how do we access our bilge?

[Goldi]

we recently bought a narrowboat, she's 30ft, built by eastern caravans and narrowboats ltd. the boat came with a folder & all the pamphlets for all the appliances etc, there's one for a bulge pump, so we know there is a pump somewhere on the boat, it's hooked up to the 12v battery, and the wires for it run under the floor, the switch is on, etc. there's defo a pump down there somewhere, but how the heck do we get to it to check it's working & in good condition? short of taking the floor up? there's no hatches for the main bilge of the boat. most articles about bilge pump maintenance assume you're installing one for the first time, or that it's easily accessible (eg in the engine bay). the bilge is divided into three segments (the two outside ones are fuel & gas lockers) and dont have pumps in them

any advice would be gratefully appreciated 

[Paul C]

It depends.......

 

Where is the engine room and does its bilge area extend forwards? Is the front deck above or below the waterline? Where does that drain to? 

[Hudds Lad]

Usual to have one fitted in the engine bay near the stern gland, hidden under a floor not so much.

 

If there's a switch to operate it, can't you flick it on and trace it's location by noise??

It may be a previous owner has laid a new floor above any inspection hatch, has it been re-floored recently with laminate or carpet?

[Tony Brooks]

More background info that may help.

 

Unless it is an old boat, it will probably have two bilges separated by the rear bulkhead, especially f the engine is right at the back. In this case, the bilge pump is likely to be close to the "pointy bit" behind the engine. There may be a pump in the cabin bilge, but this is not so common, but there is usually an inspection hatch in the cabin floor close to the rear bulkhead, often under the rear steps or in the bottom of a cupboard against the bulkhead.

 

An older boat may have an all-in-one bilge where everything drains to the engine space at the rear, the bilge pump will usually be close to the pointy bit of hull behind the engine.

 

A really old boat with the front well deck floor below the waterline may have that well deck draining into an all-in-one bilge, or its own bilge (in which case there may be a bilge pump at the front) or its own bilge may be connected to the engine bilge by pipes.

 

Many/most boats with traditional engines locate the engine part way along the hull, so they will differ again.

 

Basically, we do not have enough info to be much help. it is important to grasp that boats, especially canal boats, are not like cars where all makes and models tend to be very similar with only a couple of variations. Each canal boat is a one off, so we need a lot of info if we are to help with a boat we do not know.

[pete.i]

Basically if you need to access underneath the floor for whatever reason, and there are plenty of reasons you might need to go under the floor in a boat, then yes you will have take up the floor. The first narrowboat I had, a 30 footer called Keb, had removable panels all over the place and I was able to access the underfloor areas fairly easily. The second boat, again a 30 foot narrowboat, had a one piece floor from front to back, I had to cut access holes as there was a lot of water under the floor from a, historical, leaky water pump. Whether I got it all out I do not know I could only cut three hatches in the center as I did not want to remove all the fittings to access other parts. The bits I could see were dry eventually.

[Stilllearning]

1 hour ago, pete.i said:

Basically if you need to access underneath the floor for whatever reason, and there are plenty of reasons you might need to go under the floor in a boat, then yes you will have take up the floor. The first narrowboat I had, a 30 footer called Keb, had removable panels all over the place and I was able to access the underfloor areas fairly easily. The second boat, again a 30 foot narrowboat, had a one piece floor from front to back, I had to cut access holes as there was a lot of water under the floor from a, historical, leaky water pump. Whether I got it all out I do not know I could only cut three hatches in the center as I did not want to remove all the fittings to access other parts. The bits I could see were dry eventually.

I had to do a similar thing to a Brumtug I used in the 90s. Putting access hatches in a floor on a boat is basic good practice as far as I’m concerned now, because it’s good to know what’s going on under your feet.

[BilgePump]

31 minutes ago, Stilllearning said:

I had to do a similar thing to a Brumtug I used in the 90s. Putting access hatches in a floor on a boat is basic good practice as far as I’m concerned now, because it’s good to know what’s going on under your feet.

Or, it's good to have a nice cool wine cellar? Definitely seems sensible to have inspection hatches at strategic points along parts of the bilge that theoretically shouldn't get water in them. 

[Pie Eater]

I drilled small holes through the floor at the lowest points and used a Pela pump to drain th water.

 

I did have to experiment to find a spot between the ballast which was paving flags.

[Tacet]

You can usually turn on the bilge pump manually, even if it is float operated too.  So, turn it on and listen.  If it's not in the engine bay, you should be able to work out where to start looking.  It would be unusual if there was no ready access, but it is possible a floor has been relaid or recovered with no easy means of reaching it. 

If you know where it is roughly, but can't identify how to access it, reflect for a couple of days before hacking the floor about.

[Rincewind]

Try looking on the outside of the boat! 

Assuming that it pumps water overboard there will be an discharge outlet in the hull.  If you can identify where all the other outlets are connected, e.g. sink, shower etc. then the one you cannot identify may give you the approximate location of the pump. (again, assuming the discharge hose is a short one)