Adding a 2nd bilge pump - 220 SD

What about the diaphram pumps? It sounds like they are more reliable (and can be repaired onboard). I am from the go big or stay home mentality....maybe this is the best option?
 
tsandu said:
I have a 185BR, and have replaced the useless 500gph rule bilge pump, with 2 * 1100gph pumps, eack with their own seperate float switches. Each has its own drain, and battery/fuse circuit. The drain plug even though above waterline, has the tube that connects to it going all the way to the top of the boat.. so water will only go back into the boat via the drain plug, if the boat was almost fully submerged.
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You really think your pumps can keep up with a 1" hole? You ever seen or calculated how much water comes in a 1" hole 2 feet below the water line? It's about 6400 gph... and your pumps, depending how high they have to lift the water, will never give you close to what is stamped on the side... Your boat will sink in 10 minutes with a 1" hole and your current pump setup... A 3" hole 2 feet below the water line will dump 20,000 gph in your boat...

I pulled my transducer out of it's hole (about 2") to clean it and it is about 3.5 feet below the water line... That's 17,500 gph... I have 4 x 2000 gph pumps and they didn't even make a dent...
 
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I wonder if you will have a problem with getting the water off the deck fast enough if you are swamped. This summer I saw a boat that was swamped in Lake Michigan. It took a beating. I talked to the owner. After the wave came over the bow he had a few seconds before he lost control of the boat. The extra weight in the boat made the boat uncontrollable.
 
Do you know if the deck was self-bailing? In my opinion, the only defense against swamping a bow rider is to have a self-bailing design and 2-3 high volume bilge pumps. That's what I am shooting for :)

Thanks for all the input. Has anyone swamped their boat? Tell us your story....

HavingFun said:
I wonder if you will have a problem with getting the water off the deck fast enough if you are swamped. This summer I saw a boat that was swamped in Lake Michigan. It took a beating. I talked to the owner. After the wave came over the bow he had a few seconds before he lost control of the boat. The extra weight in the boat made the boat uncontrollable.
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All I can say is what an A-hole....I would never think of getting swamped by another boat's wake. I have seen some big wakes thrown out on the open water, but never in a confined space as you have described.

I am going to add 1-2 additional bilge pumps for just this sort of event. I am also trying to make my deck self-bailing like the 240 SD....just not sure if it's possible. I will have a dedicated pump for the deck on at least one of the drain holes, and will have a 'plug' handy for the other side if I choose not to let it drain into the bilge.

Have you had a chance to add a second pump to your bilge?

unlvrebel said:
Here is where I told my story.

http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8062&highlight=camcorder
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Nothing new going into the rig this off-season. The economy has not been good to those of us in the homebuilding industry. So far we've been able to fend off selling the boat.
 
didnt do the maths for my setup.. but i can definetely say the new setup.. is well approx 4 times better then stock setup that came with the searay..also..gives twice the insurance.. ie a fuse , switch etc goes bad.. there is atleast another one, which is twice as big as the standard searay item..
 
Four Suns said:
I re-did the bilge pump setup on my bow-rider (sold it this year though). It was a Sea Doo Challenger 2000 and the OEM pump was pretty wimpy. That boat had enough room for 10 pumps in the engine room so I'm not sure why they only had one. The one down in the sump area had enough room to put in a Rule 2000 and then I mounted a float and pump on some starboard and put it across the stringers as a high-water pump. I routed it to a new through hull and got a fitting from Jamestown Distributors that matched the one on the other side. I used to get a lot of water in that boat when the bow would dig under from slamming the jet gate in reverse while moving forward at 50 mph....

My wife is happy the boat is gone.

Sky diving anyone?
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I just had my 7.4 engine replaced on my 23' BR. I MADE SURE I had them install a second bilge pump as the reason I had to replace the engine in the first place was because of the 1st one failing causing the bottom of the engine to sit in water which rusted it out. It is a GREAT IDEA!
 
Four Suns said:
I pulled my transducer out of it's hole (about 2") to clean it and it is about 3.5 feet below the water line... That's 17,500 gph... I have 4 x 2000 gph pumps and they didn't even make a dent...
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My paddle wheel has a rubber flapper that does a decent job of sealing the opening 'till I put the plug in-place.

No such luck w/ the depth. It is wide open.

When I pull that w/ one hand I then obstruct the opening w/ the other hand. The first hand is then used to install the plug.

Mine aren't painted and this process is fine for keeping 'em clean.
 
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