Why Your Bilge Pump Will Fail When You Need It Most

Comments · 345

• VA

  @vancesprock2590 · 8 months ago

  In my 40 years of boating, I have had three float switches fail. They were discovered by testing them, not under emergency conditions. Make sure to test them regularly!

  138

• JU

  @jumpyX2 · 8 months ago

  Top marks for keeping this video short. These days so many creators have a simple message that they bury with 20 minutes waffle

  97

• RN

  @RnR911news · 7 months ago

  What are the most important things you can have is a 5-gallon bucket with a well made handle. As a backup

  11

• BR

  @BrianStDenis-pj1tq · 8 months ago

  In many boats, if you periodically hose down your engine compartment (bilge) you can run enough water to get the float switch to trigger, and then you can assess the flow rate. You get a safety check and a cleaning in one move.

  18

• NE

  @Nescio-g3w · 8 months ago

  The Dutch are ardent sailors, we keep it simple so the saying goes that an frightened sailor is the best pump there is! (Manual pump).

  68

• EL

  @EldridgeRawls · 8 months ago

  Allways use two pumps on seperate electrical and exhaust lines.

  32

• HS

  @hsiaorose-innes875 · 8 months ago

  Just bought a boat and payed previous owner to get it surveyed, all in good working order he assured me. I set off at 4am the next morning on a 120NM jury to Wellington NZ and had to cross the Karori rip, 6m swells head on, left and right moving towards me with a 4m swell pushing me straight in, 2hrs of this exhausting and solo. Main sail trimmed, head sail all out 25knt wind, it was awesome, then I heard water in the engine bay, had a look and didn't realize cabin 300mm underwater and slowly sinking. Called coastguard and they picked me up as I was coming into Wellington harbour, I was only planning to over night before setting off to Christchurch another 600+NM. 2 months later the boat still in dry dock and 10k out of pocket due to shaft seal, which lead to water intake in engine plus marina fees. Bilge pump failure, quickly jumped to the hand pump, and that broke internally after several strokes. It could've been worse

  33

• MI

  @mikeonmonarch6680 · 8 months ago

  When in a marina take the water hose and run it full blast into the bilge to confirm both pumps start and keep up. After the test is completed , dry the remaining water and sludge with a shop vac.

  41

• CY

  @CYRAX56 · 7 months ago

  I keep back up bilge pumps on all my boats that connect with alligator clips and I keep a spare charged battery onboard just in case. You never know when you're gonna need extra pumping ability and it beats bailing water.

  5

• BO

  @Bob-cx4ze · 7 months ago

  This is why two is one, and one is none.

  1

• WA

  @wadeprice67 · 8 months ago

  Two bilge pumps one float switch a little higher than the other. That way the second one only pumps if the first one fails. Then just above the second switch mount another switch wired to a car horn for an alarm. A good way to mount pumps and switches is on a 1/4 inch thick plexiglass with stainless bolts. Mount the switch to a strip of copper flashing so you can bend the flashing higher or lower to set the float at the level you want. And if you have ac electric carry one or two utility pumps where you just slide a hose on and drop it in the bilge and plug it in. Remember no matter how new the only boats that don't sink is the ones that we don't let sink.

  9

• JO

  @joshanderson1019 · 7 months ago

  I'm 20, when I swapped my engine in my boat, I installed 3 new bilge pumps and removed the original pump from 2002 when my boat was assembled. I installed 2 identical 4400gph pumps on a 2" platform, corrugated hose, no check valves and their own discharge ports. One pump has a mechanical float switch and both large pumps have their own switches. The third pump was an automatic 1500gph pump that I installed in the lowest point by the transom (same spot as the original), with its own hose to the original pumps discharge port. Every season when I pull the boat from storage, I fill the bilge with ~12" of water from a garden hose and turn the power (*2 100ah size 31 AGM batteries) on while they're at a storage charge. The bilge on my boat is all one piece so such water level is roughly 400 gallons and my system on batteries that have been sitting for 8 months can empty everything in under 3.5 minutes since the small pump has to finish off the last 30ish gallons on its own. Since I usually end up 40 miles from the nearest land, I wanted to make sure that I had a decent bilge pump system.

  15