I'm looking for an additional bilge pump for my Amphi. What I'd like
is a submersible pump with electronic water sensors built in. To
avoid the on/off cycling that would occur from water sloshing around,
I thought it would be nice if the pump would have buffering
built into the control circuit so that a 10 second delay would occur
before turn on and something like a 5 second delay for turn off. Does
someone make such a thing or will I have to invent it?

John Friese

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I have an automatic float-operated backup bilge pump installed in my own
Amphi, and you can see more details on the setup at
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/8389/autosploodge.html or see it in person
this Labor Day weekend during Billy & Randy's Festival in Mays Landing, New
Jersey (see the Club's 'Events Calendar' at
http://www.amphicar.com/calendar.htm ).

Fact is, the only times I usually take on more than a dribble of water is
when I have three or more fairly large adults and other gear in the car, and
at those times I usually just make a point of running my still-functioning
original pump every couple of minutes. I can easily see when to shut it off
in my rear view mirror because I have installed a bilge spout "elbow" (see
http://www.amphicar.com/ads.htm#elbows for a really nice one). So, my
backup pump is really there just for added piece of mind. I have tested it
in the drink with a controlled leak at water's edge and it works just fine
without additional timers, turning on when the water level in the bilge
reaches about an inch.

If the on/off cycling you mention above ever became an issue, which it
hasn't, I would simply operate the original pump for a couple of seconds and
that would take care of that, since the original pump's inlet filter is set
lower than the backup pump's and would tend to pump out any of the water
likely to cause the automatic pump's float switch to rise. With that said,
this just describes my own preferences and experience in the matter.
Functionally, my backup pump is really just that: a "backup pump". My
original continues to do the real work. That said, I can also appreciate
how one might want to install a second modern pump as one's MAIN pump, with
the original still there as the backup (you DO want SOME backup pump,
right?). In that case, I suppose that on/off cycling might be an annoyance
issue. What one could do in that case would be to install one's new
float-operated pump and run its float switch through some kind of timer
circuit. The same folks who can supply you with the bilge blower fan
timer's vacuum tubes, the Amperite Company (see http://www.amperite.com/ ),
can also supply you with various other timing switch equipment for a variety
of applications. Whatever the specific timing equipment chosen, it should
probably enable the pump to operate not only some period of time after the
float switch opens, but also after it closes too, or you might find yourself
with the same on/off cycling...just with more water in the bilge. Or, you
could perhaps choose a timer that only continues timing towards startup if
the float circuit remains open.

The only real problem I see with any such timer system is that it needlessly
complicates matters, saddling you with more delicate stuff to possibly go
wrong. Whatever timer system might be installed should certainly have a
manual bypass feature.

~Bilgemaster~




        
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