When I got the boat it had a Rule automatic pump that determined if there was water by running on occasion and measuring if there is a resistance to turn the impeller.. While it sounds smart in theory, in practice the impeller gets gooked-up with normal bilge crap and gets hard to turn whether the bilge is dry or not, it was very inconsistent and could potentially run indefinitely.
I replaced the pump with the highest capacity pump that would fit in the tiny sump area and went with the solid state Water Witch and a manual Johnson pump. The Water Witch ( https://www.waterwitchinc.com/new/SiteElements/Pages/SecondaryPages/Products/BilgeSwitches.html ) works flawlessly,(No float to jam, it measures electrical resistance between plates) but the I have the same spill back problem as I have a 14 - 15 or so feet run from the pump to the stern discharge and the pump would not prime when I used the joker valve that came with it. Also, I did not really want to introduce the one way valve as I have read too many horror stories about possible obstructions keeping the pump from working correctly. So in the interest of time and other more pressing priorities.. I decided to just live with a couple cups of water in the lower sump (Mostly comes from the stuffing box dripping when we run the engine) .. The way the boat is designed it's like a little bucket and it keeps the rest of the bilge dry, Since we use the boat regularly the water is not too foul and there's no real issue with the smell. Eventually I'd like to add another pump, possibly this one: http://www.drybilgesystem.com/ Another thing is to get a small wet / dry vac and just suck it after using the boat which I'll probably get soon. The swtich is definitely a superior design. The pump seems to work well, outside of a second pump I don't see away around the backwash if I'm not willing to have some kind of one way valve.. Quite the conundrum this one. . -Francois Rivard 1990 34+ "Take Five" Lake Lanier, Georgia
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