J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Can I run auto bilge pump through manual Whale pump?

Dan - nice install. You may find that you need a check valve by the pump discharge to prevent "short cycling". When the pump shuts off, the water left in the discharge line will flow back into the bilge without it.

Dan:

Thanks for posting the pictures and supplying the info. I started the installation process this morning. The main difference from your installation is I used an upgraded exhaust hose that has no internal ribbing. It was slightly more expensive. I, too, had to drop down from a 3/4" hose to a 5/8" section to allow it to run from the bilge up into the starboard aft settee. It was a tight fit and the 3/4" tubing couldn't be persuaded to squeeze through the tight fit.

Total cost for materials, if anyone is interested, was about $200.00. I installed a three-way switch (auto, off, and on) with a light.

Bob Rude
Mmmmm
#352

I just finished my bilge pump installation. I used a Rule pump with a built-in float. A word of advice...test your pump before installing it. I had a defective new pump that wouldn't work in the automatic mode. It took many hours of tinkering with connections, etc. before the yard technician and I figured out we needed to test the pump.

My installation is essentially like Dan's except I used a smooth hose that is stiffer than the white bilge hose. As a result, I was able to jam the pump in the bilge without having to screw the base into the bilge or concoct the fiberglass rod gizmo. Also, I installed the check valve about one foot or so from the pump. If I can upload some photos, you'll see it.

Good luck

Bob Rude

Motivated by these write-ups and the fact that the last two winters have left my bilge filled with a solid block of ice I set about installing an automatic bilge pump this past weekend. Rule 500 25s automatic which I have used before on skiffs and a check valve from West Marine, plus 10 feet of 3/4 vinyl braided tubing, stainless clamps, and the dishwasher fitting used by Rhapsody from Home Depot.

10 feet was not enough tubing. I had some trouble fitting it through the aft port scupper but succeeded. Only problem is I can fit either the new tubing or the whale gusher hose in the bypass under the floorboard but not both. I wondered whether I could cut another grove opposite the one for the whale gusher without impacting the keel structure.

I'd prefer to use the forward port scupper but could not seem to fish it under the water tank, plus this scupper was plugged up more than the aft one.

My late model hull (481) has an 90 degree elbow with a screw fitting for the drain just under the main cabin sink. So the dishwasher fitting did not fit. On top of that I could not release the flexible hose from the elbow and was afraid I might sink the boat if I cut it, there being no valve on this through hull. Head sink is metal and also has an elbow just below the drain. I'm thinking I could somehow still use the dishwasher fitting under the main sink beyond the elbow. Or I maybe I have to consider the anchor locker option, though I would need to vent it and splice in a T since I don't want a stream of water flowing past my anchor. Any other ideas?

Since the new hose is on the discharge of the pump, it doesn't need to be as rigid as one on the suction side like the long one to the whale gusher. Try some of the cheaper white plastic bilge hose with the accordion style ridges. You could use fish tape and get it under the water tank through the forward port scupper. If needed, use a rasp or long drill to open up the scupper. There was also a little play on the Rhapsody water tank that allowed it to move enough to help fish the hose underneath it.

Use a pipe wrench on the hose at the sink end to see if you can break it loose. If you need to cut the hose, the through hull should be above the waterline if you force the boat to list to stbd. I've done that by taking a halyard to a dock cleat on the stbd side.

Thanks for the advice. The hose was kind of stiff so maybe the answer is 3/4" Bilgeflex. I had gone with something sturdy in case rainwater froze inside.

Also it turns out Rule didn't like the idea of a check valve, though I don't see the point of pumping the same water over and over.

Somebody has probably fitted a seacock to the sink drain through hull fitting. If so I'd like to hear it. I've heard that in surfing conditions you can get a stream of water to shoot up through the sink drain and hit the ceiling (though I've never actually tried it).

My bilge pump is run to the transom through a race under the floor to the bottom of the engine compartment. Rule 500 Automatic.
Do you guys ever have water siphon back into your sinks while sailing on starboard tack?. No vented loops? No check valves?

Never a problem on Rhapsody. The dishwasher connection is an air gap and rotated high enough on stbd tack so it is above the waterline. It's literally at the base of the sink drain. I never get water coming back into the sink.

I too have the extra water tank on my port side and was able to run the bilge pump hose under the tank. There is a slight amount of play under the tank that allowed me to run the discharge hose. I used a batten to thread a small line as a messenger to help route the hose. It was really easy to run the discharge to the sink hose. I used the same path to route the wires and installed an on/off switch with an inline fuse under the sink. I installed a auto float switch with the pump, the on/off switch to turn the pump off while sailing.

After what I had read in the J-30 forum I assumed that I wouldn't be able to get the hose to fit, but the Red Head (Cynthia Ross) said she had no problem with running the hose under the tank, so I gave it a try. As usual she was right.

Hi everyone,
Just to share my set-up with you all, I did what Dan wanted to do in his original post when I got Salsa Verde in 2008. I ran the electric bilge pump through the original manual pump hose. I had to add a no-return valve just after the pump, but it was no big deal. It's been working fine for 3 years now and I can even use the manual pump if I want to, it's just a little harder to pump because of the smaller end.

Happy new year to all :-)
Mag