www.iFourWinns.com

Re the pump output, I think they are quoted as GPH against zero head of water. The weight of the water in the outlet hose and resistance due to the hose bore/ length work against the pump, you'd never get anywhere near 500 GPH from a 500 GPH pump mounted low down in the bilge and the outlet hose going upwards. I've fitted an additional 1250 GPH pump/ float switch, mounted about 6" above the original one in case the original one fails or can't keep up. The original is permanently wired (from the factory) to the back of the battery switch, always live, not directly to the battery terminals, so it's not possible to omit to connect the pump(s) up when the batteries are reconnected..

My engine compartment used to be like a sauna on warm days. The main culprits as far as getting water in the bilge on my boat were the engine lid and the storage compartments in the engine lid. It has a vertical section at the hinge end that had no seal and the storage compartment lids had no seals/ were not sealed to the engine cover. A great deal of the water from the cover ran down to that 1/4" gap that runs the whole width of the engine cover, the rest used to fill the storage compartments which then overflowed into the bilge when they were full. Sorted now, with seals and a stainless steel rainwater gulley at the bottom of the 1/4" gap, plus drains from the storage compartment to the gulley, which dumps any water that gets that far overboard.

I guess it never rains where FW have their factory.

Graham

Some time ago I came across a posting about Bilge pumps that contained the following link to an article on Bilge pumps by David Pascoe: http://www.yachtsurvey.com/bilge_pumps.htm
Worth a read. I ended up upgrading my bilge pump and adding a back up in line with Pascoe's recommendations - do a search here on bilge pump upgrade if you'd like to see what I did.

_________________
2007 Horizon 200
4.3L GXi/ SX 225 HP

OK Jim_R,

I read the article and your pump upgrade posts, and all I can say is point well taken.

I like what you did on your upgrades and I may follow suit - maybe not the backup pump right away, but the main pump, hose and through-hull seem like a prudent measure for when things aren't going exactly as planned....not that that ever happens, right?

Erik

_________________
2002 Funship 214
VP 5.7 GX Si
2003 Tahoe

I can attest to the functionality of the stock bilge pump in my 2008. 2 weeks ago I launched forgetting to put the drainplug in (something I thought, no way would I ever forget to do). I was puttering around in the cove we launched in for about 15 min and then was out on plane for less than 5 min when it dawned on me. I headed back to the cove I put in at and just pulled close to shore, jumped out with plug in hand in about 3 ft of water and was able to stop the inflow. Got back in the boat an within a few min, less than 5, the bilge was empty. I was suprised how well it kept the bilge emptied out. I hadn't manually turned the bilge pump on until the moment it dawned on me the plug wasn't in so I know the auto bilge had kicked on.

_________________
2008 H210SS VP 5.7 Gi/SX
2011 Ford F150 FX4 EB

Impulse... I'M glad that worked out for you.... I so have "drain plug phobia" When I take the plug out, I set the plug and the wrench so I trip over it, when the bilge is drained, I put it right back in.

My wife takes the rear straps off when we are getting ready to launch, and she checks the drain plug when she does that... Then I check it after that just to make sure....

_________________
Jeff

'14 Cruisers 380 Express "Simon Sez"
Merc 8.2 Mag MPI 380
DTS B3X, (x2) Axius Premier


(SOLD)
'08 V318
Merc 350 Mag MPI 300
DTS Seacore, B3 (x2)

The article was great!