Anybody who knows BilgeWatch sensor or similar?

[IchBins1]

Hi all!<br /><br />On a German website www.bilgewatch.de I found an electronic component called BilgeWatch. Its purpose is to avoid contaminating the environment with oil or combustibles as it stops pumping when getting in contact with those. Seems to make sense to me, but the price seems to be quite high (about 150 Dollar for end-users).<br /><br />Does anybody know equivalent products or has experience with something like that?<br /><br />Here in Germany the fines for polluting the environment are drastic, so I am thinking about adding such a thing to my boat.<br /><br />Chris

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Anybody who knows BilgeWatch sensor or similar?

Hi, Itsme, and welcome to the board. <br /><br />I wouldn’t do it. The penalties here for pumping hydrocarbons or anything else that pollutes into the water is $10,000 + clean up costs + environmental damages. You don’t want to prevent the bilge pump from its function, you want to remove the pollutants.<br /><br />I wouldn’t put anything in a boat that interferes with the operation of a bilge pump. Instead, for about the same cost (or less) you can install a simple canister filter that traps pollutants and allows only the water to go overboard. $120 if you buy one designed for marine use, less if you make it. 10-inch filter canisters cost from $20-$40 for plastic, to over $200 for stainless steel (not needed). If you can get your hands on a discarded 10-inch under-sink water filter canister, use it; it’s the same thing. Be sure the canister’s in/out is no smaller than your bilge hose. Bigger is ok on the canister, use a step-down adapter. 10-inch is an extremely common, universal filter size. You should be able to find the equivalent in metric units in Germany.<br /><br />10-inch filter elements and canisters are available wherever industrial filter supplies are sold, about $20 for 3 elements. Just ask for an element that will “remove hydrocarbons from water”, NOT the other way around. Both types of elements are common so be sure you get the right one.<br /><br />Also, get yourself a $10 or $15 bilge sock or bilge pillow. It looks like a big tampon that floats in the bilge and absorbs only hydrocarbons. Any spilled fuel or oil will be absorbed and held from being pumped over board. That filter I mentioned above will trap anything the sock doesn’t catch. Many of the bilge socks only require you squeeze the pollutants out and you can reuse them indefinitely. Don't sqeeze it overboard. Without the bilge sock your filter elements will only last one or two years…depending on how much fuel/oil you have in the bilge.

 

[snapperbait]

Re: Anybody who knows BilgeWatch sensor or similar?

Good call, Rabbit.. Been thinking about adding a filter to mine..<br /><br />Something to think about tho.. Adding a filter may signifigantly reduce your bilge pumps output (GPH).. In other words, You might consider using a larger pump if you go with a filter..

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Anybody who knows BilgeWatch sensor or similar?

Oops. Snapper reminded me of something I had forgotten about. The limiting factor will likely be the element’s flow capacity. Filters that remove hydrocarbons have a max flow rate.<br /><br />I mentioned getting a canister with the same size or larger ports. If your bilge pump has a 1/2 inch output, you want nothing smaller than 1/2-inch ports on your filter canister. A 10-inch filter canister with 1-inch ports will handle 20 gal/minute or 1200 gals/hr. You’ll notice 1200 gal/hr bilge pumps also have a 1-inch output. But an element that removes hydrocarbons may not necessarily handle that flow. The next size bigger canister is 20-inches. It takes either a standard 20-inch element or two 10-inch elements stacked with a $2 adapter between them. There is also a standard 30-inch canister, but you need proof of 'real man-ism' before they will sell it to you.<br /><br />For comparison:<br />10-inch canister with 3/4-inch ports, 10 gal/minute (600 gal/hr) $20.<br />20-inch canister with 3/4-inch ports, 20 gal/minute (1800 gal/hr) $38.<br />10-inch canister with 1-inch ports, 20 gal/minute (1800 gal/hr) ... priceless.<br /><br />Fwiw, my primary bilge pump will output 10.4 gal/min so I am ok with a 10-inch canister with a 1-inch port. I just happen to have such a critter; a water filter housing from a darkroom that was disassembled. I need to verify the element can filter the 10 gal/min flow.<br /><br />Here’s what the el cheapo 10-inch filter housing looks like. It will withstand the water pressure of a typical municipal water supply, well in excess of a bilge pump.<br /><br />

<br /><br />Here it is with a couple standard 10-inch elements. These are 5-micron water filter elements. The price sticker on the bag says $15 for 3 elements. These elements are the standard 2-1/2 inch dia. There are also elements with a 4-1/2 inch diameter.<br /><br />

<br /><br />All this brass was used to step down the 1-inch port to some dinky hose size. Note the red button. That is used to relieve any internal pressure before you open the houseing, should the filter be installed inline in a pressurized water system. You won’t need that for bilge pump use so you can get a housing without it and save yourself about 35-cents. <br /><br />

 

[IchBins1]

Re: Anybody who knows BilgeWatch sensor or similar?

Hi Rabbit,<br /><br />thanks for your suggestions! Good idea to "trap" the swimming hydrocarbons by a canister filter.<br /><br />But the limiting factor is the volume of the canister. The bilgewatch thing is designed to leave the combustibles (coming from a big leak in the tank for example) in the bilge so they can be recycled afterwards. Seems to be meant to be useful for boaters going on long trips.<br /><br />You are right, for everyday use on a river the trap might be the most cost effective way to get rid of some spilled fuel.<br /><br />I wonder how they distinguish between water and fuel. Electrical resistance?<br /><br />Chris

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Anybody who knows BilgeWatch sensor or similar?

Chris, you bring up a very good point.<br /><br />I have looked at other, similar, bilge switches that react differently depending on the conductivity of the liquid between two contacts. The BilgeWatch seems to be such a sensor. Couldn’t find too much info on BilgeWatch, even from the manf website. The way other systems work is that hydrocarbons will float on water. As the liquid level increases the current that flows between the contacts thru the hydrocarbon doesn’t meet the criteria for switching the bilge pump on. If water is introduced, the liquid level increases, eventually the hydrocarbons float above the contacts and water shows up on them with the conductivity the switch is looking for and the pump engages. A bilge pump draws liquid from the bottom of the bilge, were the water is. As the water pumps out, the liquid level drops, and hydrocarbons once again cross the contacts and the switch turns off, in theory never pumping the hydrocarbons out.<br /><br />The switch I am using does not sense the different conductivities. Instead, it is completely sealed and only senses the level of a liquid…I think. I need to test it on hydrocarbons to see if it will work only with water. It doesn’t say on the manf website. The vertically mounted sensors have an advantage over a pair of sensing leads in the same horizontal plane. Here it is:<br /><br /> http://www.msc-emd.com/sensaswitch.shtml <br /><br />Regardless of the bilge switch used, an inline hydrocarbon (and glycol … antifreeze?) trapping filter is a good idea. I have been talking with the folks at Parker (Racor filters), Mycelx, and Abtech about their hydrocarbon trapping polymer filter elements. The elements are more expensive than I had thought. A 20-in Abtech goes for about $100…just for the element. Mycelx seems to be about the best so far because they have a 10” element for either 10gal/min ($38) or 20gal/min ($60). Neither element has any flow restrictions and traps 99% of the hydrocarbons and glycol on 1st contact, and it does not hold water. Ironically, the cheapest way to trap hydrocarbons in high-flow applications to 400gal/min is a filter designed for use below storm drains on streets to trap oil that leaked from cars/trucks and washes down the drain after a rain. They cost about $120 for a 13” x 13” x 14” box stuffed with Abtech popcorn, the same polymer that is in their in-line filters. As I find out more about the products and their applications I will post the info here. Bulk polymers are cheaper ($600/55lbs) and may be ok to use in a bag filter. You need only 1.5lbs for a filter…about $16/worth. Abtech was interested in this application.<br /><br />Every boater should have something onboard to catch hydrocarbons that would pump overboard thru a bilge pump, but it shouldn’t have to break the bank. The bilge boom/sock/pillow I mentioned above will go a long way in absorbing and hold hydrocarbons and they are inexpensive.<br /><br />For off-the-shelf stuff, a $20 inline filter canister with a $38 Mycelx 10” x 2-1/2" filter will work for most bilge pumps at 10gal/min. I higher flow $45 canister and a $60 Mycelx 10” x 4-1/2” filter will cover just about everything else up to 20gal/min. My ‘help!-I’m sinking’ bilge pump kicks out about 70gal/min. I’m not going to filter it because if it’s engaged the only thing in the ocean, besides me, that I care about has teeth.