Mike, much of this you probably know but I figured I would chime in for everyone else.
The PAR pump you have is a belt driven diaphram pump that relies on inlet and outlet check valves. These are great little pumps that can be run dry and self prime up to ~5 feet above the water level. It is able to pump air so it will act similarly to using a straw to suck a soda cup dry. It should not be mounted as a submersible pump. As long as the end of the pick up hose is touching the water it will slurp until the water is below the hose. Care needs to be taken though because any contaminants in the water can foul the check valves a cause them not to seat then the pump won't move water. The nice thing is that the check valves prevent the discharge hose from draining back into the bildge. The flow rate of these pumps is relatively low (<4gpm/240gph) so using one as a finishing touch is great but a larger pump should be sized appropriately as a primary. I say the bigger the better cause using a bucket or even a hand pump sucks. Even the smallest cheap Rule pump is 500gph. You can wire the two pumps with and automotive relay to come on staggered so that if the water gets above a certain level (higher float or water-witch) the higher capacity pump will come on (relay energizes and opens the circuit to the smaller pump) and do the heavy work once the level is back to a managable level the big pump shuts off (relay de-energizes, closing the little pump's circuit) and the little pump finishes the job. That same relay can be used to power a horn so that you'll know during the unusual times when the level gets high enough to warrant the big pump. As expensive as these PAR pumps are they do have rebuild kits for the belt and check valves. Josh Muckley S/V Sea Hawk 1989 C&C 37+ Solomons, MD On Oct 14, 2014 10:36 AM, "Hoyt, Mike via CnC-List" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > Nice product. > > > > I had purchased a Rule 1500 autiomatic bilge pump to replace the manual > PAR 36680-2000 on our boat that had no float switch. Then I realized the > current pump has an extremely efficient pickup that takes almost all of the > water out of the bilge. Will be returning the Rule and have ordered the > Water Witch 101 from their web site > > > > Thanks for the heads up! > > > > Mike > > Persistence > > Frers 33 > > > > *From:* CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] *On Behalf Of > *Jean-Francois > J Rivard via CnC-List > *Sent:* Tuesday, October 14, 2014 11:18 AM > *To:* cnc-list@cnc-list.com > *Subject:* Stus-List automatic bilge pump problems > > > > 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 > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album > > Email address: > CnC-List@cnc-list.com > To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go bottom of > page at: > http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com > > >
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