RE: [Paddlewise] Electric Bilge Pump Question

From: Colin Calder <c.j.calder_at_abdn.ac.uk>
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 10:07:44 +0100
> I bought a Rule 1100 pump.  1100 gph nominal flow, 3.3 amp draw.
> I plan on
> using either a 4 AH gel cell battery that I already have for a
> depth finder
> power source or purchasing a 2 AH gell cell battery for dedicated service.
> I also bought a marine grade switch, waterproof fuse holder. When I
> discovered the potential problem with the lack of a check valve, I
> considered putting the hose in with a couple of bends to form a trap.  I
> may still do that.  What are you using for a battery?
>
> Thanks for the prompt reply.
>

Wow - Powerful pump! I just have a self contained attwood portable, mounted
behind the seat, with the outlet pipe on the pump plumbed in to a fitting in
the hull. It runs from three D-cells contained in the pump body, and pumps ~
200 gallons an hour. Drains my cockpit in a couple of minutes. Only great
drawback is the switch is on the pump body which is difficult to switch off
through a neoprene skirt. In extremis I reckon that I wouldn't be too
concerned about leaving the pump running until I could pop the skirt to
switch it off.

I suspect that with your pump a trap in the outlet pipe is unlikely to make
any significant difference to performance. My pump throws a horizontal jet
about a foot and a half from the outlet port, and the outlet pipe  is about
a meter and a half long - most of which is wound around the pump body.

I highly recommend electric pumps. Even my cheap little attwood portable is
quick and pain free - paddle and brace while your boat empties. I think in
water likely to throw a proficient paddler out of their boat, that unless
you have someone to raft up with (in which case my choice would be the
T-rescue I described a while ago - **much quicker than any pump**) then
using a portable hand pump is unlikely to be very successful, and bailing a
boat with a bucket is utterly ridiculous. A fixed hand pump is more
realistic, but still has the drawbacks that you can't paddle and brace and
is slower than even my cheap and simple electric pump set up.

.... just my thoughts.

Cheers

Colin Calder
57º19'N  2º10'W

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Received on Tue Jun 23 1998 - 02:14:12 PDT

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