Additional Bilge pump

[sastocky]

I went with simplicity as far as plumbing goes, 18 inches of hose straight up, out the back.
wiring went straight to fuse block on aux 2, forth from left. Got chart plotter on aux 1.

Where did you come out the back?

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Where did you come out the back?

Look at post #15 in this thread. He went straight out the back and onto the lower swim step. If I was to do it over again this is where I would have run mine. I just wanted the second outlet to be near the oem one and thought it looked cool to bracket the pilot water outlets, still think it looks cool, but I think the pump would flow better if it didn’t have such a long run.

 

[sastocky]

Look at post #15 in this thread. He went straight out the back and onto the lower swim step. If I was to do it over again this is where I would have run mine. I just wanted the second outlet to be near the oem one and thought it looked cool to bracket the pilot water outlets, still think it looks cool, but I think the pump would flow better if it didn’t have such a long run.

Sorry. I didn’t put the two posts together. I do agree that it is better for the pump with the shorter hose, but I like being able to see the discharge from my helm. By my boat isn’t a center console though. Looks nice.

I like how you attached the wood with the existing threads. I considered but didn’t want to try to align the holes in my stainless.

Look at post #15 in this thread. He went straight out the back and onto the lower swim step. If I was to do it over again this is where I would have run mine. I just wanted the second outlet to be near the oem one and thought it looked cool to bracket the pilot water outlets, still think it looks cool, but I think the pump would flow better if it didn’t have such a long run.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

try this link if it doesnt work, post your email address and i will send you some pics
7 new items by Matt & Kayla Williams

Matt,
Just went looking for the pictures you posted for this mod and the google album you put them in is empty. Can you either post the pics at the end of this thread or direct message them to me here and I’ll post them ?

Thanks!

 

[southeastFSH195]

Matt,
Just went looking for the pictures you posted for this mod and the google album you put them in is empty. Can you either post the pics at the end of this thread or direct message them to me here and I’ll post them ?

Thanks!

Yes, thanks for sharing this, but was also empty for me. Funny, I was just thinking I wanted to add a backup bilge pump for redundancy today as I was re-sealing my floor drains in the aft corners of the cockpit.

 

[Sherwood]

Look at post #15 in this thread. He went straight out the back and onto the lower swim step. If I was to do it over again this is where I would have run mine. I just wanted the second outlet to be near the oem one and thought it looked cool to bracket the pilot water outlets, still think it looks cool, but I think the pump would flow better if it didn’t have such a long run.

Could a person run it to a T on the tray drain port? Towards the top of course.. it's close and wouldn't require drilling another hole.

 

[paleus]

Could a person run it to a T on the tray drain port? Towards the top of course.. it's close and wouldn't require drilling another hole.

You'd need a backflow preventer upstream of the T to keep it from filling the clean out tray. Then the tray drain would drain into the bilge down the pump hose unless you found a way to route the pump hose up above the T and then back down. You could put a backflow preventer on the pump hose as well I guess, but I'd be concerned about restricting the flow of the bilge pump.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

And the problem I found with centrifugal pumps like a bilge pump is that if you put any restriction in the line it has a dramatic effect on the flow, I looked at several check valves and back flow preventers, the best was T-H in line scupper, if I remember correctly the flow through it was a pittance of what the bilge pump would put out in gallons per hour.

They do come with a duck bill back flow device that is right at the pump.. I took mine out as I do not want standing water in the bilge discharge line. Yeah I get whatever water was left in the line that will flow back into the bilge but it is minimal.. if and when the bilge pump would run.

Your best bet is to have the bilge pump discharge hose be as close as possible to the bilge pump with the least amount of vertical lift for the best performance.

I think I said this above, but to reiterate, if I was to do this again and was going to put the additional pump where I did, I run the discharge out the vertical wall below the top step of the swim deck and the bottom like that Matt guy did… unfortunately he put his pictures in an off site cash and they’re gone now.

 

[drewkaree]

Could a person run it to a T on the tray drain port? Towards the top of course.. it's close and wouldn't require drilling another hole.

Drill a hole.

Running a Tee or any extra fitting is adding restriction or flow issues on a bilge pump, and is asking for issues down the road, possibly when you need it the most.

Additionally, the tray drain is 3/8 or 1/2, and is designed to drain incidental amounts of water. IMO, It's slow and poorly set up for draining the amount of water a bilge pump is going to be trying to remove.

A separate single line with its own hole has the best potential for success, which will necessitate drilling a hole

 

[drewkaree]

You'd need a backflow preventer upstream of the T to keep it from filling the clean out tray. Then the tray drain would drain into the bilge down the pump hose unless you found a way to route the pump hose up above the T and then back down. You could put a backflow preventer on the pump hose as well I guess, but I'd be concerned about restricting the flow of the bilge pump.

Draining the bilge to a secondary area, still within the boat (and not overboard), would simply add the potential to hold even more water in the boat.

The cleanout tray area appears to be able to hold at least a gallon in each cleanout tube. Additionally, depending on the design, there could be another 2+ gallons on top of tray itself, given how slow the drain will let water out. If you've got a 21' or larger boat, you could be holding 5-ish (or more) gallons of water there.

Given the efforts by many over the years, to keep water OUT of the tubes and cleanout tray area, it doesn't seem to be a good choice to purposefully drain water to that area. If water is additionally coming in through the tubes or drain, this adds to the load the drain would be forced to carry, and if the drain has water coming in (already a known issue), or isn't draining fast, your bilge pump is fighting a losing battle.

Many stories on here point to the possibility of at least 5+ gallons being in the bilge, as evidenced when draining the boat after pulling it from the water. It got in somehow, so simply moving it elsewhere in the boat, seems like asking for further trouble, and I wouldn't recommend tempting fate like this.

 

[Sherwood]

Draining the bilge to a secondary area, still within the boat (and not overboard), would simply add the potential to hold even more water in the boat.

The cleanout tray area appears to be able to hold at least a gallon in each cleanout tube. Additionally, depending on the design, there could be another 2+ gallons on top of tray itself, given how slow the drain will let water out. If you've got a 21' or larger boat, you could be holding 5-ish (or more) gallons of water there.

Given the efforts by many over the years, to keep water OUT of the tubes and cleanout tray area, it doesn't seem to be a good choice to purposefully drain water to that area. If water is additionally coming in through the tubes or drain, this adds to the load the drain would be forced to carry, and if the drain has water coming in (already a known issue), or isn't draining fast, your bilge pump is fighting a losing battle.

Many stories on here point to the possibility of at least 5+ gallons being in the bilge, as evidenced when draining the boat after pulling it from the water. It got in somehow, so simply moving it elsewhere in the boat, seems like asking for further trouble, and I wouldn't recommend tempting fate like this.

The tray on a fsh 210 doesn't hold water, and my clean outs are usually full from wave action anyways, but I see your points.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

The tray on a fsh 210 doesn't hold water, and my clean outs are usually full from wave action anyways, but I see your points.

The clean outs won’t be full if you get a couple of O rings from @Spooky pantz … mine have been dry as a desert bone since installing them.

Thought I’d look up the ABYC standards and found this article.. the take aways, do not use check valves or back flow preventers, and keep the head or lift as small as possible, discharge lines above maximum heeled line of the hull. If you’re unhappy with the amount of water that flows back into the bilge after the bilge pump shuts off, Sea Flow makes some small low flow diaphragm pumps that you can set up with a pick up right in front of the drain plug to remove any leftover water.

For me, I would stay away from fuses and use circuit breakers as they can be reset very quickly on the fly. Whereas fuses will take a while and that could be at a very inconvenient time.

The chart below shows gph loss as head increases, very informative.