Next message: Keith: "Re: T&T: Bilge pump sizing"
I may have posted this before, but it is worth repeating for those new to the
list. Most pumps seem to be installed with the float switch attached to the
base, as with Rule pumps, or the switches are attached to a board or whatever
at the bottom. This arrangement is fine for pumping out occasional water from
packing glands, rain etc. If you get a leak that is fast, but within the pumps
ability to keep up, your boat will sink!!!! I tried this with all the common
pumps, and regardless of the notation that the pump will not air lock, it
absolutely, for sure will. Here is what happens: Water starts coming in, the pump
turns on and it catches up to the leak, it sucks air, it doesn't turn off
because water is still coming in. From then on, the pump will run and not pump
one drop of water. If you turn off the pump by holding the switch down for a few
seconds, then let it turn back on, it will pump again. Try it in a bucket
with a garden hose filling the bucket fast. It happens every time. It has
nothing to do with the turbulence or air from the hose in the bucket. The solution
is to mount the float switch high enough above the pump so that the switch
turns the pump off while there is an inch or two of water above the base of the
pump so it never sucks air. To get rid of the last bit in normal times when you
do not have a fast leak, turn the pump on manually from your panel switch.
Another solution is to use diaphragm pumps rather than centrifugal.
Jake
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