Once again my aft bilge pump has stopped doing it's duty

B

baz

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Jun 19, 2009
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Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C
Subject: Once again my aft bilge pump has stopped doing it's duty

Water level is at the top of the aft bilge pump's casing. Helm with will not power it on even though the switch's amber light comes on.

Causes presumably are...

1) Pump clogged
2) Fuse(s) blown
3) Poor 12v connection to pump compromised
4) dunno

Will check 5 amp fuse(s) and if blown will replace, and if it blows again, I'll assume pump is clogged.

The pump is way down below the prop shaft, and is not easily accessed, and will be a PITA to get at. :evil:

The fwd bilge pump is operational so water level cannot go 'critical' as hopefully the fwd bilge pump will 'save the day'.

The aft bilge pump was replaced a year ago, so wonder what has caused it to fail in such a short time. I guess it's the pump that is the most used vs. the fwd pump.

If I have to replace/pull the pump out I will first hand pump as much water out as I can, and work on pulling the pump out for inspection.

I was able to have a Text back&forth with Kevin Lemont and he has given me some good advice on how to proceed. Thank you Kevin for responding. 😀
 
Update....

After going to the boat to sort out the errant aft bilge pump, here's what I did, and actually got it working in manual mode at least.

1) Checked all the fuses (they are 7.5 amp and not 5 amp, located in the rear of the cave behind a closed-door cabinet to left of the main 120v panels. Both aft and fwd fuse connections (the wires leading to the fuse box) are nicely labeled as well, so there was no fuss wondering which ones they were.

2) I pulled both fuses one by one and both were not blown. I cleaned the twin spade connectors and replaced them securely.

3) Opened the engine hatch and once again used the helm bilge switches to test the two bilge pump operations. Only the fwd pump operated.

4) returned to the opened engine hatch and used a long stick to aggressively tap the aft pump's casing, but not hard enough to break things. I also stirred up the water surrounding the pump's lower section to clear any crud that maybe lurking in that area.

5) Returned to helm and turned on the aft bilge pump's switch.... and by golly, the aft bilge pump sprang into operation and pumped out all the water. SUCCESS I thought. 😉 😀

6) Now the real big test. I filled up a bucket with water and poured it into the aft bilge area hoping the pump's auto water sensor would detect the water and spring into action. Nope... it did not. 🙁

7) So with all the above I now can operate the aft bilge manually, but will have to replace it as its auto water sensor feature is not working. Ah well, it could have been worse I suppose, and will likely have one of these pumps added to my spares kit now.

BTW... when opening the engine hatch ensure the trim tabs are fully retracted as the hydraulic piston used to raise the engine hatch uses the same hydraulic fluid tank as the trim tabs, and there's insufficient fluid for the hatch's piston if the trim tabs are lowered some. It's a nuisance, but once you are aware of this you will be alerted the trim tabs need to be retracted if the engine hatch only opens partially.
 
Hi Barry: A couple of things to inspect. When you take the pump out of the housing look to make sure there is a rubber o ring at the base/head of the pump, without it the pump may not secure enough of a seal for proper pumping. Clean the face of sensor, you probably know that. So do you not get any sound at all? Or does the pump make a noise but you get no suction?

Jim F
 
trailertrawlerkismet":3b4nxs8k said:
Hi Barry: A couple of things to inspect. When you take the pump out of the housing look to make sure there is a rubber o ring at the base/head of the pump, without it the pump may not secure enough of a seal for proper pumping. Clean the face of sensor, you probably know that. So do you not get any sound at all? Or does the pump make a noise but you get no suction?

Jim F
Click to expand...

Jim: I think our last postings crossed each other. 😀 No matter, thanks for the heads up on the O-ring issue.

I'm speculating the water sensor feature/design is something that the vendor needs to improve on for improving longevity. There can be crud in the aft section of the bilge that can mix with the water and clogged the pump's intake and cause issues. I think my tapping resulted in clearing out some crud, or at least dislodged some of it, or the electrical connections are a bit wonky. I think my best approach is to simply replace the pump and keep a spare onboard.
 
You could also have one of your grandkids get down there for you!!!! Or your adult children.....didn’t you say you wanted them to get a feel of ownership?

Jim F
 
trailertrawlerkismet":2u3cst19 said:
You could also have one of your grandkids get down there for you!!!! Or your adult children.....didn’t you say you wanted them to get a feel of ownership?

Jim F
Click to expand...

Yes, indeed. My son in law was at the ready to help me, but the resolution for replacing the pump will be left for another day, and one of the kids can do the bending, leaning and laying down on the engine while I yell out the instructions. and hand tools to them.... and promise them a Negroni when it's all completed. 😉 😉 😉
 
I also found it gets difficult to get down to the pump and/or the water sensor. I tie wrapped a rag around a pole and now can keep the sensor clean using soap and water on the rag and cleaning the gunk off the sensor face. It sure beats laying a blanket over the engine and trying to do boat yoga especially some of the positions I never heard of.

Stuart
 
Automaticman865":xeagpkyy said:
I also found it gets difficult to get down to the pump and/or the water sensor. I tie wrapped a rag around a pole and now can keep the sensor clean using soap and water on the rag and cleaning the gunk off the sensor face. It sure beats laying a blanket over the engine and trying to do boat yoga especially some of the positions I never heard of.

Stuart
Click to expand...

FYI... My bilge pumps do not have the two metal pads for detecting water. They are supposed to cycle every few minutes and pump out water if its around the pump's intake. So there's no cleaning required as for your bilge pumps.
 
Hi Barry

I’m surprised the new style pump is failing and a little bit depressed to hear it. I had our original “2 dot” pump changed out hoping the new design would be reliable. I confess I didn’t do it myself. That and changing the water pump impeller are best left to younger and more flexible technicians.

I heard you’re selling the boat. Say it isn’t so! Your input to TugNuts over the last couple of years has been really inspirational.
 
Chimo":1f6v2hj0 said:
Hi Barry

...snip...
I heard you’re selling the boat. Say it isn’t so! Your input to TugNuts over the last couple of years has been really inspirational.
Click to expand...

Well, we shall see what happens over the next year or so. My children are anxious to obtain some ownership in my boat, and they are scrambling to get their act together. 😉
 
You did not mention the type of pump or switch. I am assuming the Johnson Ultima. The sensors on mine will get clouded by crud and either stay on or off, just clean them off. If the switch gets flooded it will work under a test or with the helm switch but will not sense water. I keep at least a couple of spares. On my R21EC you can't see either the pump or switch it all has to happen by feel.
 
Well, went down to boat again today, because as an after thought I realized my two bilge pumps are the ones that cycle every 2.5 minutes (or thereabouts) and if they find water will pump it out.

My testing yesterday was simply to determine if the aft pump could be activated manually via the Helm switch, and it could after me having done some work on it as explained in my posts above. I did not hang around to see if the pump would automatically cycle on after 2.5 minutes.

So today, I again filled the bilge with water to be above the aft pump's casing, and waited. Sure enough, the pump did cycle and pumped the water out. I filled the bilge again and waited the 2.5 mins again, and again the pump cycled and pumped out the water.

I then flushed the bilge with clean fresh water to hopefully remove and clear out any fine crud. The pump cycled again and pumped out all the water.

So with this I'm claiming success and the pump does not need replacing.

Needsless to say..... the wooden stick trick for tapping on the pump's casing and stirring the bilge water surrounding the Pump's intake quite possible was the method to resolve this issue. So for others, have a long stick at hand in your spares kit. 😀
 
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