ONE bilge pump?

[Figment]

I've had the boat a year now and this still bugs me... only one bilge pump. Is that normal/standard for a 42?

Every other boat I've owned has had one small pump for nuisance-water and (at minimum) a second much larger WE HAVE A PROBLEM pump.
I get that on this boat the handpump does the nuisance-water and the electric pump is the emergency pump but that doesn't mean I'm comfortable with it.

Were I to soothe my anxiety by adding a second big pump (wired into the high-water alarm circuit?), what's the typically-best location?

 

[rslifkin]

The vast majority of production boats come massively under-pumped in my opinion, so I'd go into any boat assuming it will need bilge pump upgrades. 2 pumps and a high water alarm (can be tied into a backup pump) is the bare minimum in my mind. Depending on the bilge layout you may want more than 2 to ensure that you don't collect a bunch of water in one space before it can overflow to an area with pumps.

 

[Delta Riverat]

I would install a second big pump in the bottom of the bilge say about 10 feet from the other one.

 

[CharlieO.]

First thing I did when I bought my boat was add the second bilge pump in the engine room. I’d still like to add one in the lazerette and one in the bow.

 

[wkearney99]

Which year/model 42?

Our EB47 has 4. Lazarette, forward bilge and two in the engine room.

I also added an Arid Bilge setup, and that's worked quite well at keeping everything bone-dry.

 

[OldDan1943]

My AT came with 1 pump. I added 3 more. I guess the builder has more confidence than me. Don’t skimp on gpm.

 

[Figment]

1980 Classic.

The only reason I've waited this long to dig into it is the thought that the current setup has been good-enough for 3 other owners over 40 years.

 

[tiltrider1]

My 34’ sailboat had no bulkheads that trapped water. The boat had one automatic bilge pump and one manual bilge pump.

My 42’ power boat had two bulkheads which formed three areas water could accumulate. Each area had an automatic bilge pump and the center area had a back up manual pump.

 

[Mac2]

Consider where the water is going to settle if you were holed. On my last boat, I only had one bilge pump in the center of the boat. When I had a couple "incidents" water would make its way towards the stern tube. This meant if there was a lot more water, the stern would squat and the water would not reach the center bilge until it was to late and the engine was in jeopardy.

 

[Turtle Blues]

At 42' I would want at least 3. Separate switches and power sources. This is just for the standard protection, rain water migration, stopped up deck drain, break in a waterline etc.. Catastrophic failure, loosing a shaft, blowing an exhaust line etc. will still overwhelm the standard setup.
Have an emergency high volume pump with 1-1/2" flat rolled hose and battery clips as a last resort but chances of identifying problem and deploying the pump in time is questionable.

 

[Figment]

Consider where the water is going to settle if you were holed. On my last boat, I only had one bilge pump in the center of the boat. When I had a couple "incidents" water would make its way towards the stern tube. This meant if there was a lot more water, the stern would squat and the water would not reach the center bilge until it was to late and the engine was in jeopardy.

This is the jist of my question regarding location. My gut instinct says that this hullform will go down bow-first as it takes on water, but does anyone have any actual experience/information on that?

 

[rslifkin]

It's not just about where water will settle, but also where the major sources of water are. I'd want plenty of pumping capacity in the engine room as well as aft, as those are likely the 2 places with the largest possible sources of water ingress. Depending on how the bulkheads, etc. are done, water from aft will likely be limited in how fast it can flow forward.

 

[Shrew]

I have a bilge pump in each section that is separated by a bulkhead. So I have a Stern pump which is the largest. IT sits by my shaft and dripless shaft seal. Then a mid sized pump against the forward bulkhead in the engine compartment. Another in the forward bilge.