[C320-list] Bilge pump question/observation

[Jack Brennan]

So the bilge pump goes out on my new-to-me 320. It’s a Jabsco 37202-2012 diaphram pump under the port settee in the cabin. I think crap, there goes another $250 out of my refit fund.

Then I start looking at the label on the pump. It is rated for 2.8 gallons per minute. That’s about 160 gallons an hour tops, probably more like 110 in real-life conditions. It would struggle to keep up with a bad stuffing box leak.

So I dig up a Rule 800 gallon-per-hour non-automatic pump, wire it into the existing lines, put a check valve between the two sections of hose that used to go to the pump and, ta-da, I now have five times more pumping capacity than I did before. (The Rule pump fits nicely between a couple of keel bolts just aft of the mast.)

Best of all, these Rule pumps are $38 at Defender.

I know Rules don’t have the best reputation for reliability, even though they are industry standard, but I can buy five of these before I reach the cost of one Jabsco. It takes 10 minutes to wire in a new one if the existing one fails.

So what’s wrong with my thinking here?

Jack Brennan
Sonas, 1998 Catalina 320, No. 528
Tierra Verde, Fl.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus