Life and Death Bilge Pump Issues

[joewildlife]

Guys, I was duck hunting last month and the weather people screwed up a forecast big time....long story short, three of us ended up in a big lake with 4+ foot waves in a 14' boat. We did okay, the boat is a very wide and deep sided old PolarKraft, a seaworthy craft...but nonetheless we were taking on water over the bow, it was a "perfect storm" kind of thing. The bilge pump failed. Well, it took about 1 hour to get back to the ramp. When we got there, I estimate we drained 100+ gallons of water out of the boat, 800 pounds of water, that is. At least. It was a bad, bad thing to have that much extra weight in the boat when dealing with big waves. I had a bilge pump cabable of bailing 500 gallons an hour out of the boat. IF it worked. But NO, a little bit of debris in the bottom of the boat got into the pump and jammed it up. When dealing with 30 mph winds and 4' waves, there is no time to work on a bilge pump.

So, I'm figuring that I need to built a filter box of some type to make sure the bilge works no matter what. I'm thinking about putting the pump in a piece of heavily "ventilated" 4 or 6" PVC pipe wrapped in window screen, to make sure it can pump all the water it is meant to pump.

Take this as a recommendation and as a request for ideas on how to do it. With a working bilge pump, it would have just been a wild ride. Without a working pump...let's just say the pucker factor was at 11, out of 10.

Joe

[Eager Beaver]

The screen over the pump may plug up quicker than the bilge would by itself.
I carry a 2-1/2 gal plastic paint bucket with a lid, incase of that problem. It fits in one of my storage compartments and I have some stuff in it that I don't want to get wet. So it really doesn't take up much space and I have it handy incase of an emergence. EB

[joewildlife]

My idea was the make the "filter area" very large to prevent it from plugging up. Even if it was covered in grass and leaves, for example, enough water would seep through the 1-2 square feet of surface area to feed the pump.

I had my hands full in that storm, just running the motor and keeping the bow into the wind, and hanging on. No time to bail!! If I had stopped driving for a second, we would have been swamped for sure.

Joe

[bigfish5]

get one of those hand pump models and keep it in the boat with you . you said there were 3 of you ? the other to could be baling or pumping while you were driving. i would have cut the top out of a drink bottle or something and put those guys to baling. i have an extra bilge pump set up with a hose to pump water in and out of a shad tank. i carry it as a back up bilge pump just in case.

[Wiskers]

Do like I did. I have a DC outlet on my dash. I got a spare bilge pump and 5' of discharge hose, some wire, & cut the end off of an old electric knife (that didn't work anymore) and made me up a portable pump. If something goes wrong with the onboard bilge pump I have a spare that I can have go'n in a matter of seconds. I can also use it to pump water in the livewell if need be.

That's what I'd suggest.

[danny]

Do like I did. I have a DC outlet on my dash. I got a spare bilge pump and 5' of discharge hose, some wire, & cut the end off of an old electric knife (that didn't work anymore) and made me up a portable pump. If something goes wrong with the onboard bilge pump I have a spare that I can have go'n in a matter of seconds. I can also use it to pump water in the livewell if need be.

That's what I'd suggest.

Great ideal Wiskers going to keep that in mind.One thing when I the weather getting bad we cut the fishing out and go find shelter if to far from the ramp or get out of the water if we can.Going out side to the garage going to rig something like you have as back up good post thank you.

[Dave Willis]

Grown ups should know better than trust a weather person!

[Wannabe...]

A bucket and a backup pump are your best bets. No matter what kind of screen you build, it can and will plug. I recommend mayfair cartridge pumps. If something gets by the screen and stops the impellar, you can valve it shut, remove the cartridge and clear it, or pop in a spare and be going again quickly if you have good access to the bilge. In high seas demanding your attention, a bucket or a spare are your only real options though.

If you run waves like that a lot, install a second pump seperately switched and seperately plumbed. In an quirky thing like taking a wave over the bow, you can put 500 gallons of water in a boat in 3 seconds and in your case, you're pumping it out at a rate of 500 gallons per HOUR and that is with a perfectly functioning, unimpeeded pump. 2 500s would be better. 2 1,000s would be more better, although many consider that overkill. But for cold water and windy conditions, I'd say it's cheap insurance.

Wannabe...

[Kman]

Well, in his defense, that would mean to not trust them when they say it is good or bad. Bottom line is, you're gonna go eventually and , eventually, they will be worng. With duck hunters you are dealing with winter weather. Strong winds and cold fronts moving through are what sends you out there in the first place. It is much more common to get "caught" in that crap than a brief summer squall. Been there, seen the waves get scary and was glad I was in a boat that could take it. Pucker factor goes off the scale!:D

One thing to think about though is IF you do go down in those conditions the water is not as welcome as it is in the summer. Now it should be said that you can suffer hypothermia in the dead of summer if exposed long enough. However, it doesn't take long in the dead of winter.

They make bilge pumps that have a built in float that is already encased inside a grated plastic box. Attwood is one choice but there are others.

Next time, pull the drain plug while you are running. They don't make a bilge pump that will get water out as fast as that will. As long as you are moving forward at a DECENT clip, you don't have to be on plane, it will suck it out of there.

[jaxsprat]

Do like Whiskers said.. Most of big boats up here on lake Michigan & big waters of Wis. all carry a spare back up pump just like Whiskers said. The only difference is they use a pump of 1000 or 2000 gpm cause they want that water out in a hurry as they could be in 4 to 7 foot waves.