Dewatering pump-gctid392893

[ksanders]

Has anybody installed a high capacity dewatering pump on your boat.

On the 4788 there are three pairs of sump pumps. If there were a major issue these pumps of course do not have the capacity to keep up.

I'm considering adding a AC powered large capacity dewatering pump. Something with a 1.5 or 2" discharge.

Something like this

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/ZOELLER-Pump-6JGV8?Pid=search

Has anybody installed anything like this?

Has anybody ever heard of an actual situation where a boat could have been saved if they had a pump of this large capacity?

[mmichellich]

Wondering why AC. Would you plan on inverter power? Several folks I know have a small gasoline powered pump on board with some large diam hose for extreme emergencies. Of course an AC pump can be started via float switch so if you are not aboard, it might save the boat.

[playdoughted]

Kevin - playing the devil's advocate - what if you're AC and DC are down, then what? What about a stand alone Honda ( or what ever) gas-power pump. There are some amazing deals on these out there. As we mostly build on acrages we use both. Genset with an AC pump and our gas powered water pump. When I headed to SEA in 2014, I carry a small Honda gas power Pump. My 2 cents. Ted ( when I'm ready to buy and you have had a lot of experience, I will start a thread on how you like your Wallas furnace. Thinking of putting one in our 490. )

[Guest]

I have a 6hp dewatering pump in my storage unit that I've been considering putting onboard as a fire/rescue pump.

[ksanders]

mmichellich wrote:
Wondering why AC. Would you plan on inverter power? Several folks I know have a small gasoline powered pump on board with some large diam hose for extreme emergencies. Of course an AC pump can be started via float switch so if you are not aboard, it might save the boat.

I'm thinking AC because a 5 amp AC pump is equal to a 50 amp DC pump, a 15 amp AC pump is equal to a 150 amp DC pump. Wiring is easier, and there are lots of high capacity AC models available to choose from. I also have a nice large inverter thats out of the "flood zone" IE it is higher than the top of my house bank.

playdoughted wrote:
Kevin - playing the devil's advocate - what if you're AC and DC are down, then what? What about a stand alone Honda ( or what ever) gas-power pump. There are some amazing deals on these out there. As we mostly build on acrages we use both. Genset with an AC pump and our gas powered water pump. When I headed to SEA in 2014, I carry a small Honda gas power Pump. My 2 cents. Ted ( when I'm ready to buy and you have had a lot of experience, I will start a thread on how you like your Wallas furnace. Thinking of putting one in our 490. )

One of the problems I have with a gas pump is storage. There's allot of storage space on a 4788, but not that much space that I would consider safe to store a gasoline engine. I suppose I could store it on the flybridge much of the time, and in the skiff under cover the rest of the time, but underneath the seats on the flybridge is limited space.

Speedy deployment is also a consideration. If I have an electric pump, and have an issue all I have to do is flip on a breaker in the panel and we're dewatering. A gas pump would require probably a few precious minutes minimum. Minutes you could better spend on trying to stop the source of intrusion, or calling for help, or even deploying the liferaft. Even if an electric pump would eventually be overcome, it would probably buy you escape time. That time could be critical to your or your families survival.

Pau Hana wrote:
I have a 6hp dewatering pump in my storage unit that I've been considering putting onboard as a fire/rescue pump.

Probably a great addition!

[ksanders]

Pau Hana wrote:
I have a 6hp dewatering pump in my storage unit that I've been considering putting onboard as a fire/rescue pump.

Pete, you're in the insurance business; have you ever heard of a permenantly mounted dewatering pump saving a boat?

I guess thats probably a loaded question, since if it saved the boat you'd never hear about it.

Better yet...

Have you seen situations where a dewatering pump would have saved a boat?

Something in the range of 60 GPM or so (which is about a 1/2 HP pump)?

Do catastrophic failures like that happen?

[Guest]

I wouldn't go AC for the stated reasons. Also, the capacity of that pump is relatively low and only gets worse with greater head. Why not use the USCG P6 pump? Gas powered, plenty of output and relatively compact. Then you'd have an emergency pump independent of your ships' systems with enough capacity to really help you out.

http://www.darley.com/pumps/pump-guide/portables/65-hp-pumps.html

Max 276 GPM, lightweight, small...

[Guest]

Kevin Good thinking. I do have such a pump on board. It is A/C and can operate off Dockside, Genny or the inverter. It has a float switch and a alarm if the bilge starts to flood. The Pump and the discharge hose can be quickly transfered to another boat via a 30 Ft waterproof extension cord...I have one because a friend has one and saved a expensive boat (not a Bayliner) and possible 2 lives..

If you can save one life or one boat with your idea!! Do it.. A 47 Bayliner cannot pump out the Concordia. If you need some stats call the Coast Guard and see how many boats and lives have been saved with your idea!!! Thank You. Mike Victoria B.C.

[Guest]

"... but not that much space that I would consider safe to store a gasoline engine."

I have two big honkin' gasoline engines stored on my boat plus about 250 gallons of gasoline

[Guest]

Kevin, have you thought of installing a two way valve and allowing your raw water pumps to act as dewatering pumps? This is primarily for when you're under way. It would of course assume you can get to the valve in time, but that can be mitigated with a water level alarm.

[kwb]

telebob wrote:
I have two big honkin' gasoline engines stored on my boat plus about 250 gallons of gasoline

But then again everything on your boat is designed to have spark arrestors and be ignition protected... not so much on a diesel powered boat.

[ksanders]

Astral Blue wrote:
Kevin, have you thought of installing a two way valve and allowing your raw water pumps to act as dewatering pumps? This is primarily for when you're under way. It would of course assume you can get to the valve in time, but that can be mitigated with a water level alarm.

I hadn't considered it but that would be a pretty viable idea.

The raw water circuit from the seacocks to the engines is really easy to get to for valve installation.

I'm going to seriously think about that!

[Guest]

But then again everything on your boat is designed to have spark arrestors and be ignition protected... not so much on a diesel powered boat.

Think of it as a lawnmower parked in a garage with a few gallons of gas. Just like the Coast Guard, you operate the pump on deck.

[ksanders]

telebob wrote:
Think of it as a lawnmower parked in a garage with a few gallons of gas. Just like the Coast Guard, you operate the pump on deck.

Cool pump! The first challenge is storing it.

I will not store a gasoline tank in an enclosed area on my boat. The 4788 is a pretty good sized vessel but there are very few naturally vented areas. As it was pointed out, on my boat nothing is ignition protected.

I do not want to have to install a dock box for the pump up on the fly bridge. I already have a big liferaft, so space is tight.

Thanks for the suggestion. It is a very good idea, but its just not for me.

[kwb]

telebob wrote:
Think of it as a lawnmower parked in a garage with a few gallons of gas. Just like the Coast Guard, you operate the pump on deck.

Bad comparison - first the garage floor isn't shaped like a bowl. Gas fumes, propane both are heavier than air and will pool in lower sections of bilges

The gas powered pump tank that is not vented out of the side of the boat vents to where when a cool engine room goes from 50F to 150F after couple big chunks of iron have been running for a few hours on a warm day?

Gas powered things on a diesel powered boat is a tough one to deal with because basically nothing in the bilge is spark protected and generally speaking there is a lot more in the bilge of a diesel powered boat than gas (just because the boats are usually bigger and have more complex systems).