[C320-list] More Bilge Pump Questions

[Scott Thompson]

This is a little unclear and you might elaborate. When you "tested that 
it was working satisfactorily" how did you do the test? What was 
different when you "tested it installed?" Did it run after it was 
installed? Do both pumps have to be running to empty the bilge, or do 
you simply need to turn on power for the shower pump but not actually 
activate it? Does the shower pump drain the shower sump?

I have a newer hull number but as far as I know the bilge pump thruhull 
outlet is always near the stern, fairly high.

You very well may have a "ridiculous" installation due to misguided 
creativity of a former owner. (I can't imagine that the bilge pump and 
shower pump were connected in any way when your boat left the factory.) 
On a boat I owned previously the intake side of the electric bilge pump 
had been hooked up to a mystery hose in the bilge and did not pump the 
bilge. Nor could I find the other end of that hose to figure what it was 
supposed to be pumping out. But the hose itself always seemed to be 
clear. So I disconnected the intake of the bilge pump from that hose and 
reconnected it to the strainer in the bilge. This restored the bilge 
pump to its original function.

However I now had another hose end of uncertain purpose open in the 
bilge. I chose to track that down another day. The next time the family 
went for an extended cruise we learned the hard way what it had been 
intended for. When the boat started to stink, I tracked the smell to a 
bilge filled with brownish, stinking water. Turns out the other end of 
that hose went to the top of the holding tank, T-ed into the vent line, 
and so the holding tank was now overflowing into the bilge through the 
open hose. Apparently the previous owner had decided to convert the 
bilge pump into an illegal "solution" to the problem of a full holding 
tank. My replumbing had essentially converted the bilge into an overflow 
tank!

My family says that all of our funniest stories involve poop.

Scott Thompson
Surprise, #653

On 11/9/2014 2:24 AM, David MacKinnon wrote:
> I have not long ago purchased Hull#162 and recently have noticed about 3” of water in the bilge every time we go out for a sail, which was not there before.  I have checked all of the usual areas for water ingress but cannot find any.
>
>   However, whilst trying to get rid of the water using the bilge pump I found that the water was not being ejected from the bilge so I changed the pump and tested that it was working satisfactorily.  However, water was still not leaving the bilge after I tested it installed.
>
>
>   I had read on the forum that there might have been a relationship between the bilge pump and the shower pump so I turned on the shower pump, with the bilge pump manually activated, and most of the water left the bilge.  I do not understand how the bilge pump is set up & why the shower pump seems to be connected to the outlet from the bilge pump, as that seems like a pretty ridiculous thing to do to me. Can anyone enlighten me about how the plumbing is connected in the early model 320s? I had also tried the manual pump previously but got no results so I am a little concerned about the safety aspects of this.
>
>
>   As an aside to that, where is the thru the hull outlet for the bilge pump? I have looked everywhere to find a schematic of the complete system but I have not been able to find one.
>
>
> David MacKinnon
> Hull#162 Figment
>
>