Bilge drain?

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BalladExchangeDB
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Bilge drain?

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I was winterizing our boat and removed all the water from the 3 bilge compartments. In the aftermost space on the port side there is what appears to be a metal drain fitting about 1/2" in diameter. Does anyone else have this on their Ballad and also know where it leads to?
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BalladExchangeDB
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Beiträge: 127
Registriert: Freitag 8. Juli 2011, 17:14

Re: Bilge drain?

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jespermilling wrote on Oct 14, '08
I assume we all have one, that very few opens it, and that it leads to the outside. Forgive me if I have misunderstood your last question. Personally I ignore it, but maybe I ought to remove it, and plug the whole with fiberglass.

Jesper Milling
msn-trentmoraitis wrote on Oct 14, '08
I'm not sure if we are talking about the same fitting. The one I'm unsure of in the aftermost compartment leads to the port side into the keel, but it is just a metal nipple. I don't know for sure, but I assumed it was either a drain from above or possibly a wire conduit for the original bilge pump?

The middle compartment has a seacock on the Stbd side out through the keel that is the water supply for my engine. It's not in very good shape and I plan to replace it or possibly remove and plug it. Replacing it with a safety seacock so that I could use the engine's water pump as an emergency bilge pump in an emergency would be a nice. The lake we sail on has a lot of weed growth - sometimes it's possible to pick up huge floats of weeds with a boats keel. I worry about possible obstruction of the water supply to my engine and overheating. I'm considering enlarging and using the seacock under the galley sink for the engine supply - we don't use the lake water faucet very much and I may just disconnect it. Any opinions on this?
msn-duchess191 wrote on Oct 14, '08
It was the original engine inlet for the Volvo MD6A - have you had your engine replaced to have the inlet moved? With our new 10HP Beta we have put in a new inlet, but when our old inlet got blocked with weed we have used the sea water inlet under the sink - and it worked very well with a temporary pipe across the cabin floor!
msn-patentnick1 wrote on Oct 14, '08
Hi Trent:

My boat has a fitting similar to what you describe, which was for the old Volvo engine. The previous owner had installed a new engine and had placed a through-hull and seacock in the middle bilge compartment which I've also removed and then glassed over the hole. In my effort to reduce the total number of through-hulls, I now have a 3/4-inch through hull and seacock under the sink for all saltwater needs (toilet and engine) plus another 3/4-inch through hull and seacock for the sink drain. The remaining through-hull and seacock is 1 1/2 inch and is located in the heads for the toilet/holding tank discharge. This arrangement has worked a treat, plus I have two fewer holes below the waterline. If you want to use the engine water pump as an emergency pump you can tee-off the intake and lead a hose into the bilge. This hose can also be led into a bucket of fresh water + anti-freeze, if you plan to winterise the engine. Make sure your connections are tight and double-clamped and you use isolating valves where necessary. In the Accommodation section, under "General plumbing+holding tank" you'll find a note with several photos. The last one illustrates my set up under the sink. If you need more, let me know. Also, at this point, I'm installing two new bilge pumps but I'm not ready to post anything yet.

Nicholas
Moments of Clarity #334
msn-chrish123ca wrote on Oct 15, '08
On Tuesday 14 October 2008 08:45:13 Patentnick1 wrote:
> If you want to use the engine
> water pump as an emergency pump you can tee-off the intake and lead a hose
> into the bilge.

This is exactly what we had to do on delivery of my friends Ericson-35 MII. We
where hit by a wayward wave as we entered our emergency harbor which was kind
enough to drop us on an unmarked rock. Split the backside of the keel wide
open like an envelope thanks to a bad repair job. Previous owner had bored a
nice hole in the bilge to help drain the keel upon storage and covered it
with epoxy without cleaning off the oil. Popped out in three seconds under
pressure.

Only thing that keep us afloat while we got to the dock was to relocate rather
quickly the engine intake into the bilge and turn both bilge pumps on and
work the manual whalegusher. Once at dockside we were in six ft of water for
a boat that needed 5 ft draft. Keeping the engine on idle solved the problem
until the boat was hauled later in the morning. I would say this is necessary
backup setup given what we experienced. Its one of those safety features you
never want to use. Kinda like an EPIRB when going offshore...:)

I dont know the ballads configuration below the bilge as I still dont have one
so cant comment if this can be setup permanently. On the E-35 it was
possible. My friend is now on route to the Caribbean and all is well.

--
/ch
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