Low Capacity Bilge Pump and Shower Sump

 It has been ridiculously hot for Central NH this year and as a result, working on the boat in the afternoon (when I'd prefer) is just not an option.  After 10AM, the temperature in the boat is absolutely stifling and I just can't work with sweat pouring off me.  So I've switched up my schedule a bit and I'm doing work from 5:30 - 7:30AM most mornings.  It's not a lot of time, but every minute helps to chip away at my list.

After a seemingly endless series of internal arguments with myself about where to locate the low capacity bilge pump and the shower sump pump, I decided it was time to make a decision and settled on a location.  As with everything in a boat the reasons for my waffling had to do with trade offs such as 

• Easy access
• Shortest hose run
• Discharge location

For these particular installations, I'm using Whale IC pumps (IC stands for Intelligent Control) for both the low capacity bilge pump and the shower sump.  The pumps and sensors are identical, but the attachments are different.  They consist of a pump unit that can be located in a dry area out of the bilge connected with a long wire to a solid state sensor unit that detects when water is present. If found, it turns the pump on and it pulls water up and discharges via a diaphragm pump.  I think they are pretty nice pieces of technology and hope they are reliable, but time will tell. 

Anyway, I ended up choosing a compartment under the v-berth forward to house both pumps.  The arrangement should work well because it is located on the centerline and minimizes the need for a big loop before discharging to prevent backflow when on a heel (I will probably install one anyway just to be safe though).  It also is close to where both sensors (and corresponding hoses) will be located.  I plan on a side discharge just above the static waterline in the head compartment.  

Of course, nothing is easy on a boat (especially if you are 6'5") and even though the Niagara is comparatively spacious compared to the Alberg, I still found myself in some stupidly awkward positions.  The pumps themselves were easy to mount and access, but feeding the hose and wire to the sensor required some gymnastics.  Directly below the compartment where they are mounted is a space about 12" high that allowed me to run the wires and hoses to their respective locations. 

To access that area, I drilled 2 - 1" holes in the bottom of the compartment where the pumps were mounted.  from there I was able to snake the hose underneath the stringers to the sensor/pickup locations.  For the discharge, the hoses runs vertically up to the top of the compartment and then through a bulkhead (1" holes for each) and into the adjacent compartment where the sewage tank is located.  In that compartment the 2 hoses 'Y' together into a single discharge that runs to the head compartment where it will discharge overboard.

I considered teeing into the existing sink drain, but I read enough accounts where people who had done this would frequently have bilge or shower drain waste 'burping' up into the sink. I really don't want that so I came to terms with another hole in the boat.  I've already closed up a few holes, so I guess I'm still ahead of the game. 

For the wiring I used a terminal block for each pump (as I did with the other bilge pump). This will facilitate easy removal and troubleshooting if there are problems.  I'll save the wiring from the terminal blocks to the distribution panel for another post (or several, because there's a lot to unpack), but spoiler alert, all the wiring back to the panel is new and the photos below show the fully wired installation. Once the new distribution panel and wiring is completed, I'll be able to test these installations and hope they work.

One note on the shower sump installation: the pickup manifold is mounted and the hose and wiring is installed, but I'm still working on the connection to the shower drain.  Because the original drain was located between the 2 - 3" frames that support the mast, running the hose underneath the frames could potentially cause an airlock situation where air trapped in the hose running to the manifold could prevent the pump from turning on. To eliminate that possibility, I'm relocating the shower drain so that it flows over one of the beams to the manifold.  That work is currently in progress and will probably do a quick post on that once it is complete.  

Also note that the manifold is capable of handling multiple discharge sources and I plan to eventually run a drain from the anchor locker to one of the manifold ports, but for now I'm going to just use a single port and cap off the unused port.

The pumps fully installed in the compartment underneath the v-berth