RE: [Paddlewise] Rule 800 Rules!

Are the containers 1.7 gallon or 1.7 pint?

Both BoatUS and West Marine sell submersible switches.  As I have written
before I had lots of problems with allegedly submersible switches and
sealing problems.  My latest itteration has the switch mounted on the rear
deck with a rubber bootie over the switch handle and the switch in a 8 oz.
capacity Rubbermaid container under the deck.  The switch handle is
protected by a wood block.  I used the cheapest of the switches I could
find.  It was a single pole double throw I set it up so moving the switch
off center in either direction closes the circuit and starts the water
flowing.

On the pump do you have problems with the pump sucking air when the water
level is below the pump mounting base?  Mine appears to lose prime and need
to be started and stopped several times to get the water level down as low
as possible.

Dana


Bob Violin wrote:
<snip>
I placed the batteries in 1.7 gal.Rubbermaid containers.  Holes were drilled
in the lid for the leads, and sealed with several layers of silicone inside
and out.  Following the wiring diagram that came with the pump, a waterproof
fuse connector was placed on the positive battery lead.  Beyond the fuse,
the battery leads were terminated in a waterproof automotive plug (the sort
used for trailer lights).

The battery case is firmly mounted inside a carved out space in a minicell
form, cut out to fit the boat, just ahead of the forward bulkhead.  I left
spaces on either side of the minicell form, to pass the wires that come from
the cockpit and through the bulkhead.  Where wires pass through the
bulkhead, the holes are sealed with several coats of silicone on both sides
of the bulkhead.

The wires that come through the bulkhead are connected to the pump (brown
lead, to be connected to the fused positive side of the battery), and to one
side of the switch.  These leads, also, are terminated in the other end of
the automotive plug.  When we're off the water, I unplug the systems here
and don't have to worry about accidental running of the system while the
boats are being handled or are in transit.  Unplugging this way also allows
me to remove the batteries, still in their cases, between uses.

The switch was (perhaps still is) the biggest challenge.  I was unable to
find a submersible switch other than the very large and bulky ones sold for
powerboat bilge systems.  Actually, I did find another source for
submersible switches, but they supply switches for underwater oil rigs and
submarines.  Although a price was never quoted, I was given to understand
that these switches were not in my range.  But I digress.
Drilling holes of the appropriate diameter for the switch and wires, I
mounted a small push-on, push-off switch in one end of a plastic Radio Shack
project box, and ran the wires out the other end.  I used gobs of silicone
to seal both holes and the edges of the box.  This did not make the switch
waterproof, so I cut squares of 8-mil plastic (the kind that might be used
to protect cash register keyboards in auto repair shops), wrapped them
around the end of the switch and the box with gobs of silicone underneath,
then tightly taped the mess to the box.  When the silicone cured under the
tape, the switch was sealed (I hope).    As indicated earlier, one lead from
the switch passes through the bulkhead to terminate in the auto plug, and
the other is soldered to the black lead of the pump.  I mounted the switch
box just to the left of the head of the keyhole, such that the switch is
just below and flush with the coaming.  I find that I can feel for and push
the switch through the neoprene spray skirt.

A word about splices and holes drilled in bulkheads.  All wire joins were
Western-Union spliced and soldered.  The soldered joints were then sealed
with silicone and covered with electrical tape.  More silicone covered the
tape, in the hope that this would delay any displacement of the tape.  I
don't recall the diameter of the drill bit I used to bring the wire through
the bulkhead and battery case lids.  However, the wire was 16-gage (as
recommended by Rule), and the drill bit was the narrowest that would allow
passage of the wire.   As a general rule, wires running inside the cockpit
were secured with plastic wire wraps.  These can be wrapped around the foot
peg tracks (if you don't care about adjusting your pegs very far), or can be
secured with wire wrap anchors that can be epoxied to the cockpit walls out
of the way.   Another way to keep wires out of the way would be to cover
them with wide Velcro strips.

Now the pumps.  I mounted mine at the midline of the forward bulkhead.  The
mounting bracket is epoxied to a small rectangle of minicell, which in turn
is epoxied to the bulkhead.  I tried to bond the plastic bracket directly to
the fiberglass bulkhead, but the bond didn't hold over a weekend of
paddling.  The pump is positioned so that the output points to the right.
The output hose curves right, then up, then back to the left above the pump.
This minimizes the possibility that air bubbles will form in the hose.  The
hose connects to a check valve (more on this later), which is in turn
connected to the outlet port.  The hole for the outlet port (3/4 inch) was
drilled on the left at the uppermost flat portion of the hull, just off the
forward bulkhead.

Since the front of the cockpit is higher than the seat area, this
arrangement left about 3/4 to 1 inch of water in my boat after a full drain.
Joan wanted better.  So we tried mounting her pump just behind and to one
side of her seat.  The theory here was that with the pump in this position
she could edge the boat to the pump side to get those last few dregs.  The
rear bulkhead in a Romany is slanted, so a wedge-shaped minicell block was
used to epoxy the pump bracket to the bulkhead.  With pump mounted on the
right side of the boat, the outlet was aimed to the left.  The hose is
directed up above the bungies that hold the back support in place.  Again,
the hose connects to a check valve and the valve connects to the outlet
port, which is mounted as high as possible just ahead of the bulkhead.

What have I left out?  The hose is standard 3/4 inch bilge pump hose.  Each
pump required only a single one-foot section for our boats.

Does it work?  In various tests, yes.  The pump will empty a full cockpit in
around four minutes.  I've read on this list that the battery should run the
pump continuously for 3 hours.  Lessee, that works out to about 45 bailouts
of a full cockpit.....

And does it work in "combat?" Yes.  The other day, Joan missed a brace in
confused seas and came out of her boat.  We did a standard "T" rescue, in
which I emptied her boat the usual way before she got back in.  Naturally, a
substantial amount of water entered the cockpit as Joan re-entered.  While
she was settling back in, we ran the pump.  The boat was essentially dry and
fully stable by the time she was ready to get under way.  She never had to
contemplate the tiring business of pumping by hand.

I guess that's it.  Oh.  Why the 500 instead of the 800?  As someone
recently pointed out, postings on this list some time ago indicated that the
500 was the star of several reliability tests.  Given that information, it
seemed to me that a full emptying of the cockpit in 4 minutes, while I would
have both hands on my paddle,  is likely to be fast enough.

Please feel free to offer comments, modifications, razzberries, whatever.
It was a fun project.  Soon, Joan will get her garage back!
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