main salon bilge pump

[ekenna]

I tried to upload a picture however it keeps failing. In the keel stub where the keel bolts are there 3 compartments that are separated by what appears to be wood covered with with filber glass. I was going to put a bilge pump in the one closest to the mast support however I noticed that there is no way for the water to get from 1 compartment to another. So my plan will not work. so any suggestions? thought about drilling a hole except I am concerned that the water would then weaken the wood. also I would want any hole to be as close the the bottom as possible but getting a drill that close is problemmatic. maybe I could epoxy a tube in. any ideas

[svHyLyte]

Are you sure there are not limber holes at the bottom of each compartment? It would be odd that there would not be. Normally all bilges but the sump under an engine bed are interconnected, the engine bed sump being isolated becuase of spilled oil and what have you.

USe a shop vac to drain the sump. You may discover there are limber holes or that they have become blocked. It is not uncommon to run a loose length of chain through a row of limber holes that can be snatched back and forth to clear them of debris.

FWIW...

[deniseO30]

many of us use online photo servers. I use photo bucket. you put your pics there then it's easy to post here!

[Pamsboat]

I have the same problem, however I was able to locate the limber hole on my 1985 Barvaria 960. I had to get down on my run my hand along the stringers. Once I found a limber hole I gently pushed a small screw driver though the lumber hole. I checked both sides until I was sure they were open. My fresh water problem is water coming in from the mast.

The problem I have now is the water settles forward of the engine compartment where there is a bildge pump. I bought a second bildge pump but I do not know where to place a discharge seacock?

Pam

[sailingdog]

The three compartments are probably separated by floors that act as the keel support grid. Drilling holes in them is at best unwise, since it would weaken the primary support structure for your keel.

[kwaltersmi]

Originally Posted by Pamsboat

I bought a second bildge pump but I do not know where to place a discharge seacock?

Pam

Discharge for bilge pumps should be a through-hull drain fitting ABOVE the waterline, and therefore a seacock shouldn't be necessary. Make sure the discharge will never go below the waterline, which means you need to account for heeling and pitching.

[ekenna]

Saturday I took my father sailing and took some time to look at the 2 wals separating the 3 compartments. There are definitely no tubes between them blocked or otherwise. I had tried a suggestion from someone else on another thread. In the well under the engine I put a piece of plastic and chaulked it so the water build up higher so when the boat is heeled the pump should be able to pick it up. The pump is a automatic rule pump that comes on every 2.5 minutes and senses if it is pumping water. however the pump still did not pump the water. It seemed to just spin. So water was again quickly sloshing around my main salon filling up the 3 compartments. This is my biggest pain in the neck on my boat.

[QuickMick]

if your pump is making kind of a high pitched whine noise, there maybe something in the pump itself fouled... i was fiddling with mine yesterday and pulled out a gob of fishing line. 'bout as gross as the bathroom drain...

[ekenna]

Now Ive done it. Took a little trip this past weekend. As I said in my last post I have put a piece of plastic in to build the water up enough to get pumped even when on a heel. But now the water got too high and I think it fried the pumps motor. When I turn it on I get nothing. From reading other threads bilge pumps are the bain of a sailors existence. This was an automatic rule pump Next time Im down to the boat Ill try putting in the old pump and float switch I have but I do not have a high confidence in that setup working. If that does not I was thinking about using a diaphram pump but I still need a realiable way of turning it on. there has to be a better way.

[mitchbrown]

Ekenna

all the bilge pumps i've seen are water proof submersible pumps.

my mast step base collects water from the mast dripping and does not drain. I put some cloth strips from the step to the bilge and now the water soaks up and over into the bilge.