I have the same setup as Josh and also have a check valve. The reason I added the check valve is that I have twice had water being driven into the boat through the bilge pump outlet and through the bilge pump into the bilge on the first motor down the river in the spring after launch. I don’t understand the phenomenon as it only ever happened on that first motor trip after launch and not every time. The bilge pump exits on the underside of the transom so is underwater when motoring fast (in fresh water as well). The pressure seemed to drive water through the pump into the bilge and would stop when we slowed down. It would eventually stop coming in altogether, but I never figured out why. There is a loop to break siphon, but that would not help if the water pressure from motion drives water up through the loop. So unless I figure this out, I will stick with the check valve. Dave
S/V Aries 1990 C&C 34+ New London, CT > On Jan 15, 2019, at 3:23 PM, Josh Muckley via CnC-List > <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > > I've have surprisingly good results using Atwood pumps. They advertise as > being Johnson replaceable and have a 3 year warranty. I don't know about > being a better foot print, higher capacity, better built, or more reliable. > My most recent one lasted about 3 years which matched the age of the more > expensive Rule which it replaced. > > I installed a rule automatic pump shortly after buying the boat. When in > auto it would start every 2.5 minutes and "test" for water. Unfortunately > with even a small amount of backflow this could cause it to cycle excessively > by getting false positives when it "tested" for water. This was annoying in > the least, particularly when trying to sleep. > > I'm preferential to a float type auto switch wired in parallel with the > manual switch. My auto float switch is mounted above the pump and only turns > on when a considerable amount of water accumulates. Under normal conditions > I manually pump the bilge down and the float just catches it when I've > abandoned the boat for weeks on end. > > I have a check valve. There I said it. In a perfect I world have a very > high capacity "emergency" pump and associated auto float mounted just above > the float for the lower "normal" pump. The emergency pump would not have a > check valve. It would have a high loop to avoid a siphon but nothing to > prevent backflow. It would also be as short and straight of a run as > possible to the discharge. In this way I could ensure the emergency > reliability and capacity of an emergency bilge pump by keeping it dry and > rarely using it. I would retain the normal bilge pump's ability to pump the > bilge to its lowest reasonable level. Both would work automatically and > manually. > > The pump I have is 1200 gph (20 gpm) or 4 x 5 gallon buckets per minute - > more flow than I can move manually but not much. Once, I accidentally left > the transducer plugs out when launching the boat. We discovered the > situation before water got to the floor boards but not before a considerable > amount of water had made it in. Once the situation was corrected the bilge > pump continued to run for what seemed like the better part of 5 minutes. The > point being, 1200gph sounds big... It isn't. If I had a shaft seal that > failed, the pump almost certainly would not have kept up and that is the > least catastrophic emergency I can think of. > > Josh Muckley > S/V Sea Hawk > 1989 C&C 37+ > Solomons, MD > > > > On Jan 15, 2019 12:16 PM, "Bruno Lachance via CnC-List" > <cnc-list@cnc-list.com <mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com>> wrote: > Hi, > > My Rule 1500 is broken and i'm looking for a replacement. I know some people > here have a system including the mandatory manual pump, the "main", often > turbine type electric pump and a low GPH suction pump to empty the bilge. > > I'm not quite there yet, and would just like to get the best "main" electric > pump that could fit. Is there a better option than the Rule 1500 out there > that would have about the same footprint ? Whale has a new line but the pump > is a bit bigger. Could a equivalent capacity diaphragm pump be a choice ? > What about auto pump with integrated switch, are they reliable ? > > My setup includes a Rule float swith that will be replaced with a "water > witch" switch once broken and i use a check valve. (i know some are against > this, aka Rule themself). > > Thanks. > > > Bruno Lachance > Bécassine, 33 mkII > new-Richmond, Qc > Canada > _______________________________________________ > > Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and > every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use > PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > <https://www.paypal.me/stumurray> > > > _______________________________________________ > > Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and > every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use > PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray >
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