Hose Adapters

AJ · Post by AJ » Sun Mar 04, 2007 2:37 pm

Hi all,

I've been looking for hose adapters for the new bilge pumps I intend to install and all I've been able to find are these at PetSmart:

Laguna Hose Adapters

They're simply hard plastic adapters. Are these acceptable for marine use, and if not, where can I find adapters that are acceptable?

AJ

Hirilondë · Post by **Hirilondë** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 4:41 pm

That piece you linked looks like a hose mender, and looks like it will drastically reduce the flow of your hose. What exactly are you trying to do?
Are you looking to join 2 different diameter hoses?

AJ · Post by AJ » Sun Mar 04, 2007 5:48 pm

Hirilond? wrote:Are you looking to join 2 different diameter hoses?

Yes. I've purchased a JABSCO 36600 Diaphragm Bilge Pump with a 3/4" discharge hose and I'd like to join it to a 1.5" hose that fits the seacock.

AJ

Hirilondë · Post by **Hirilondë** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 6:36 pm

The West Marine catologue on-line says you need 2 adapters and gradually change size via 1 1/8" hose http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... artial/0/0 . Seems silly to me. I just go to the parts window at work and get the store manager to find the appropriate fittings for me. In a case like this I end up with hose barbs of the two sizes needed with NPT ends of the same size and join them to a thimble. I'm surprised that West Marine doesn't have parts listed like that. Try calling the nearest full service marina and see what they can do for you. I know if you called us our parts manager would order what you needed and you could come pick it up. Times like this remind me how spoiled I am.

AJ · Post by AJ » Sun Mar 04, 2007 7:39 pm

Thanks, Dave! I knew the right parts for this had to exist somewhere. That suggestion about gradually changing sizes probably makes more sense if this were being used to change hose sizes on the intake end and not the discharge.

However, I've now come across an article by Don Casey which says the bilge pump discharges should be above the waterline and in a position where they'll never get buried when the boat heels to avoid siphoning. So I guess I won't be using the seacocks the way the old bilge pump setup did and will have to put in some new thruhulls in the transom area. I had been planning to run the manual pump and the emergency-only Rule pump to the port seacock (on the theory I wouldn't ever be using both at the same time) and the primary Jabsco pump to the starboard seacock.

AJ

Post by **Tim** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:38 am

Bilge pumps should always discharge above the waterline, and preferably as far above as possible to keep it above the heeled waterline. This is why you so often see the outlets on the transom, which remains in the clear. Unfortunately, this also means that most hose runs are longer than desired, but there's only so much you can do to satisfy all the practical requirements for a bilge pump system.

There have been many, many instances where bilge pumps have allowed backsiphoning of water into the boat because the outlet was located incorrectly. In most cases, practical concerns probably limit the possible locations for an outlet, most of which are less than ideal in some way, but one does the best one can.

I'm glad you found out on your own, and before it ever created a problem, how incorrectly installed your old system was. Now you're moving in the right direction.

Shark · Post by **Shark** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 5:27 pm

Bilge pump outlet position: To illustrate Tim's statement. Here's an excerpt from the website http://www.thesantana.com for Humphrey Bogart's former sailboat Santana.

Sometime during the night in November of 1997, the automatic bilge pump aboard the boat came on. It started its normal routine of pumping the small amount of water overboard that will accumulate in the bilge of most boats.

Unfortunately, after the pump shut off, the "check valve" that was connected to the pump discharge line failed to close correctly. This allowed water to siphon into the boat, as the discharge line was located below the waterline. Gradually the bilge began to fill with water from the Bay. It took many hours for the boat to slowly "sink" in her berth. It wasn?t until someone noticed that Santana?s decks were nearly awash before anything was done to prevent her from going completely to the bottom of the yacht harbor.

In what must have been one of the most painful moments of her celebrated career, the boat was severely damaged--possibly even permanently beyond repair.

After months of deliberation the owners decided to settle with the insurance company and then elected to sell the boat. Santana sat in her berth at the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, damaged from the sinking, her interior completely torn apart and very much needing someone to come along and embrace the yacht with the enthusiasm needed to bring her back to life?enter Paul and Chrissy Kaplan in July of 1998.

Hirilondë · Post by **Hirilondë** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:38 pm

I must have been asleep when I read this post. On the same day I commented in another post that bilge pump outlets must be above the waterline and here I went off to help find a way to adapt hoses for a seacock. Well, alls well that ends well. Best of luck finishing your project.

AJ · Post by AJ » Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:15 pm

Thanks for all the comments, guys. I think I found the precise adapter I'll need through Defender's website.

AJ

catamount · Post by **catamount** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:20 pm

Here's a link to a wide variety of hose adapters:

http://www.marineeast.com/a_sch/sch_lst.asp?cid=1

available from Defender and other vendors.

But as to the question of bilge pump outlets, I posted in another thread --

The ISAF Offshore Special Regulations forbid connecting your bilge pump outlets to your cockpit drains.

Regards,