409 Bilge Pump

[j24sailor]

Please don't get me wrong I love my boat and would buy another Jeanneau. However a little disappointed. I finally have time to try and learn my systems better and was looking at the bilge pump. Turns out it pumps only 5 gallons per minutes and my research says a 40' boat should be at least 100 gallons per minute. Also the through hull is below the waterline which in my research is another no no. I am now looking at trying to install another pump in the bilge itself. Will keep the original pump and then add in another one, probably a Whale Supersub 1100. I have a couple of questions about wiring to the battery or to the switch, reading different things. Also trying to find an appropriate through hull as hoping not to make a new hole and looking at the port stern head sink. but not sure if this is appropriate. Would love suggestions and also suggest everyone check their own bilge pumps.

James

[Trevor]

Hello j24sailor,

We have been living on the boat for the last few months. Our SO42DS has a bilge pump which uses a diaphragm and two flap valves to suck and push the water to the outlet on the transom. The pump sits behind a settee and has to lift the water about a metre from the bilge sump.

The diaphragm pump head can be disabled by the very smallest amount of rubbish being caught in the rubber flap vales. If the inlet side or the outlet side has a very small foreign object caught in it the valve will not seal and the pump will run continuously while never reducing the water level. Because of the requirement for very clean bilge water for the pump to operate, the sump has a perforated metal protection screen around it so any small objects are caught.

I have had two recent occasions where the pump has run continuously trying to reduce the water level but it had failed. On the first occasion I found a very small part of a mandarine in the exit valve and on the second occasion I found an equally very small, very flexible stem of an apple caught in the entry valve. This had me thinking hard for a couple of weeks wondering how these very small objects could possibly have found their way into the bilge sump!

Then my wife cleaned the fridge and all was revealed. The drain from the fridge goes directly to the bilge sump. The idea of filtering the bilge water through the stainless mesh protection is great however the pipe from the fridge drain does not have a filter so any small object in the fridge can make its way to the bilge to block the bilge pump valves. I can provide a filter on the end of the hose in the meantime but the original bilge pump by design is simply not robust enough.

We have three bilge pumps. The first and main pump can be stopped with a small organic object from a piece of fruit. The second pump sits above the sump so we are flooding prior to it being activated. The third is a manual pump and shares the pipe from the second electric pump.

I do feel very under equipped in the bilge pump department and feel I should replace the original whale pump with something that is very robust and powerful but not sure which one to use. It needs to be able to lift about a metre so it can replace the original bilge pump which I think is grossly inadequate.

Anyway, that is my bilge pump story.

Regards,

Trevor

[svcoder]

You have a rule 1100gph pump then? That's whats in my 439 and yup, I'd like more...

[pgi409]

My 2014 409 uses a Jabsco shower pump, which is what I would guess you have. I had never researched the capacity of the pump because I simply figured the manufacturer would install the right thing. I do think the existing pump is ideal for draining the small sump of condensation so I will keep that. But I will also add a high capacity pump that I’ll hope never gets used.

The head sink drain is just above the water line, which seems low to me. I’m thinking to use the holding tank vent line in the forward head, with the appropriate plumbing to prevent either source from contaminating the other.  The best answer though might be to add a separate hole and fitting. I’d need to look around the boat to see where there would be the best access to do that.

i think that many manufacturers use high quality components on things that a potential customer would see at a boat show, while using inexpensive solutions for things that are unseen. On my boat, one of the shore power breakers burned and melted a couple of months after I bought the boat. This was likely due to an improper power connection, but even with that much heat the breaker didn’t trip and I’m lucky we still have a boat. I replaced with a quality Blue Seas ELCI panel that is far safer. While I was in that locker I replaced the cheap and ineffective Zinc Savers with a real galvanic isolator. 

Anyway, let’s stay in touch and collaborate on how we both can add this pump.

[Tafika II]

We have the same boat as Trevor, SO42DS. We found the bilge pump capacity lacking also. We added another Whale 1100 auto pump in the center bilge plus added a sump extension to the raw water intake for the engine per the picture below. I'm comfortable, but I may be buying a small emergency stand alone pump 12VDC or gas pump with a larger capacity. I just don't know where I will store it yet.