Auto bilge

[Michael Ludwikowski]

Hey fellas:



I just recently upgraded to my first glass boat and I love it. I bit the bullet and went with the 911 CDC.



I have a question regarding the bilge. Being the first boat I have had with an auto bilge. My PT 185 did not. When I have the master power turned off, the auto bilge still kicks in every few minutes and then shuts off right away. Is this normal, even with the master power switch turned off?



Any help is greatly appreciated.



Lud

 

[Rob LaMoy]

If it is hard wired to the battery, yes. Often you want it hard wired to get water out even with the switch off. The main reason for auto bilges was for boats left in the water. That way, you can kill ALL power, except the auto bilge and leave the boat. Make sense? I have mine hard wired. It's also good if you forget your plug in and it rains while the boat is in the driveway. But I recommend keeping a 911 in the garage or at least covered when not in use. Your carpet and seats will last a lot longer.

 

[Gerry Gerry]

I've heard a lot about the auto bilge working with power off. I have a 929 and mine does not. The auto bilge is the same pump as the manual bilge, just has an float switch added. So unfortunately I can't add anything intelligent hear.

 

[Roger Chambers]

If your bilge kicks in every few minutes, you must have a leak somewhere.

 

[Rich Stern]

Lud, your auto bilge pump should be directly wired to the battery, with an inline fuse. That's so it can't be shut off; a "safety" feature and generally, not a bad idea.



The pump you have is probably a Rule electronic autosensing model (rather than a simple float switch model) that turns itself on every 2.5 minutes. If it detects water in the pump, it continues to run, otherwise shuts down. It's working normally.



There are two schools of thought on these pumps:



1) Good technology;



2) Why add technology to something that can be performed perfectly well by a simple float switch?



An electronic device can fail, and so can a simple float switch, so it's really just a matter of choice.



Nice choice of boat.

 

[Michael Ludwikowski]

Thanks guys for all the info. After looking and finding the pump, it is an autosensing bilge. So Rich you were right, rather than being turned on by the float switch, it just kicks in every 2-3 minutes checking for water.



Lud

 

[gone bye bye]

My 911 had a float switch on the auto bilge pump. Perhaps they changed....



IMHO if you trailer your boat, you really have no need for an auto bilge pump if you remopve the drain plug after each trip and replace it before launching again.

 

[Rich Stern]

Mini, the auto bilge pump will let you know if you forgot to put the plug in before launching.

 

[Bob G.]

Oh mighty wise one, Mini, have you ever tied your boat up at the dock and went for the tow vehicle and then the skies opened up? Then the guy in front of you decides that it is ok to take 30 minutes to get his boat on the trailer. The boat probably wouldn't sink anyways, but I'd hate to find out the hard way. I added a float switch to my bilge pump and replaced the on/off switch with an on/off/on switch. I leave in the auto position while fishing. I like to know I'm sinking before the water comes up to the floor drain! You know how it is when you are trying to outfish the "master of Champlain". You become oblivious to the little things like sinking!



Bob G.

 

[gone bye bye]

I have been in the rain all day and never had to turn my bilge pump on. Auto bilge pumps are nice, but they also are another thing to go wrong. Dual bilge pumps are a better alternative....in case on goes bad.



Mini