(another) Water in Bilge Concern...

jklein

Hi All. 
I would like to thank everyone for the feedback provided and previous discussions around "water in the bilge". I promise, I've read all the discussions...

I have a 2006 250 EC
its covered with the full canvas top all the time when not in use. 

I beleive my  bilge pump is working properly because in the past its gone on when blown the exhaust manifold and another time a hose clamp. It also works manually with the helm switch. 

A few days ago I  checked with the manual switch and pumped about a gallon out. Surprised that the float switch didn't activate (concern 1). 
i decided to use a pump (all I had was an oil change hand pump) to drain the bilge dry. I was SHOCKED to hand pump out 5 times - I filled the oil pump tank (about 4 quarts) so almost 20 quarts of water... (Concern 2). 

- why so much water in my bilge
- why so much water until the bilge pump comes on

so far I still have a dry bilge 48 hours of sitting at the dock.  No rain or wash down since...  I also haven't seen any engine/holding tank water leaks?

aero3113

The reason why your pump comes on late is probably because the float/pump is mounted a little too high. If you can gain access to it you can try a lower location and see if that help.

MarkB

The pump needs a minimum level to turn on. On my 260 EC, the bilge pump is a bit submerged (not totally) before it comes on automatically. The reason is you don't want splashing to keep the motor on (otherwise it will run continuously). There has to be some separation between the minimum level (just under the pump) and when it turns on. If you turn it on manually in between the min and trigger level, it will pump out whatever it can (you are basically turning on the pump before the level has had a chance to reach the trigger level on the auto switch).

As for the amount of water, it only takes about 1 inch of water to generate 6 - 8 gallons of water due to the size of the compartment (about 3ft wide x 4 ft long). Measure it yourself.