Bilge Pumps Refit - High Water Alarms

[vineyardgray]

My 3867 Santego does not have high water alarms, something we found out by surprise on her inaugural voyage from Belleville to Port Credit. Thankfully the leaking heat exchanger did not overwhem the bilge pump in the engine compartment and we made it home nonetheless.

However, this experience did not particularly sit well with me; had I not opened the engine baycover on a whim, the engines could have well been underwater without warning.

Then this season I found the engine bay float switch blocked with a hose and then found the miships pump NFG, I decided that something needed to be done.

The system that I am working on now will:
- have all new parts
- use electronically operated switches to detect water (no jamming, no failure due to moving parts)
- monitor pump cycles for each pump (I want to know if pump cycles are status quo or getting more frequent, signalling an issue)
- allow for auto/manual/off operation
- sound an alarm for high water condition (pump runs for more than N minutes)
- allow future tie-in to NMEA or SignalK onboard networks
- are correctly fused/breakered

Stay tuned...

[ColRon]

I will be following your posts closely on this as I would be interested in doing the same. While I have indicator lights at the helm that tell me when and where a bilge pump is running, I don’t have a high water alarm in case the pump doesn’t kick on.

[Viper]

Personally I'm not crazy about the Auto/Man/Off switches. I think the only switch that should be at the helm is one that turns it on manually. The auto function should be hooked up permanently with no option at the helm to shut that function off. I've seen these switches accidentally turned to the off position which is dangerous. The only reason the circuit should be shut off is to service it. It's safer for that to be done at the electrical panel.

[Midnightsun]

Although this is not as elaborate as what you want, I do believe in K.I.S.S.

The electronic bilge switches are not that reliable. A high water alarm switch is really never in the water therefor nothing to foul it over time so a conventional float switch will be your best bet IMHO. . Purchased a standard float switch and wired it to a combo led/buzzer which was located at my dash. Just install the float switch about 2-3" higher than your existing float switch is installed, connect the float to ground and to light/buzzer and the second terminal of the light/buzzer to 12v positive.

I installed one on my previous boat which was a DIY. Combo led/buzzer https://www.ebay.com/itm/Panel-Mount-22 ... Swx2VZiJz6.

Part 2. I personally have boat command on board. This unit can be connected to the float switch to monitor high water alarms via text or email, best of all only $80 a year however you do need internet on board. https://boatcommand.com

[pepmyster]

I agree with Hans. The simpler the system, the more fool proof it will be for sure. Good luck and great catch on your part.

[vineyardgray]

Thanks all for the comments and ideas.

As usually happens when I've created a plan, something else breaks and requires attention. My shower sump quit and I had to scramble to get a new pump ordered.

Turns out the sump uses a pump cartridge unit made by Johnson Pumps/SPX.

IMG_20200802_1614261.jpg

This is a pretty neat little pump system - no messing around with trying to get the hoses off of the old pump to replace it, easy to pop out the pump and clean the impeller if needs be. Plus it takes a lot less space to carry one of these parties on board as a spare than a whole rule pump.

I think I'll use these pumps for the retrofit of my bilge system. Next the switches.

[vineyardgray]

Size difference to a Rule

IMG_20200802_1616330.jpg

[vineyardgray]

The switches I have chosen are made by Blue Guard - https://www.bluebgi.com/

I'm going to use three of the BG-SWA, which is a switch with integrated high water alarm. I will also be using three of their advanced bilge control panels, which contain alarm, fuse, on/off/auto, and a screen that cycles through: pump count, voltage, current draw and run time.

The panels will be mounted close to the original breaker location for the bilges (under the companionway step) this will simplify wiring as all the wiring already runs to that location for power.

My boat has no lower helm (fly bridge only) so having the on/off/auto switches up there makes little sense although I would like the high water alarm to sound up there but I haven't figured that out yet.

[vineyardgray]

A pile of stuff has arrived:

IMG_20200813_2129514.jpg

[vineyardgray]

These switches are bigger than expected.

IMG_20200813_2131211.jpg