Bilge Pump!!!

Well, I finally got off my butt and installed the bilge pump. I’ve been thinking of doing this for years, but there were always some issues that made me decide against it. For one thing, I never found a bilge pump that would fit where I wanted it. Most have a round base which would make it difficult to mount along the keel in either the X-Factor or the Stealth 14. The Whale Supersub 500GPH pump is the perfect solution. It is very narrow and can be mounted horizontally. It is a nearly perfect fit for the keel of the Stealth 14 or X-Factor. Another thing holding me back was the necessity for a check valve. Most check valves that I had seen at boating supply stores were large, heavy and expensive. The Whale check valve is lightweight plastic and is relatively inexpensive. After seeing ful-rac’s beautiful bilge pump installation on BWE, I decided that I would finally install one myself.

After test-fitting the pump and discharge line in various locations and attitudes, I settled on a spot just behind the seat in the keel channel. In order to get to this I had to remove my custom drop-in hatch/storage module.

From The Overloaded Kayak Images

That was a pain in the ass. I stubbornly refused to take my kayak off of the truck rack, so I couldn’t put any pressure on the well nuts as I was unbolting the tank. The damn well nuts just spun and spun as I tried unscrewing them. I finally got enough out to make the last one easy. I just pulled the whole thing up until the rubber body tore out. No harm, no foul. I was planning on replacing all the hardware anyway.

The pump is just held down with Marine Goop. I roughed-up the hull and the pump mounting plate before applying the Goop. This has worked well for me with transducer installations. I’ve had to pry some transducers up with a hammer and screwdriver. I’m sure the pump won’t go anywhere once the Goop cures.

From The Overloaded Kayak Images

I carefully used a 1" spade bit to bore the hole in the hull for the overboard discharge. I’m always a little nervous when making large holes in the hull. My first thru-hull for a Kayatank was a pretty ugly sight. The bit wobbled and I ended up with a triangular hole on the bottom of my X-Factor. No such problems this time. I threaded the thru-hull fitting in the hole and applied 5200 on the flanges.

From The Overloaded Kayak Images

From The Overloaded Kayak Images

After the Goop had a day to cure, I installed the overboard discharge line.

From The Overloaded Kayak Images

I was thinking about doing the anti-backflow bend that Jim Day had recommended. Unfortunately, the drop-in tank prevents me from doing this. I’ll monitor it closely on my first few trips to see how much water makes it through the check valve. I’ll probably just use a plug in the overboard discharge. I’m not too worried about going that route. I’m not using an automatic bilge pump, so I don’t have to worry about it inadvertently blocking the discharge. Pumping the bilge will require my action and this will just be part of the procedure. I think Jim’s idea for preventing backflow makes sense; I just didn’t have room to make it work. I also like the idea of a nearly straight discharge line. There is no way the Tygon tube will kink with the setup I’m using.

The inside of my hull is looking a little busy now. We’ll see how this works out.