Anybody using bilge pump?

[srwven]

I have read some threads on using a bilge pump for the water pump. I have pm'd a few people in the threads with no response Does anyone have any firsthand experience using these for any length of time?

 

[RoadWarrior]

I've heard people say these aren't continous duty rated and will fail after a few months to a year. This seems a little ridiculous to me since they are meant to be a safety device. Maybe there are some around that are too cheap. I was looking at some in a store a while back, and I noticed that they didn't have very big "head" capacity, the height they can lift water to. 1m was typical. This means they might not have so much power behind them to help overcome frictional losses as pond pumps that are rated for a 2m head.

regards,

Road Warrior

 

[Szech]

I did, but when everyone told me it would fail, I took it out.

I have it hooked up to my tester power supply right now, and every now and then I'll plug it in and leave it running to see if it really will fail. So far, it hasn't stopped pumping, although it has gotten louder (not by much though). I suspect that it needs to be submerged in water to properly cool, as I epoxied a hose barb on the intake to use it inline.

 

[srwven]

Szech, which bilge do you have?

 

[Szech]

It's a Rule model 24, which is rated to pump 360 gallons per hour at 13.8 volts and 2.1 amps. I soldered the leads to a molex connector, and have it running off the +5 red line. As I said, I think it was a mistake to run it inline. I ran it in my system for about 2 months before I took it out. I have been running it in my tester for about two weeks now.

I think Attwood makes a better bilge pump, as their 500 GPH model runs on 1.4 amps, I believe. I would expect them to run cooler by (2.1A - 1.4A) * 13.8V = 9.66watts. That's pretty good, but the underlying question of whether or not the pump will fail is still an issue. I guess I'll just keep running my pump and find out for us all.

 

[Krusty]

I used the attwood v500 bilge pump for about a month. You can see the setup in the link to another thread in my sig. It was easily able to push enough water to keep everything working nicely. While getting the bubbles out of the system, the air bubbles were moving almost too fast through the tubing to be able to see it.

Unfortunately, I do not have any long term information for you. I took mine out of my system after replacing the motherboard and getting angry at that stiff vinyl tubing being in my way, so the system is currently sitting on my floor.

The expected life of the pumps are something like 10,000-15,000 hours. They are meant to run occasionally to get rid of any leaking water in a boad. I do, however, think that the pump would be able to last twice that long in your computer. The pump is meant to move dirty sea water with lots of chunks of stuff from the bottom of your boat floating around. Pushing distilled water with a little water wetter through it at room temperature would probably prolong the life of it.

 

[srwven]

NECO out there?

Thanks krusty. I also saw Neco was going to use a bilge pump. I would also like to hear from him how his is going.

 

[srwven]

Wait a minute. My computer doesn't run 24/7. I shut it down whenever it is not in use. Let's say I average 4 hours/day. Divide 15000 hours by 4hours/day, that gives 3750 days or 10.27 years. Bump the average to 8 hours/day to give 1875 days or 5.14 years! Even at an average of 12 hours/day gives 3 year life expectancy. If it was run 24/7 the life span would be 1.7 years. Am I the first to ever crunch these numbers? I realize these weren't made for continuous use but at an average of 4-6hours per day(way over what I average), sounds like it should last a while. And If it were able to keep my full load temps well under 45, I could just set my mb to shut off at 50 to protect in the event of a failure.

 

[srwven]

Let's beat this dead horse. Aren't these bilge pumps similar to sump pumps, ie designed for occasional use? My brother in law has a sump pump that runs alot, his basement is in an area that is very moist. He has had the same pump for over 3 years now. I could very well be mistaken maybe they are different.

 

[Szech]

Well, while we're beating this dead horse, let me just add that at 12 volts, my bilge pump was pretty noisy even with all the air bubbles bled out. About the same as my Panaflo 120mm H1A (which is noisy to me). Which was one other reason why I ran it at 5 volts (barely a hum). Just some more info in case you are looking for dead silence in water cooling.

 

[ol' man]

I used the attwood v500 also. It is a very good and powerful pump. I ran it at 7v as 250+gph is good enough for me and it was very quiet. I used it for about 1.5months and it was still working great when I took it out. They cost like $12~$15 tops and I think they would run for a very long time. One other advantage is I think they will not run as hot as the 120v inline versions.

Brits

http://www.orchardmarine.com/acatalog/Orchard_Marine___Com_Bilge_Pumps_25.html

America

http://smgnt.banta-im.com/sportsmansguide/ctlg/ctlg_page.asp?cid=3&page=51

Good rpices on the 750 and 1000gph models also. Running tham at 7v would give good through put. I think for most though the 250gph @7v would be enough.

 

[ol' man]

everyone told me it would fail

Yeah people are stupid like that.

And also yeah having H2O running through it would help lubricate and keep it cooler. Mine got louder too but that was at 12v after the motor I am sure got broken in. After 1.5 months it stayed at the same level of noise. I am not sure if it is a mag drive or not though.

 

[Krusty]

Actually, strike it from the record that I said how many hours it is supposed to last. It may be 1500, it may be 15000, it may be nothing close to that. I thought I read somewhere about how long of a life they have, but at the attwood web site, there is no mention of the life of the pump (see below).

As for the sound, with just the pump and no fans, it was almost silent. I enclosed it in a tupperware reservoir, which probably dampened a lot of sound, and I stuck some paper towels below it to dampen case vibrations from the pump. It was even quieter than my parents pretty dell computer. Then there were the comair fans...

The one big thing I don't like about the setup I did was that the reservoir was a bit bulky for my enclosed system and the vinyl tubes went all over the place since the outlet for the pump was on the side when It would be more efficient at the top. Once I have more money, I'm getting some silicon tubing and possibly an eheim pump and a tiny home made fill reservoir just to clean things up.

 

[ol' man]

I found these same pumps in Walmart the other day for a really cheap price around like $13. I have the v500. Very good pump. I noticed that they had some attwood live well/aerator pumps for moving around the water so it did not get stagnent that were made with the exact same motor on them as these V series bilge pumps. I am sure since the live well pumps need to go 24/7 the bilge pumps should be fine too. I simply like the fact that you can run them with your PSU!

Here is a pic of the live well pump.

http://www.attwoodmarine.com/Produc...Aerator+Pump&headername=Pumps+and+Accessories

Pic of the atwood v500.

http://www.attwoodmarine.com/Produc...ries&typename=Electric+Bilge+Pump&headername=

At around 3 feet both pumps are putting out 350GPH and the small v500 only draws 1.4 amps so I doubt it is going to be heating the water much! I bet the 120v mag drives get alot hotter but I could be wrong.

The pump part looks identical on both bilge pump and aerator. Yeah I know that doesn't mean they are the same pump but I am pretty sure they have the same motor. All other specs are the pretty much the same for the v500 and A500


Like I said above I ran mine for around 1.5 months or better with no problems!

Here it is for $13

http://www.boatingstore.com/boating...25F056F77D060C24A049A7A199EACBDFEA4E68E426117

 

[SmogFighter]

Great Head!!

Great spec's

 

[arden]

The pumps used in live wells are not meant to run continuos I left one run over nite in my live well in my boat and the water in the tank really got hot. They need a supply of fresh cool water to work because of the heat they generate. Just a thought

 

[stepback]

I'm using a Rule livewell pump. Details are in this thread.

http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2330

 

[ol' man]

The pumps used in live wells are not meant to run continuos I left one run over nite in my live well in my boat and the water in the tank really got hot. They need a supply of fresh cool water to work because of the heat they generate. Just a thought

If you look at the attwood pump you will find that at 500GPh and 12v it will be making around 18w. If you look at some of the other 120v pumps out ther I think they are making closer to 30w.

 

[albertbill21]

i am using a superior sump pump at my house. i'm also facing a problem of loudly noise.

 

[Blaylock]

to the Forums albertbill21!

You have resurrected a 16 year old thread and have earned the title Necromaster of the week( but it is only Monday).