Hey guys,
I was thinking about adding an extra bilge pump to my boat.
I have an older Ranger that has 1 bilge pump which hasn't failed on me or anything yet but I would just feel better about having another to get the water out quicker and have a back up.
My home water is erie so I am constantly fishing in 1-3ft waves and navigating through 3-4ft waves so I end up taking in a lot of water on days were it kicks up a bit.
Anyway I was looking for some opinions/tips on how to go about adding another pump as I wouldn't know where to start.
I have heard of people storing spare pumps in there lockers for emergency situations but I think I would just rather have one built in if possible.
Thanks for any tips guys.
Not sure you could ever have enough of them. If you ever fill the boat you will know what I mean. I have 2 in my Ranger and a third with a hose that can plug into the cig. lighter. Make sure you have one with a float switch. Great reminder when you leave the plug out.
The best bilge pump ever built is a 5 gallon bucket in the hands of a man in a sinking boat. I keep one in the bilge area of my Ranger and store my anchor, rope, and what ever else will fit in it. If ever needed, that thing can get rid of water in a hurry.
I carry an extra bilge pump in case one goes bad and I need to swap it out. Not going to help much if on I'm having a problem on the water but my boat does have two - one with a float. I also carry a hand pump too. It can move a lot of water quickly and is easier to store in a compartment.
Depending upon the year and make of your Ranger, you may have extra circuits on the fuse block that you can link another bilge pump into. That's what I did on mine years ago to have 2, 1 auto, 1 manual. Plus a spare on a long hose with a long wire, switch and alligator clips that could be done with a cigarette light plug too if preferred.
I also have have a large jug manual scoop and a tall hand pump for backups.
You'll need your owners manual with wiring schematic for the circuit block to figure out what might be open and which wires to use. Many Rangers have extra switches even that can be used for the right circuit to run another electric device or two.
Or, you can just use new wires to battery clips right to the battery best available for this extra draw. Just splice in the proper sized fuse into the positive wire, and run the wire to a new switch in your dash/cockpit area, or splice in a switch in the bilge area. Just try to use a little better quality switch that might be waterproof if possible since that will be the most likely failure point besides blown fuses. And carry plenty of extra fuses for all sizes in your boat.
I added an additional one to my existing bilge hose with a simple "Y" type hose fitting and wired it directly to the battery with an inline fuse
While you can do it with a Y fitting, the best way to do it is with a seperate thru hull fitting for the 2nd pump. With the Y you will not get 100% of the water the pump is throwing to go out of the boat... some if it finds it's way back down the other side of the Y.
That said, you should have one that is automatic which can be done one of two ways... a float switch on just about any pump, or one of Rule's non-mercury water sensing pumps that requires no float switch and is easier to wire up.
If you need any help on this feel free to shoot me a private message.
Mike