On My recent trip to Catalina the faucet in the head was left on and some water got into my forward bilge. I tried unsuccesfully to pump it out. I could hear the pump running, but no pumpy the water. How often should one replace the bilge pump? What is the best brand for lasting/reliability?

I do not really understand. What is wrong with what you have?

nothing, if the water level would go down. The pump is making noise like it's pumping, but the water remains. Is there a "trick" to getting the thing to start pumping again or is it time to replace with a hopefully better one?

I thought your boat had a step in the bottom, but no matter.

My suggestions.

1) Try the pump at dead flat calm-no motion, then try again at about 5 mph, then try again at about 15 mph.

2) A forward bilge pump often has a sorta box around it. Check for obstructions around it and at the pump intake.

3) Check that the pump's plumbing is OK, if the first two ideas do not get most (not all) of the water out.

Bilge pumps are not like a sponge, they leave some water after running.

BTW, if its always done this, check for a mis-installation/location.

The different speeds are to see at what speed the boat builder planned-on the forward bilge pump to be at a location to get the most water around it. Hold each of them long enough for the water to flow/adjust to that hull angle.

How much water is in the bilge?

--is the outlet hose still connected to the pump?

--if yes: is the outlet hose plugged? Remove the hose from the pump, then try it--if water's coming out the outlet, the hose is probably plugged (spiders & wasps suck)

--if no water: is the pump intake plugged or blocked? Clean around the base of the pump to clear any debris...

--if still no water, yank the pump and check it out. If it's running and not pumping, you may find the pump impeller is gone, broken, or damaged (a continually running pump can overheat and melt the impeller)

If all the above fails, install new pump!

SB, The "sorta box" around it your refering to isn't the grey water pump out is it? The spot I'm looking at is just below the step as come inside the boat. You flip up the step and below is the grey water container for the shower/head, water strainer, the water pump for the AC and a valve for water to the AC. There is also a 3/4" hole that heads aft towards the engine compartment I guess. Does this allow water to head to the engine bilge to be pumped out?

Al, there is about 2-3" of water. Maybe a gallon at most, but it won't come out of there short of me using a manual pump or letting it evaporate over time.

I can't remember which brand the pumps were, just wondered if Mr. Larson decided to go cheap on me. If so I was going to replace them.

Thanks for your responses,

Pascoe likes Rule pumps.

http://www.yachtsurvey.com/bilge_pumps.htm

Referman;

Two to three inches may be normal as bilge pumps won't typically remove all of the water in the bottom.

Three inches does seem a bit high, but it has a lot to do with how the pump is mounted. Most boat manufacturers don't really attempt to keep the bilge dry. Have you tried to fill the bilge with more water and see if it pumps back down to two or three inches?

Jim-R, thanks for the link.

Al, I haven't done that yet, I would like to try seabuddy's suggestion too as that would mean I'm on the water somewhere , but as soon as I'm near the the boat again I will see what happens.

Thanks

If you think its the shower sump pump (another pump that is usually switched separately to allow you to turn it on before each shower), and usually inside a box of some sort, look for hair and soap scum to also be an issue. If not look at what Frantically Relaxing said about the pump impeller and other issues.

I finally got the pump to work, I put more water in the fwd bilge with a water hose and jacked the trailer up so the water would run into "Box Area" surounding the pump that seabuddy explained to me.

It was a Rule pump and it worked fine, but it still seems like the water level should go lower than what it was. I'm sure there is a logical explanation for it to be setup that way, but The water level under the step has to get pretty high to transfer over to the area where the pump is.

On another note: Why does the Mfg. make it so difficult to get to the pump? I removed the cushion in the aft cabin, removed screws to remove a panel to expose the gas tank below, removed another panel to get to the pump I thought, but....NOOOOO, panel was screwed down behind another wall(sorry bulkhead) WTH!

What if I just want to check if it's just clogged or something? I like taking stuff apart just to see how it works, but I'd rather not take the cabin apart just to check the pump.

Didn't help I was doing this in about a 110F weather. I was cussing Larson designers at the time.