Plastic Classic Forum

I've been enjoying bilge pump woes this past month. The old Rule 2000's automatic feature quit last year. I bought a new Rule 2000 automatic but it has a float switch and the wiring is bare, w/o the usual outer layer of insulation covering the three conductors. I thought that was pretty tacky so I did not install it. The old Rule quit totally, the bilge filled (I'll blather about the leaking shaft log some other time), the manual Whale Gusher 10 was found to be non-functional, so I haywired the new Rule and got the bilge empty. I guess I own it now, so I wired it up temporarily. (Temporarily back the way the old one was, because I want to rerig and remount it so that it can be pulled for maintenance without unseemly shouting and knuckle bunging)

So! Back to that manual Whale! I bought the rebuild kit but was careful to not open the package. I began to dissassemble the Whale, and sure enough, it was corroded internally so that its sealing surfaces are likely to be impaired and it won't come apart anyway. The stainless steel center bolt mounting the diaphgram to the handle is corroded to a frazzle. This is the second Whale that I've attempted to service (the other was a Whale Gusher 30 in a Hinckley 43); it, too, was internally corroded.

What to do? It seems reasonable to me that the idea of a bilge pump is it should be correctly installed, tested, forgotten until the day you need it, and then it should work without fail. The lovely yellow epoxy-coated aluminum Whales do not seem like a good enough choice since they, based upon a sample of two, corrode themselves to useless. No one can reasonably be expected to dissassemble one of these things after every use and flush it out and dry it to prevent deterioration.

Anybody got a better option or a better brand to suggest?

I've had good service from the Henderson (Whale) Mark V. It's not metal (at least not primarily).

I can't speak to the "fit and forget" part, because it was the main pump for the Lavac head, which was in daily use. It never gave a hint of trouble, so I didn't get a chance to evaluate the rebuild kit.

It's just over $100 new; I looked at it in Defender's catalog:

"The Henderson MK 5 universal pump is a sturdily designed, cost effective high output pump for a variety of installations: deck mount, bulkhead mount, or thru-deck/bulkhead mount.

Simply remove and refix screws on the front cover for 6 different inlet and outlet positions.

Reliable, clog-resistant diaphragm pumps.
Made of tough acetal and glass-reinforced polypropylene.
Up to 16 gpm.
Max lift 15'.
For 1.5 hose."



Rachel

Hmmm- I guess I'd better go check out my Gusher 10. It still works fine when I test it, but I haven't tried to disassemble it in a long time.

Sounds like a good project to do

I've just had a nice, helpful interchange with Josh Phillips at Whale. He suggested their Mark 5. It's all plastic and he says that there are no metal parts inside.

I did not ask him why they bother to make the Mk 3...

There cannot be only Whales in the sea, so I shall mull a bit before I harpoon one.

The Whale Mark V is the same as the Henderson.