Testing Bilge Pumps

[sluggoe]

on my '02 282, i can run the bilge pumps briefly to see if they are operating (they are) but is there any easy way to run them to see if they actually expel water, short of dumping water into the bilge?

--slugg

 

[Curmudgeon]

Not unless you can figure some way to get water to the pumps without going into the bilge ... :?

 

[seabob4]

Fill your bilge up to the batts. It will give you a chance to see if there is any leakage around you garboard drain as well...if your boats on a trailer or lift...

 

[sluggoe]

ok, thanks....approx how much water do you think i need to add?

 

[Tommyboy]

I assume the boat is on land/trailer ... make sure plug is secure ... open a hatch to the bilge ... run a hose into the bilge and turn on the water ........ Wait ...... If your pump/float are working you should know in a minute or two .... If pump turns on and no water flows? check for a blockage , but your pump is prob fubar .... if pump never runs replace the float .....

 

[no problem]

If it's on a trailer, jack up the front so you will have to add as little water as possible. After I verify there's no gasoline fumes in the bilge, I will also use a shopvac to remove all the small debris that collects in the bilge to prevent pump clogs. I always seem to find screws , wire bits, tie wraps and leftover crumbs from the manufacturing process.

 

[sluggoe]

boat is in the water; i have a sure bail (it's blue) for both forward and aft bilge on my 282;

the forward bilge had about an inch of water or maybe an inch and a half and it didn't come on automatically and didn't pump it when i manually turned it on;

i assume the blue part is the sensor; so how much water does it take for the pump to come on...2 inches or.....?

 

[georgemjr]

It sounds like there isn't enough water for your pump to be able to pump. Can you hear it working if you turn it on manually? Also, on that float, where the wires enter the side, is the "hinge" part of the float. It is very small and hard to grab, but you can grab it and rotate it so that the float raises. Once high enough, you should hear the float go on. The float is designed to turn on with about 2 1/2 inces of water and then turn off when the water level is reduced to about 3/4 of an inch. That float is just a simple float that is surrounded by a "box." The blue box prevents anything from getting jammed underneath the float, or laying on top of it and preventing it from doing its job. What is your aversion to adding more water? I clean out the bilge and spray a sh*t ton of water in there. to get the bilge the driest I can, I run the boat slowly, bow high and manually run the aft bilge until it stops pumping water.

 

[sluggoe]

No aversion - will do it; I spray the tops of the gas tanks 3 times a year to remove salt and crud; I assume that water just goes into the bilge and gets puped out by fwd or aft pumps; is there a hole that runs the length of the boat thru all the stringers?

 

[Strikezone]

I have a drain hole in the bulkhead forward. This water will drain aft to the bilge. I've had to pour a little bleach up front to clean things out before and I usually run the boat afterwards to force all the water to the rear of the boat.

 

[BobP]

Why don'y you want to use dock hose and fill up bilge ?

Won't take long at full bore.

 

[sluggoe]

yep...gonna do just that;

so i guess any water that is in the forward bilge or amidships will stay there while boat is resting in the water unless you raise the bow by running the boat with the bow up for a while to drain it so the aft bilge will pump it overboard;

thx.
--slugg