every trip to the boat, I have to raise the float switch.

I wouldn't have it any other way - with the possible exception of wiring them to an always live bus bar rather than the batteries.

This sounds exactly like my husband just wired ours in last week (here on the hard, in the boatyard) because he didn't want to have the bilge pumps be able to be turned off accidentally.

[ben2go]

I dunno how big your bilge area is.If you have shore power you could buy a small cheap sump pump from a home improvement center.Stick it in there to back up the battery operated bilge pumps.We do this on boats that sit docked at the lake.Really helps them to keep from sinking if the bellows on an I/O rips and leaks.

[redbopeep]

I dunno how big your bilge area is.If you have shore power you could buy a small cheap sump pump from a home improvement center.Stick it in there to back up the battery operated bilge pumps.We do this on boats that sit docked at the lake.Really helps them to keep from sinking if the bellows on an I/O rips and leaks.

Yup. Good idea. We have a (never used) pond pump 120VAC that we'll be keeping on the boat once she's launched. High volume pump, cheap. Good for emergency.

[bob easton]

From all we've come to know about you through the years Margo, carelessness isn't something we've seen. I'm with ben2go in suspecting that someone is messing with your boat. Sounds like you need tripwires, alarms, a live-aboard guard dog, or some sort of security arrangement that will keep intruders off the boat.

[Concordia...41]

I appreciate the vote of confidence guys, but alas, I am a complete freaking moron. :(

The boat is locked. I'm usually last off, and I was the only one aboard since Monday.

This last time I can't even explain what happened, and I'm about exhibit an embarrassing lack of knowledge about my own boat, but I am absolutely and positively sure that the bilge pumps were running on TUESDAY when I was down there working. I know this for a fact. I even had the hose inside (kind of handy having the interior out) because I was cleaning the overhead, rinsing the rag out with the hose and just letting it go in the bilge. Again, the bilge pump was working.

What's crazy was the battery switch was last touched on MONDAY when we were down there removing the inverter that was loaned to me for the light parade.

So... me thinks that the forward (primary) bilge pump may have been wired directly to a terminal on the back of the battery switch. Then that pump or float switch (I haven't figured it out) quit at some point between Tuesday night and Thursday afternoon, and with the battery switch off, the secondary bilge didn't have power. As soon as I moved the switch from off, it immediately started pumping. And pumped and pumped for about 20 minutes... :(

Bless Bigfella's heart for thinking that I would implement post #12 so quickly. It's been on the agenda since Monday's incident and tomorrow we'll pull the whole business apart and deal with it.

The pumps and float switches are moderately accessible, but you really need to pull the companionway steps out (at which point the engine box collapses in on itself because it's kind of cobbled together), to trace the wiring and/or do any work. So I'll get that all dismantled so we can work properly and I have two of these:

http://images.westmarine.com/full/214965.jpg

that I bought before but never got installed. (Actually, I think I have parts of three - one being rejected for some reason), and it's sounding like a straight wiring system - each bilge pump to a separate battery will be the ticket.

Then the only question will be what I screw up next. :D

Thanks all!

- M

[The Bigfella]

Umm, I don't like those things. See the word "Off", that's why.

Wire it simple. Straight to power - don't forget to include an appropriate sized fuse. As far as the auto - manual option, I do the manual check when I inspect the pump, float switch and surrounding area. I do that by lifting the float switch - that way I check its visual appearance and can see if there is anything about to go awry before it does (most of the time) In the last almost 9 years, I've had a couple of switches clag out on me.

[Rich VanValkenburg]

I don't like to leave a battery to the boat's fate, so I have a 120v pump that cycles every few minutes. Last thing I do before covering the cockpit is make sure it's gone through at least 2 cycles. This leaves time enough for a beverage and to contemplate stuff before leaving. I don't have any fancy switches or power magicians to worry about. It's on a long shore cord that nobody messes with, and I have a few friends at the yard who check. But then, I don't own a gem like Sarah, either.

[redbopeep]

Umm, I don't like those things. See the word "Off", that's why.

Wire it simple. Straight to power - don't forget to include an appropriate sized fuse. As far as the auto - manual option, I do the manual check when I inspect the pump, float switch and surrounding area. I do that by lifting the float switch - that way I check its visual appearance and can see if there is anything about to go awry before it does (most of the time) In the last almost 9 years, I've had a couple of switches clag out on me.

In our case, we're direct wired as you mention (always hot based on the fuse) for the pump and its automatic switch but my husband is wiring in manual override switch and indicator light in the charthouse in case the automatic switch fails. We found some pre-packaged (push button) switches that would have done this over ride, but they all required one to push a button (and stay there!) while the pump is in the manual-on mode. We imagined the situation of bilge switch failure during an emergency and couldn't imagine stationing someone there just to keep the button pushed in. :)

[ben2go]

Question.Does your bilge pumps have internal or external check valves?If the check valves are bad or weak,it can allow water to back flow into the bilge.Water running over the bilge port or being splashed will accumilate water in the hoses and possibly leak back into the bilge area.Some pumps don't require check valves.I've seen a house boat go down because of this.

[shamus]

Don't use an AC pump aboard a wooden boat without an isolating transformer. You risk stray current electrolysis.