What's the best Bilge pump for a narrowboat

[rusty69]

1 minute ago, system 4-50 said:

with a straw, you must fix it, dear Henry, with a straw.

Thankyou. I knew someone would play along...

[OldGoat]

Back on topic - not that anyone is still interested after all the banter.

IME, there's no one solution, well not for me anyway. My hull was built long before anyone thought of fitting a well for the pump to sit in - if indeed anyone does that nowadays.

I've tried all sorts of bilge pumps, branded and non branded, with and without float switches. They ALL work - but leave 1/4" or more water in the bilge.

In frustration I've fitted an old leaky fresh water pump whose input pipe terminates in a piece of 10mm copper tube  with its open end fixed just above the base plate. Afte the main pump has removed most of the water, I run this pump to remove the rest. The small gauge pipe ensure that the pump has enough suction to remove all the remaining water and the last dribbles as well.

[rusty69]

1 minute ago, OldGoat said:

In frustration I've fitted an old leaky fresh water pump whose input pipe terminates in a piece of 10mm copper tube  with its open end fixed just above the base plate. Afte the main pump has removed most of the water, I run this pump to remove the rest. The small gauge pipe ensure that the pump has enough suction to remove all the remaining water and the last dribbles as well.

My whale gulper does much the same.The pipe can be positioned so that it gets pretty much all the water out,but is mostly in the summer, positioned in the tub beneath stern gland.

[Jonkx]

I got a Rulepro 900 off t'internet as it seemed to come up on searches alot and chandler's sold it. Has float switch in it. Needs a fuse between it and battery. Takes about 3 cm of water in bilge before it gets going; prior to that it seemed to struggle to pump out anything. However it does now seem to be working, in that every now and then it starts up by itself and pumps a load of water out. Not wired in manual switch yet,  as I've not got an, err, switch. 

Edited December 6, 2017 by Jonkx
Got inches and cm mixed up

[Robbo]

On 02/12/2017 at 11:33, OldGoat said:

Back on topic - not that anyone is still interested after all the banter.

IME, there's no one solution, well not for me anyway. My hull was built long before anyone thought of fitting a well for the pump to sit in - if indeed anyone does that nowadays.

I've tried all sorts of bilge pumps, branded and non branded, with and without float switches. They ALL work - but leave 1/4" or more water in the bilge.

In frustration I've fitted an old leaky fresh water pump whose input pipe terminates in a piece of 10mm copper tube  with its open end fixed just above the base plate. Afte the main pump has removed most of the water, I run this pump to remove the rest. The small gauge pipe ensure that the pump has enough suction to remove all the remaining water and the last dribbles as well.

Try the Rule LoPro LP900S,   It has a timer mode which will try every so often to suck water out, if no water exists it stops ofcourse.  You can also mount it sideways so the intake is as close to the bottom as possible.  Also has a NRV so the water in the pipe doesn’t flood ya bilge again!  In the water auto detection mode it has two settings when to turn on 3.3cm and 5cm.   If the detector gets greesed up it will automatically go into timer mode.

edit to add, Ive just checked what it would suck down to and it’s around 8mm.

Edited December 6, 2017 by Robbo

[mross]

If you just drill a one-inch hole in the bottom of your boat, any water will just drain out.  But this won't work if you put your boat in the water.  Best to keep your boat on a hard standing and you will have none of the problems which are so popular and entertaining on this forum.

[MtB]

47 minutes ago, Jonkx said:

I got a Rulepro 900 off t'internet as it seemed to come up on searches alot and chandler's sold it. Has float switch in it. Needs a fuse between it and battery. Takes about 3 cm of water in bilge before it gets going; prior to that it seemed to struggle to pump out anything. However it does now seem to be working, in that every now and then it starts up by itself and pumps a load of water out. Not wired in manual switch yet,  as I've not got an, err, switch. 

 

In my experience there are no bilge pumps that get ALL of the water totally out.

The only device I know of capable of removing EVERY SINGLE DROP of water is a worried man with an AquaVac. 

Edited December 6, 2017 by Mike the Boilerman

[Dr Bob]

Just now, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

There are no bilge pumps that get ALL of the water totally out. In my experience the only device capable of removing ALL the water is a desperate man with an AquaVac. 

.....a Pela pump does a damn good job.....without being desperate. I use mine once a week to drain the plastic container under the stern gland so never end up with any water in the bilge. The OP was in case I did develop a leak.

[rusty69]

Just now, Dr Bob said:

.....a Pela pump does a damn good job.....without being desperate. I use mine once a week to drain the plastic container under the stern gland so never end up with any water in the bilge. The OP was in case I did develop a leak.

So does a Whale Gulper,although not strictly a bilge pump.

[MtB]

An AquaVac however, sucks about a thousand times faster and more powerfully than a Pela pump, and doesn't stop until you've finished. 

[rusty69]

Just now, Mike the Boilerman said:

An AquaVac however, sucks about a thousand times faster and more powerfully than a Pela pump, and doesn't stop until you've finished. 

Or your batteries are flat.

[cereal tiller]

5 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

.....a Pela pump does a damn good job.....without being desperate. I use mine once a week to drain the plastic container under the stern gland so never end up with any water in the bilge. The OP was in case I did develop a leak.

A Properly set up Stern Gland should never Leak ,most Boaters seem to put up with Leaky ones.

[mross]

Babies' nappies are well known for absorbing every drop and have been cited on this forum many times. But please try and remember to remove the baby before dropping the nappy in the bilge.  Should you forget, you are guaranteed a sleepless night.

[artleknock]

Try mopping out with a used nappy and you will find out what a yucky bilge is

[mross]

4 minutes ago, artleknock said:

Try mopping out with a used nappy and you will find out what a yucky bilge is

I think you are confusing cause with effect!

[system 4-50]

and in a hard winter there must be a risk of water in a pump or associated pipework freezing if left in an unoccupied boat where the engine is not run every day.

[cuthound]

13 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

An AquaVac however, sucks about a thousand times faster and more powerfully than a Pela pump, and doesn't stop until you've finished. 

When I used mine to get rid of some water which had collected behind a bulkhead in the pointy end (presumably condensation), it sucked the top coat off the primer 

[WotEver]

22 minutes ago, cuthound said:

When I used mine to get rid of some water which had collected behind a bulkhead in the pointy end (presumably condensation), it sucked the top coat off the primer 

So it’s a maintenance tool to boot! Excellent

[MtB]

1 hour ago, cuthound said:

When I used mine to get rid of some water which had collected behind a bulkhead in the pointy end (presumably condensation), it sucked the top coat off the primer 

 

Yes. AquaVacs are spectacular things to use. Almost like a hair dryer in the way they scrape every last fragment of water off a surface and even dry it if you keep the nozzle close. Plumbers love 'em for when you can't fully turn the water off and need to do a pipe alteration. Stick the nozzle over the end of the pipe still dribbling and forget about messing about with dust sheets etc to catch the spilling water. 

Brilliant for cleaning out wet bilges and under engines etc too. 

Edited December 7, 2017 by Mike the Boilerman

[Arthur Marshall]

As my boat gets left by itself for most of the winter I've always used Rule auto bilge pumps.  I've only had three episodes where the boats had dangerous amounts of water in the bilge (one excess rain and two leaks) and on every occasion the pump has failed.  It's a theoretically useful (probably) back-up, but I wouldn't ever rely on it now.

[rusty69]

4 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

It's a theoretically useful (probably) back-up, but I wouldn't ever rely on it now.

What do you rely on now, good insurance?

[Robbo]

16 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

As my boat gets left by itself for most of the winter I've always used Rule auto bilge pumps.  I've only had three episodes where the boats had dangerous amounts of water in the bilge (one excess rain and two leaks) and on every occasion the pump has failed.  It's a theoretically useful (probably) back-up, but I wouldn't ever rely on it now.

Why did they fail?

[DHutch]

Man this topic has run!

Rule and Whale are both well respected branded. You shouldn't need a huge pump on a Steel narrowboat.

 

Daniel

[rusty69]

1 minute ago, DHutch said:

Man this topic has run!

You should see the eco fan one!

[Robbo]

2 hours ago, rusty69 said:

You should see the eco fan one!

Isn't that just a load of hot air tho?

Edited December 7, 2017 by Robbo