I need to add a pump for a bait tank, and I wasn't looking forward to drilling a new hole in the bottom of the hull. Then I noticed this nice pre-existing thru-hull complete with bronze seacock and strainer for nothing but picking up seawater to use in the head. And I get the idea of using that for both the pump and head. But being that this is my first non-trivial modification to a boat, I thought I'd run it by you guys first.
Here's how I imagine it working:
[ol]
[li]Remove head pickup tube from seacock.[/li]
[li]Add a three-way T- or Y-fitting to the seacock.[/li]
[li]Attach pump to one outlet of above fitting. (Keeping the pump lower than water level, but also keeping the hose running uphill so there's no place for a bubble to airlock.)[/li]
[li]Wire pump to switch on console..[/li]
[li]Run hose from pump to bait tank.[/li]
[li]Attach ball vale or check valve to other outlet. (To prevent the pump from sucking in air via the head.)
[li]Re-connect head pickup hose to check valve.[/li]
[li]Double-clamp all hose connections.[/li]
[/ol]
So will that work? Anything I'm missing or should change? Should I add a check valve before the pump as well? I'm guessing a Y would work better, since a T may make it difficult to pump water into the head when the bait pump is running. OTOH, with a Y, would it be possible for the pump pulling water up to force water into the head?
Here's how I imagine it working:
[ol]
[li]Remove head pickup tube from seacock.[/li]
[li]Add a three-way T- or Y-fitting to the seacock.[/li]
[li]Attach pump to one outlet of above fitting. (Keeping the pump lower than water level, but also keeping the hose running uphill so there's no place for a bubble to airlock.)[/li]
[li]Wire pump to switch on console..[/li]
[li]Run hose from pump to bait tank.[/li]
[li]Attach ball vale or check valve to other outlet. (To prevent the pump from sucking in air via the head.)
[li]Re-connect head pickup hose to check valve.[/li]
[li]Double-clamp all hose connections.[/li]
[/ol]
So will that work? Anything I'm missing or should change? Should I add a check valve before the pump as well? I'm guessing a Y would work better, since a T may make it difficult to pump water into the head when the bait pump is running. OTOH, with a Y, would it be possible for the pump pulling water up to force water into the head?
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