Looking for convenient pump for dewatering bilges other than hand pump

The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
RLKramer

RLKramer

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2016
Messages
81
Location
USA
Vessel Name
Winterlude
Vessel Make
2005 Hampton 558
Hi all, I'm looking for a small electric pump, either self contained batteries or 12 volt clips, or work with my Ryobi 18v batteries, that I can set up easily to suck up water in a bilge and have it flow into a 5 gallon pail.

For small amounts I use a small wet dry vac or a hand operated up/down pump. Both are fine but the wet dry is small and needs to be emptied often and the hand pump is quite a work out.

Any suggestions? Thanks!
 
The little drill-powered pumps work pretty well for what you suggest, and they take up almost no space when not being used. Ryobi and others make them. I have one on the boat that I use for all kinds of things, including removing excess water. Can’t remember the brand that I have but I’m sure there are multiple brands that would do the job.

www.ryobitools.com

1/4" HEX SHANK DRILL PUMP - RYOBI Tools

1/4" HEX SHANK DRILL PUMP
www.ryobitools.com www.ryobitools.com
 
I use these to dewater small amounts of water and transfer liquids. Especially filling coolant in my engines since the filler neck is very hard to get to. $17.49 at Amazon and runs on 2 D cell batteries.

Sierra Electric Tools JB5684 Battery Operated Liquid Transfer Pump​

 
Doesn't Ryobi offer a transfer pump that would work on their batteries?

Milwaukee has a battery operated (M18) transfer pump... but then that's a whole different battery brand. Same battery works a wet/dry vac, though, and we've found that useful.

Come to think of it, Ryobi does offer an 18V wet/dry vac, which might sorta do what you want.

-Chris
 
You do not have any bilge pumps?
 
Attwood makes a small D cell powered bilge pump. Self contained with an on-off switch. It gets down low to the deck about 1/4 inch. I use one for my skiff. The hose coils up around the pump body for storage.
 
OldDan1943 said:
You do not have any bilge pumps?
Click to expand...
Of course I have bilge pumps but this is for the area between stringers that isn't high enough to overflow into a bilge sump.
 
I have been pondering this exact thing for some time. And I want the simplest solution possible. I have an old boat that leaks at the rail stanchions and other places. As a result I get fresh water in the bilge when it rains. it also tends to collect in the stringers at various points. My solution is two fold (plus 1 more).

1) Bilge B dry 3 pickup system. It really is a nice piece of equipment. Its very quiet and very efficient. And the app to set the intervals or manual controls could not be easier or more stable. I had a single homemade dry bilge that worked great for several years. But the Bilge B dry is far superior. Far superior to the Sea Flo dry bilge as well. They also have 1,2,3 or 4 pickup systems (each pickup has its own pump). I cant recommend this item enough. The only thing I dont know is long term reliability.

2) to channel additional water from very small areas to larger areas (for the bilge B dry to handle) I have been slowly working on something that I have now tested, but not finalized. That is just wicking rope slid into some appropriately sized tubing. I have already tested this and it works great provided the rope is routed from high areas to lower areas much like a siphon. But the wicking action will start the siphoning. Wicking rope alone will do the job but I dont want wet, exposed, dirty wicking rope everywhere, so I will add the exterior tubing . Of course its slow, but its self starting and drains the cavities completely. The wicking rope/tube will be secured to look decent and not move in case I bump it.

3) keep working on the leaks...lol.

Right now my bilge is dusty dry. And the only stringers with water are the ones without wicking material. Granted, if you go in the engine room after a heavy rain there will be water. But within a day of the rain stopping its all gone
 
Of course I have bilge pumps. This is for areas between stringers that have not overflowed yet to the bilge pump sump.
 
I have a jabsco waterpuppy pump mounted in the engine room with two hoses attached.

It serves as my utility pump to clean up messes, remove seawater from sea strainers, etc... Very handy.
 
RLKramer said:
Hi all, I'm looking for a small electric pump, either self contained batteries or 12 volt clips, or work with my Ryobi 18v batteries, that I can set up easily to suck up water in a bilge and have it flow into a 5 gallon pail.

For small amounts I use a small wet dry vac or a hand operated up/down pump. Both are fine but the wet dry is small and needs to be emptied often and the hand pump is quite a work out.

Any suggestions? Thanks!
Click to expand...
I have a cheapish 120v one with a long cord that I bought on Amazon. I use it for my stern garage well which does not have a dedicated bilge pump and also to empty the last few inches in my concrete spa.
 
AlanT said:
I have a cheapish 120v one with a long cord that came with about 9' of hose already attached that I bought on Amazon. I use it for my stern garage well which does not have a dedicated bilge pump and also to empty the last few inches in my concrete spa.
Click to expand...
 
My Californian and Hershine both had spots in the bilges that wouldn't pump dry with the bilge pumps. I used to just use a small (3 gal) shop vac to suck them dry. It's surprising though, what looks like a little bit of water turns into 3-4 trips of emptying the shop vac.
 
I screwed with pumps for a while then had a thought.

We wanted a vacuum for the boat so a wet/dry vac solved the problem. My mate wanted a dry bilge so along with the vac I had dripless seals put in. We get water in the bilge, not from the shafts but it's a boat so there will be water or AF in the bilge. The vac removes it well.
 
RLKramer said:
Hi all, I'm looking for a small electric pump, either self contained batteries or 12 volt clips, or work with my Ryobi 18v batteries, that I can set up easily to suck up water in a bilge and have it flow into a 5 gallon pail.

For small amounts I use a small wet dry vac or a hand operated up/down pump. Both are fine but the wet dry is small and needs to be emptied often and the hand pump is quite a work out.

Any suggestions? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Home Depot Bucket Head
 
My method, in your situation, is to pump out the section between the stringers and dump that water into the bilge (the area served by the bilge pump) as many times as necessary. The bilge pump will get rid of most of the water. Once the stringer area is dry, I'll vacuum the bilge dry and dump the vac.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
EarTec UltraLITE Wireless Headset System for Sale $225
Replies
1
Views
722
Cape Henlopen
Cape Henlopen
Jmreim
Bikes for Boats - Jack Rabbit?
2
Replies
33
Views
3K
PennBruce
PennBruce
Barking Sands
New dry bilge system
Replies
2
Views
3K
jleonard
jleonard
Hydraulicjump
The sense(s) of a boat
Replies
6
Views
895
yzapanti
yzapanti
J
Wind turbine for charging starting batteries.
Replies
5
Views
615
JosieWhales
J

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom