again with the electric pumps...

[kayakwriter]

For me, no new kayak is complete without an electric pump...
http://philiptorrens.com/2020/07/23/electric-pump-for-sea-kayak-mark-iii/

 

[JohnAbercrombie]

Thanks for that link to your article on the pump. I had a pump on an earlier Mariner Express and it worked pretty well (very well at times ).
A few thoughts:
Using a relay to switch the pump would avoid running the full current through the reed switch. Automotive relays are cheap and almost indestructible.
I have read stores of the external magnet magnetizing the reed switch and causing it to stay closed; I don't know if that's a concern as well. The switch is certainly the weak link in most pump systems.

The YouTube video is 'Private', so not viewable by most folks.

You didn't post your article here on WestCoastPaddler. Not a big vote of confidence! Should we be worried for the future?

 

[kayakwriter]

Using a relay to switch the pump would avoid running the full current through the reed switch. Automotive relays are cheap and almost indestructible.

Cool. Are they or can they be made completely, submersibily waterproof?

The YouTube video is 'Private', so not viewable by most folks.

Weird. It showed as embedded in my preview in Wordpress. Youtube is acting weird right now and won't let me re-upload or access that video. I will sort it out and post a corrected link in the article.

You didn't post your article here on WestCoastPaddler. Not a big vote of confidence! Should we be worried for the future?

I'll be cross-posting it as soon as time permits.
And I just spent a few hundred bucks to renew the hosting for WCP for three years. So we're good on that front. Meanwhile, anything readers can do to promote awareness of WCP to other kayakers or would-be kayakers is much appreciated.

 

[JohnAbercrombie]

Cool. Are they or can they be made completely, submersibily waterproof?

Those automotive type relays are pretty much sealed cubes but they do have 'spade' lugs which are exposed. If it were my project I'd try to find a spot for the relay in the battery box. I recall (dimly) reading about a pump install that used a relay - perhaps in a NZ or OZ posting?

Weird. It showed as embedded in my preview in Wordpress. Youtube is acting weird right now and won't let me re-upload or access that video. I will sort it out and post a corrected link in the article.

Thanks! With cookies in my machine and auto logins it's a regular occurrence for me to send a link to somebody and get a reply: "It didn't work for me!" So I understand the problem.

I'll be cross-posting it as soon as time permits.

Excellent!

And I just spent a few hundred bucks to renew the hosting for WCP for three years. So we're good on that front. Meanwhile, anything readers can do to promote awareness of WCP to other kayakers or would-be kayakers is much appreciated.

Thanks for that. I've mentioned WCP on the now-dying ('dead forum walking') Kayak building forum (kayakforum.com) quite often, but haven't seen many new faces here as a result. I think that interest in DIY is not what it once was...
The Facebook kayak building forum is a completely unorganized salad of posts, so I won't be going there.

 

[JohnAbercrombie]

Relay is mentioned here:

SHOP: electric bilge pump in a kayak

It is interesting how some technology seems to be more popular in one country than others. Sails and electric bilge pumps are way more popu...

gnarlydognews.blogspot.com

 

[mick_allen]

and then the higher rated pump could be utilized?

 

[JohnAbercrombie]

and then the higher rated pump could be utilized?

Yes.

I'm thinking about an electric pump (again), and I may investigate some of the automatic pumps that don't require a switch.

 

[kayakwriter]

So in wading through the Gnarlydog article linked above and the links it led to, I discovered a higher amp magnetic relay that looks like it could work not only for the 500GPH pump, but for the 1100GHP pump. Think I'm gonna order me a few (they're fragile, and sometimes break during the soldering/potting process.) I can use the pump as is for the moment and upgrade once I've had a chance to receive the new switches and build the potted holder. Thanks for the info!

 

[JohnAbercrombie]

So in wading through the Gnarlydog article linked above and the links it led to, I discovered a higher amp magnetic relay that looks like it could work not only for the 500GPH pump, but for the 1100GHP pump.

Good! Please post pics and info once you do the upgrade.

Just a point of info- that's a reed switch, not a relay. A relay has a 'heavy duty' (higher ampere rating) set of switch contacts which are closed (or opened depending on whether you use the NO-normally open- or NC contacts) by a small current flowing through a coil. That coil could be energized by closing a low-current reed switch. Your choice of a higher amp rated reed switch is simpler.

 

[cougarmeat]

Before you mount the pump, you might want to fill the boat with water and see where it puddles as the volume goes down. I think these work better on a boat with front and rear bulkheads that restrict the water to a small area. Because my Mariner XL had no bulkheads I added one as a safety factor. It was placed, centered on the keel, behind the fixed seat. It was “okay”; not wonderful.

First, I didn’t realize how nice it was not to have anything in the way when loading bags in the stern. Though the pump was not large, it always made itself known as I was loading or retriving gear.

Second, The Mariner, with fixed seat, had about an inch of foam under the seat and up the sides. That allowed a small, but definite, amount of water in the front from reaching the pump behind the seat.

Third, The way the interior space was designed, the water wouldn’t pool to one place unless the boat was rocked on its side. But the pump was mounted right on the keel (center). So it couldn’t reach the “nuiscience” water that remained after the majority was pumped out.

If there were a rear bulkehead - with extra points if it were slanted, so all the water pooled behind the seat and the pump was located behind the seat and in front of that bulkhead - that might work. Or maybe it would be more out of the way if it were along the keel near the bow bulkhead. Problem with that is, if you ever needed to work on it, clean out some pebbles, etc. it would be difficult to service up there.

I only used it once, purposely flooding the XL at Pirates Cove. The pump worked like a champ, removing most - but definitely not all - the water. I sure wouldn’t have wanted to do that with a manual pump. But if I were paddling with a friend, we’d probably drain the boat on his/her deck.

If I had dumped paddling solo, with a loaded boat (no leverage to lift it in the water), I would have been REAL HAPPY not to have to pump out the water by hand - especially if conditions were lumpy enough to dump me.

I never had a problem with the magnetic switch but I did put some protective clear film under the slide path (It slide on a deck bungee cord from one side of the deck [off] to the other side of the deck [on].