2nd Bilge Pump?

[l008com]

I'm thinking of putting a second bilge pump in my boat. It's a small boat big I figure it can't hurt. I had a situation where it was really windy and lots of spray was coming on boat. I turned the bilge pump on but it wasn't pumping out any water. Turns out the screen had gotten clogged so even though the pump came on, it didn't move any water.

So I was thinking, a second small bilge pump will give me twice the pumping capacity plus some redundancy.

First question, where can I get (or make) a bracket like this?


Next, do I have to run a whole separate hose and fitting in the boat, or can I just put a small Y type hose splitter on there, to join the two pumps into a single hose? Not that running a second plastic hose is a big deal, but installing the thru hull fitting was kind of a pain in the ***, plus the brass ones are expensive. But if that's what I gotta do, I guess that's what I gotta do.

Also, any quirks with the wiring? The pump I have now has three wires, a negative, than a plus for 'manual' and a plus for 'automatic'. I have manual and automatic hooked up to different switches. But one thing I've noticed is that when the pump comes on in automatic mode, the lights on both switches get lit up. So I'm assuming that each pumps timer will activate both pumps. But that shouldn't be a problem, right?

 

[l008com]

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump?

That little metal bracket is pretty simple. But it's also something like 25 years old and still in great condition. I'm not sure what material it's made out of but it's just the right height to hold the pumps right where they need to be held.

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump?

If you plumb the pumps together, one pump will pump into the other one instead of overboard.

The three wires should be ... Ground to Ground, Manual to Switch, Automatic to Unswitched 12 volt power.

Get a piece of 1/16 x 2"aluminum from the hardware isle at Lowes. Bend your own bracket.

 

[sschefer]

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump?

The brackets are made from 1/16" aluminum and you can bend them with a simple bench brake made out of a couple of 2x4's and a piece of 1/4 steel flat bar.

If it was me, I'd replace the pump that's in there and then mount a second pump up forward. I did that with a F/S that I had because it sat with the bow down when it wasn't underway. I was afraid that if it started taking on water it would all be in the bow and the aft pump wouldn't do any good. Of course, it never took on water but I swear if I hadn't taken all the skin off my knuckle putting that pump up there it would have sank at the dock the first time out.. LOL... Murphys Law or something like that.

 

[l008com]

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump?

I keep the automatic pump on a switch because I don't keep the boat in the water when I'm not using it. So no need to drain the battery when it's in my driveway. Just flip the auto pump switch when I'm launching the boat, and now it's an automatic pump.

Now about those aluminum brackets, the aluminum won't break if I put a 90?*bend in it? I've always found aluminum to be very brittle, but then again I've never worked with strips of it like that.

Also, about a front pump. There is no bilge up front. It's only a 15" boat. It's a V hull with a nice wedge shape. Also it has a 90 HP motor so it sits VERY back-heavy in the water.

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump?

I keep the automatic pump on a switch because I don't keep the boat in the water when I'm not using it. So no need to drain the battery when it's in my driveway. Just flip the auto pump switch when I'm launching the boat, and now it's an automatic pump....

OK to tie the two auto wires together.
If you tie the two manual wires together, either timer will power both pumps.
But the timers may not be able to handle the current for two pumps and you may ruin the timers.

One auto switch and two manual switches needed.
Or just leave one as auto only, no manual.

 

[l008com]

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump?

Do they make a stand alone circuit for this? Something I could wire up to the auto switch, and have both pump's wired just to their own manual wire?

I don't know if one pump's timer can handle the current for two pumps. BUT what about the simple fact that these timers are sensing current. Simply having two pumps connected means double the power draw. So it's possible that with two pumps, once the first timer goes off the very first time, both pumps might stay on indefinitely?

I feel like there's got to be a simpler solution to having dual pumps on a single switch?

 

[dingbat]

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump?

Now about those aluminum brackets, the aluminum won't break if I put a 90?*bend in it? I've always found aluminum to be very brittle, but then again I've never worked with strips of it like that.

You need to use a piece of 5xxx series aluminum. 6xxx series aluminum will bend w/o breaking but only with a large radius. It will crack if you try bending a small radius

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump?

Do they make a stand alone circuit for this? Something I could wire up to the auto switch, and have both pump's wired just to their own manual wire?

I don't know if one pump's timer can handle the current for two pumps. BUT what about the simple fact that these timers are sensing current. Simply having two pumps connected means double the power draw. So it's possible that with two pumps, once the first timer goes off the very first time, both pumps might stay on indefinitely?

I feel like there's got to be a simpler solution to having dual pumps on a single switch?

I first question the need for manual control at all.
Manual is just a backup if the Automatic fails.
Being a control freak, I understand!

1. A Double Throw ,Center Off, switch would allow manual to either but not both simultaneously.
2. A Diode (15amp+) in each wire would prevent power backflo but reduce the voltage by 0.7 volts.

Rem. both auto wires on one switch is OK.

Actually, you already have two switches.
Changing them to Two Double Throw ,Center Off, switchs, wired as Manual, Off, Auto, would give you everything!

 

[Silvertip]

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump?

You should not "Y" the two pump outputs together since that acts as a restriction for both pumps so the likely result would be both pumps pushing the same amount of water as one alone. Plumb them separately.

 

[l008com]

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump?

So lets say I leave pump A hooked up so that it's auto wire is connected to the "auto switch", and it's manual wire is connected to the "manual switch". If I take pump B and do not connect it's auto wire, and only connect it's manual wire to the "manual switch". This would cause pump A's timer to activate both pumps, right? So the only issue will be whether or not a single pump's electronics can handle the extra load? That's probably the easiest solution, and I can always try contacting the manufacturer and seeing what they say.


Also to reiterate some common questions:

Why a manual switch? Because if a big wave comes over the bow, I might not want to wait up to 2 minutes for the pumps to come on and start pumping. I may want them to come on right away.

Why an auto switch? Because I trailer my boat and leave it in the driveway. The auto switch lets me turn everything off completely and not worry about draining my battery while my boat is parked in my driveway.

 

[Don S]

Re: 2nd Bilge Pump?

If you have 2 bilge pump, you want 2 completely separate electrical systems and 2 separate water hoses to overboard systems.

You don't want your second pump not working because the switch failed or the fuse blew on one pump.
The exit hoses have to be separate as well to keep the water from pumping out of one pump, and back into the other.
Check valves aren't an option either, they get stuck and plugged to easy.