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From: Scott H.E. Welch (no email)
Date: Sun Apr 27 2008 - 12:22:44 EDT
writes:
>Are Rodger and I missing something or is this (and Aqualarm Inc) the piece
>ofe ----- I think it is? I was going to spring for their water flow sensors,
>obut can't take that risk after this experience
>Please someone tell us we are missing somethng! The vendor already has
>assign ed us kite flying duties.
My two cents: one of the first things I installed on Island Eagle (she's
wooden) was a high bilge water alarm with a big, loud red firebell. I used an
Aqualarm switch (not a knockoff) because they claimed a lifetime warranty. I
mounted the switch about 2 inches higher than the one for the primary bilge
pump.
About 2 years later, on one of my first trips (it was a long refit) I had to
dock the boat on a particularly tough location -- backing down a narrow
channel the slipping into the berth. With 60 feet, a single screw and no
thruster, this was, ummm, "exciting". I was pretty keyed-up. I had just tied
up at the dock when the high water alarm went off with no warning at all. I
just about pooped my pants. Of course there were about 20 people standing
around around watching. I tore down to the ER and discovered that through a
series of unrelated events both the primary and secondary bilge pumps had
failed.
I got them going within a minute, but the alarm did not go off when the water
went down! It seems that the alarm switch had failed in the "on" position. No
matter what I did I could not get the alarm to go off. Finally, I pulled the
fuse and mercifully it went quiet. I later removed the offending switch and
found that nothing I could do would make it turn off.
Lessons learned:
1) Do not use the Aqualarm switches. First, they can and will fail. However,
the worse problem is that they are sealed and therefor very hard to test. I
now use regular float switches, and one of my normal inspection points is to
reach down into the bilge and lift each one up and make sure that the pump
(or alarm) goes on as expected. I keep a wooden yardstick with a pin on the
end so I don't even need to put my arm down in the bilge.
2) Install a bilge pump monitor at the helm. I can now see which pumps run
and when, and there is a built-in alarm if the pump runs for more then the
specified time. I used this one from BEP: http://tinyurl.com/4rtdmh
3) Install a cut-off switch on all alarms. It's bad enough trying to fix a
problem in a rush, having a 100 db alarm bell in your ears does not help your
concentration.
4) Install bilge pump counters so you know how often your bilge pumps run.
5) Put manual override switches on all bilge pumps so you can both turn them
off if the switch fails "on" and turn them on if the switch fails "off".
Scott Welch
FirstClass Product Manager
www.firstclass.com
Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.
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