Dry or wet bilge?

[Mo]

oh!

So I guess I missed the point on that one Neil. LOL. For the boats that require a drain I think you are on to something.

[ndutton]

Not your fault Mo. I was playing it close to the vest but not any more. I'm on the fence with this one, that's why I'm inviting opinions. I'm not sure the benefit factor is there. Of course if it prevents even a single flood I suppose it is.

[Mo]

You are onto something.

I sure it would prevent engine trouble Neil...couldn't help but do it. Depending on the layout of specific boat you perhaps could "T" into a Lazarette or sink drain.

You know, the Calalina 30 has that problem regardless of gas or diesel engine. My friend had to replace valves on a Yanmar for that exact reason...water came back into the engine while sailing and when he tried starting it ... boom, it has to come apart to be repaired. He was down almost a month just waiting for parts for the thing.

[sastanley]

Neil & I have talked about this a little bit. I try really hard to keep my bilge dry..if I can do so, a sudden wet bilge more readily indicates some problem. A boat with 2 or 3 (or more) inches of water in it all the time may take the B.O. a little longer to recognize any issue.

That being said, I am constantly sponging the ice melt out when my lovely insists on burning ice up in the ice box, instead of using it for dry storage.

[Bingy]

My coolers also drained into the bilge and I replumbed all to hand pump at galley sink and drain coolers when required directly to sink drain.
Works well and no unpleasant odors in bilge now.

[sastanley]

Bingy...I have a small jabsco pump that I purchased, and I just need to figure out how to plumb and install into the icebox drain to send it to a sink drain/thruhull.

For me, it has always been "what is the higher priority job this weekend?", so it hasn't gotten done yet.

[hanleyclifford]

When I first bought Destiny she had an ice box with a dedicated thru hull for drainage. This only works of course if the bottom of the box is above the water line. It also represented another hole in the boat.

[edwardc]

When I first bought Destiny she had an ice box with a dedicated thru hull for drainage. This only works of course if the bottom of the box is above the water line. It also represented another hole in the boat.

On Dolce Vita, the icebox drains into a small sump tank in the bilge that is shared with the shower. A small pump is used to pump it out through an above-the-waterline through-hull.

[JOHN COOKSON]

When I first bought Destiny she had an ice box with a dedicated thru hull for drainage. This only works of course if the bottom of the box is above the water line.

It also works the other way if you forget to close the valve when the boat is heeled and the ice box is below the waterline. Your food gets presalted. Guess how I found out!

TRUE GRIT

[The Garbone]

I sure it would prevent engine trouble Neil...couldn't help but do it. Depending on the layout of specific boat you perhaps could "T" into a Lazarette or sink drain.

You know, the Calalina 30 has that problem regardless of gas or diesel engine. My friend had to replace valves on a Yanmar for that exact reason...water came back into the engine while sailing and when he tried starting it ... boom, it has to come apart to be repaired. He was down almost a month just waiting for parts for the thing.

Just came across this thread via another today sorry for the necromancy..

I love the floor idea for the C30. Very interesting.

Also, as for the C30 waterlift issue. With FWC would it just be a better solution to turn off the raw water intake 30 seconds before shutting down the motor and allow some of the excess water to be pushed out?

[hanleyclifford]

As A Matter of Protocol

I always shut off the raw water intake before shutting down, but 30 seconds is a bit much. 10 - 15 seconds does most of the available good, and I also have a valve for draining the raw water side of the exchangers into the bilge from where I pump the water overboard.

[ndutton]

My preference was for an automatic, hands-free drainage system that required no user input but abandoned the idea after considering the possible effect of acid flushing.

[Administrator]

I can't readily find a link, but I recall a device that was plumbed into the discharge of the pump of a marine AC system, downstream of the AC unit itself, which would suck up the condensation from the tray under the unit (or a sump, I guess) and expel it from the boat along with the raw water.

No moving parts. Venturi effect. Surprisingly expensive for something so simple, as memory serves me.

Bill

[dwkfym]

m bilge pump is at the bottom of a 4 ft long bar that is lowered into the bilge ,o there is no way I can wipe it dry booo hooo

Me too! I hate this bar. I wish mine was screwed right into the keel but if it were, I'd never be able to service it. Must be a Bristol thing (B30 here)

[Al Schober]

Maybe it is a 'Bristol' thing. I used to own a 38' Bristol trawler (twin Perkins 6-354s) that also had the deep bilge with the pump on the end of a stick. Thought it was a nice design and saw no reason to change it although I did modify it a bit.
Biggest bilge pump flaw with that boat is that there were 3 pumps, all off the same breaker. They were nicely staged for different depth in the bilge. Final pump was the size of a gallon paint can. Total current draw for all three pumps exceeded the breaker capacity! No idea if that was factory or PO.