Boat Pumps & Plumbings

Bilge pump. Main types and special aspect of using.

Bilge pump is one of the most important boat accessories; it is easy available and convenient to dispose excess water from the boat or to pump water aboard (for example, to wash boat after fishing). Fortunately gone are the days when inflatable and aluminium boats were supplied with ladle.

Nowadays there are a lot of manufacturers who offer compact and reliable devices for boats for a hardy fair price. Well tried in river and sea water pumps dewater bilge or bottom quickly and throw water overboard.

There are 3 groups of pumps for inflatable boats: automatic, electric and manual.

Manual pumps have rigid mounting and even minimal physical training is required to use such pump. In spite of the name (manual) pumps with foot drive type are available as well. These pumps work on the principle of diaphragm pump for inflatable pumps.

Do you want to buy manual pump for your boat? In this case you will have to choose between pedal drive pump, pump with lever and pump which looks like bicycle pump. Pumps with lever can be stationary and adjustable.

Electric pumps are brought in action by special motor. In order to bring pump into operation and stop it at any time (expeditiously) switch can be placed on the panel board. In addition you can install floating auto switch system to automatize pump operation. Drain hole should be above-water; in this case overboard water will not disturb pump operation.

Best part of modern electric pumps is equipped with return motor operated valve which prevents back motion of the water. Wiring diagram is multifunctional, that is why drain hole can be placed almost in any place of the boat, but you should remember that if length and height of water are increased, flow rate is decreased. Most popular models are for voltage of 12V.

Automatic pump is the most convenient method to dispose excess water from the boat. The matter is that it requires minimum of human participation on the initial stage and then works independently from boat owner.

Products to control water level on board are floating mechanism and special moisture indicator. First variant is more convenient, if you stay at marina for a long time, because it does not require periodic inspection and charging.