Electric Bilge Pump Recommendations

[JimInVA]

Howdy Folks!
I am working my way through a number of issues on my Precision 23. She is sitting in my front yard on her trailer. My current project is to replace my electric bilge pump. It is a Rule Model 20SA, 800GPH, Automatic Bilge Pump. My buddy installed it about four years ago and it has worked at least intermittently during this time. It now will only chirp for a half second and move some water about an inch and a half up the hose.
I have done a bunch of troubleshooting, at least as I know how to. My two lead acid marine batteries are fully charged (12.6V each). They will take a bit more charge up to 12.9V and a green light on my Guest charger. The Rule representative said to bench test it directly to my battery (brown wire to positive and black to negative). I did this and got the same half second chirp. He said that if it doesn't run via this method, it is probably a bad pump. This pump was submerged all winter and most likely frozen solid, so it wouldn't surprise me if I inadvertently killed it.
My old electrical system looks like a birds nest and I am educating myself so as to completely replace it, but for now it works well enough to power all my running lights. Not sure what that tells me other than my system is at least partially functional.
For this season, I would like to get the electric pump working to go along with the new Whale manual pump I just installed. That one is working like a champ.
I have been looking up reviews and watching YouTubes and I am hearing that the Rule pumps don't have a great reputation (maybe 2 or 3 years at best?). I do know however, that this Rule pump will fit down in the tight space in my bilge. Not sure about some of the others. Before I scurry down to West Marine and grab another Rule (in stock, $125.00), I thought I would ask around these parts.
Do any of you all have any suggestions on a replacement pump?
Thanks!
Jim

[Riggerdood]

Hey Jim,

My only experience is with a small, portable Attwood pump that barely fits into the RS22's rather small bilge area. It does do a good job of getting out the small amount of water I rarely get in there though.

I suppose you could start your search by narrowing down the list to pumps that you know will actually fit in the P-23 bilge? Then look at reviews, etc. to get a better idea of what would work best.

Glad to hear you got the manual pump working well!

[JimInVA]

Hi Tim,
Thanks for the reply. My buddy Dave who is an automotive technician and vo-tech teacher came over to help me troubleshoot today. He repeated some things I had tried, but with a more experienced eye (and better results😳).
We were able to get my pump to run manually and also cleared a blockage in the overboard hose. A previous owner had spliced a couple of sections of hose together and it seems that there was entirely too much length between the pump and the overboard through hull (starboard side, several inches above the waterline). Reaching the fitting required removing a shelf under the starboard locker and finally cutting off the spliced on section of hose (1"). Not sure why they had left this so long as the section connected to the pump appears to be long enough to make the distance.
Dave then connected a "manual" wire to power and my pump started emptying the bucket I was using as a temporary bilge. He recommended putting in a manual switch in addition to the "auto" mode and so we rolled over to the auto parts store (no boat stores nearby) to get supplies. We came back with some wire (10 gauge, not tinned unfortunately), a switch, a fuse holder and fuses and some shrink material. The afternoon thunderstorms put an end to our progress, so we will attack it tomorrow.
I plan to mount the switch on the starboard panel just inside the companionway. The wire can be routed easily behind it and to the power side of the bus. I will then have an automatic mode if I leave my power "ON". This will probably not be my usual choice as I don't leave the boat batteries continuously charging. The manual mode switch is what I will use mostly when I go to my slip to sail or just check on her.
I hope to get it assembled and operational tomorrow.
Jim

[Riggerdood]

No prob, sounds like you are making some good progress. Having both auto and manual modes is good, but it seems to me that if you are in a slip, you'd want the auto mode to work even if the master is off? Or maybe I'm misunderstanding how your buddy is wiring it up?

[JimInVA]

Yep. Having it in auto mode all the time would be ideal. However, I live about an hour from the slip. I don't leave her plugged in to shore power, mostly because I am not sure (shore😀) if it's a good idea with my semi-suspect electrical system. Don't want to burn down the pier while I'm not there to monitor! I can get down and check on her (and charge her up) about once a week or so. I empty the bilge at the same time and check her lines. Every now and then I actually sail her! She doesn't take on a lot of water, but I want to have a couple of reliable systems. I'm about there.
I think maybe a solar panel and charger of some sort might be something to investigate. That will be added as I improve my electrical system.
Jim

[Riggerdood]

Maybe in the meantime you could work out a way to connect just the pump to shore power, completely bypassing your yet to be improved electrical system? I would think a simple 120V AC to 12V DC converter would fit the bill for a temporary system. There are many things that could sink your boat while it's in a slip, and if I was an hour away, I'd want that peace of mind that at least I gave her a fighting chance. Hell, when my boat was in a slip 15 minutes away, and I was getting down there several times a week, I still worried!

Then again, let's be thankful we're not the guy on the Precision FB group who lost his boat because of his slip neighbor's negligence. The other guy had a houseboat with a propane tank improperly stored, and it exploded. The resulting fire totaled both boats, and the guy with the Precision ended up having no recourse but to part his out. Excrement occurs!