Johnson Bilge Pumps

[drew0982]

Are these any good? I'm assuming they're marine...

[vonkamp]

Bilge pump or water pump? I have a crank driven circulation pump designed for marine use and they have been building pumps a long time.

[drew0982]

Bilge... like this:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000SQBSG6/ref=ord_cart_shr/103-7838545-2799025?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A2UWYMOBBYEE7C&v=glance

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000RL0NYK/ref=ord_cart_shr/103-7838545-2799025?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A2UWYMOBBYEE7C&v=glance

Thanks :)

[Forrest]

Bilge... like this:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000SQBSG6/ref=ord_cart_shr/103-7838545-2799025?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A2UWYMOBBYEE7C&v=glance
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000RL0NYK/ref=ord_cart_shr/103-7838545-2799025?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A2UWYMOBBYEE7C&v=glance
Thanks :)

Those pumps are good. They are often sold with a house brand label such as West Marine, but they are all good. I have a pair in my Magnum and they dont seem to fall apart when it gets rough like the Rule pumps they replaced.

[zelatore]

Decent pumps, and yeah, they are the same thing West sells under their own flag. One nice thing about a lot of the johnson stuff is it's rebuildable, the motor can be removed from the body. We ues them on our Albins as OEM and I've put them in other applications. No probelms.

[drew0982]

great, i'm assuming they can withstand saltwater? my boat had a rule 1000 in it and i was advised to put in at least a 1500gph pump (17' Ragazza w/outboard)

[zelatore]

They're certainly up to salt water; that's pretty much all I use them in.

When it comes to bilge pumps, bigger is usually better. I have two in the engine room of my 22, but neither is a big pump. And don't belive the '1000' or '1500' gph rating. That's under ideal circumstances. In the real world when you have elevation, head preasure, hose restictions, etc to overcome you'll never get the advertised number.

[VetteLT193]

I'd rather have 2 smaller ones than 1 big one. They don't fail often, but when you find out they have failed is when you usually need it:bonk:

[drew0982]

hmmmm.... so what would you recommend for a 17ft w/70 gal tank in the floor, full of the liquid-type styro and a 400lb outboard on the stern? two 1000's ?

[drew0982]

what confuses me is... it seems almost like some of the bilge pumps come with integrated float switches... is this the case? if so, are they any good?

[zelatore]

Multiple smaller pumps makes sense over one large pump for the redundance.

As for the pumps with built-in float switches I have no problem with them, it's just a mater of convinience. If space allows, why not? Sometimes you may want to mount the pump and switch slightly apart from each other though, and with the combo unit you can't replace just one piece if it fails. Then again, we're not talking about big money here.

I will say I'm not a big fan of the solid-state float switches. We're using them on some of our bigger boats as OEM now and I don't like them. We've had several failures, and the most annoying part is there is no easy way to field test them. At least with a standard switch you can reach down and lift it up to see if it works. These things don't have any moving parts, so you have to actually submerge them to check that they work. I have a client with a new 65 footer who asked us to replace all the solid state floats in the boat with standard ones right after he took delivery.

[drew0982]

Ok, so which pair out of the two of these would you go with for a 17ft? (they look like they have the built in switch thing goin on)

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&partNumber=46317&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&partNumber=91581&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

[zelatore]

I don't believe the Johnson pump has a built-in float switch. The Mayfair has a solid-state switch. Supposedly, these switches are more reliable than standard float switchs, but my experience so far has been to the oposite.

If you are going for a new install, the Mayfair would be easier since you only have to rig one component. One other upside to the electronic switch is it won't trigger with oil. While I've never had that become an issue, the fines for discharging oil are very steep.

However if it was me I'd lean toward the Johnson. It has 60% greater capacity than the larger Mayfair and you can install your own float switch. Sure, it's not a big boat, but if you've got the room a bigger pump is never a bad idea. It's like spending a few extra dollars on a better lifejacket. You may never need it but if you do you'll be glad you spent the extra bucks.

I like this style switch as it has a cover to keep debris from jaming under it.
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/producte/10001/-1/10001/273311/377%20710%201524/0/Bilge%20Pump%20Switches/Primary%20Search/mode%20matchallpartial/0/0?N=377%20710%201524&Ne=0&Ntt=Bilge%20Pump%20Switches&Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&page=CategoryDisplayLevel1&isLTokenURL=true&storeNum=null&subdeptNum=null&classNum=null

[drew0982]

I don't believe the Johnson pump has a built-in float switch. The Mayfair has a solid-state switch. Supposedly, these switches are more reliable than standard float switchs, but my experience so far has been to the oposite.
If you are going for a new install, the Mayfair would be easier since you only have to rig one component. One other upside to the electronic switch is it won't trigger with oil. While I've never had that become an issue, the fines for discharging oil are very steep.
However if it was me I'd lean toward the Johnson. It has 60% greater capacity than the larger Mayfair and you can install your own float switch. Sure, it's not a big boat, but if you've got the room a bigger pump is never a bad idea. It's like spending a few extra dollars on a better lifejacket. You may never need it but if you do you'll be glad you spent the extra bucks.
I like this style switch as it has a cover to keep debris from jaming under it.
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/producte/10001/-1/10001/273311/377%20710%201524/0/Bilge%20Pump%20Switches/Primary%20Search/mode%20matchallpartial/0/0?N=377%20710%201524&Ne=0&Ntt=Bilge%20Pump%20Switches&Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&page=CategoryDisplayLevel1&isLTokenURL=true&storeNum=null&subdeptNum=null&classNum=null




Great, thanks for the advice. I'll go with two of those Johnsons - I believe I have enough room for both. Nothing wrong with have a little insurance :wink: