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DIY's Shipshape Boating host, John Greviskis, has shown you how to install a filter and fuel line, and now it's time to learn how to wire and install a bilge pump on your craft.
Whenever you're out on the water and the boat takes on a big wave of water or a sudden downpour or rain occurs, you need to have a way to quickly evacuate the water -- and the best solution is a bilge pump (figure A).
Bilge pumps are rated in gallons per hour, and there's a number on the outside of the pump. The one Greviskis chose (the largest he could find) pumps 1,500 gallons per hour.
Installing the Bilge Pump
- A hose runs off the fitting of the bilge pump (figure B), and the hose needs to run overboard well above the water line into a "through hull fitting" (figure C), which means you have to drill through the hull of the boat.
Find a spot above the water line inside the boat, and use a pilot drill in order to drill from the inside out. This creates a visual reference, then from the outside of the boat take a hole-saw and drill from the outside going in. Once the hole is complete, take the through hull fitting apart (the nut simply backs off).
- Create a gasket on the through hull fitting by applying polyurethane sealant to the flange (figure D), and insert it through the drilled hole on the outside of the boat.
- On the inside, use the polyurethane sealant around the perimeter of the fitting and where the nut and fitting come in contact. Tighten the nut and you have an installed through hull fitting, ready for the bilge pump hose.
- Next, install the bilge pump strainer (figure E) down inside the bilge so that it's attached to the hull bottom. The key here is to "not" drill all the way through the hull bottom or don't screw all the way through the hull bottom.
Note: Consult the boat manufacturer for hull thickness. To prevent your drill from going through the hull bottom, you can attach a "drill stop" to the pilot bit. If you don't have a drill stop, you can use a piece of masking tape. Simply wrap it around the end of the drill bit.
- Drill the hole -- carefully -- and use manufacturer's recommended mounting screws to secure the bilge pump strainer (figure F). Use a quality marine-grade sealant on the screws and a dab on each hole to prevent corrosion.
- Attach the bilge pump on top of the strainer, and then it's time for the wiring.
The float switch (figure G) has to be wired into the bilge pump. It's buoyant and when water is entering the bilge pump, the switch will raise up and this turns the bilge pump on. The water is evacuated and when the switch lowers -- due to gravity -- it automatically turns the pump off.
- To wire the switch, take the brown wire (hot) off the bilge pump and attach it to one side of the float switch. Make a crimp with a butt connector and seal the connection (figure H). Heat the crimp for tight security.
- Take the black wire (ground) and connect it the same way as the previous step, but this time you want to wire in an in-line fuse (figure I) because you never want a bilge pump to be able to run continuously and possibly burn up.
- Take the wiring from the bilge pump and fish it underneath the deck and up into center console. Nylon electrician's fish works beautifully for this process. Simply take the end of the fish and rout it through the rigging tube, and use some electrical tape connect the fuse and connectors onto the fish. This will enable you to pull the fish right through the rigging way.
- Once the wiring is through the rigging way, attach the positive to the terminal block and the negative wire to the ground block inside the center console.
- To finish, run a length of bilge hose from the fitting on the bilge pump to the end of the through hull fitting, and once again, use stainless steel hose clamps to secure the fitting.
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