Lowest Level Bilge Pump?

[NCLifetimer]

Which brand of bilge pump will remove water to the lowest level? I'm not sure if one brand quits removing water when the level is 3/4" high around the pump verse another that removes water down to a 1/8" level?

It will be going in a john boat, and when I stand up on the boat the water gets evenly distributed. Each 1/4" of water in the boat seems to equate to several gallons, so i would like to turn the pump on and off as infrequently as possible.I'll probably get either a 500 or 750 gph pump. I've used JB weld for all the leaks i can identify, but it still fills up enough to be annoying to manually bilge when fishing.

Thank,

Chris

[Wayne P.]

Simple solution: put the pump at the transom and move to the transom when you turn on the pump. You will get rid of the most water that way. The pump size will determine how long that process takes.

[NCLifetimer]

Ya that's true, and what i currently do when I manually bilge out the boat. I would still like to get a pump that remove water as much as possible.

Whats in you boat and how low does the water get until the bilge starts sucking air?

[Fishing Rhino]

There may be some that will pump the water lower than approximately 3/4", but I've never seen them. They all need a screen or some type of strainer to prevent debris from clogging the impeller. The intake for the impeller is usually below the top of the strainer slots, but you'd have to find a pump that comes within 1/16" of the bottom of the strainer section since that is approximately 1/16" thick. That would reduce the capacity of the pump because it restricts the intake area.

I don't know of any boat that sits perfectly level on the water. The water will accumulate in the lowest area and cause the boat to list even more toward that area.

If your boat sits level so that the water is of equal depth, then put the pump in a corner at the stern and put a twenty pound weight in that area. Get that down to 1/4" or 3/8" of water and you're talking about a gallon or less. If you have not been able to find all the leaks, I'd suggest getting a gallon of Gluvit. Prepare the bottom up to and even above the waterline and apply according to instructions. It ain't cheap, but it is effective. It will create an epoxy skin to the outside of the hull. Apply it a bit heavier around rivets and all areas where there are any type of fastenings.

Aluminum can develop barely visible hairline cracks that will leak. If you don't want to coat the whole bottom, you can just apply it to the fastenings.

The better thing to do might be to get the boat out of the water and put a few inches of water in it to find out exactly where it is leaking, then make your repairs.

[Brine]

Agree with doing a leak test by filing the boat with a couple inches of water, then fixing the leak(s). Just take a sharpie and mark the leaks on the bottom of the hull. Then determine if it would be better to fix/patch/epoxy, or weld the leaks.

If the boat is riveted, it would be better to rebuck the rivets rather than using any type of patch.

I'd try to view the bilge as an emergency accessory instead of a maintenance accessory.

Besides the welding.... most fix options will cost less than a 750 bilge.