How to Install a Manual Bilge Pump

A bilge pump is a mechanical device designed to suck water out of the bilge -- or hull -- of a boat through an intake and force it up as a discharge hose and out of the boat through a hole in the side of the boat. Installing a bilge pump includes: proper mounting of the bilge pump to the bottom of the hull and the proper drilling and fitting of a discharge hole. For both the bilge pump and the discharge hole, location is the critical aspect.

Things You'll Need

  • Epoxy
  • Bolts
  • Nuts
  • Plexiglass, 1-foot x 1-foot x 1 inch
  • Drill press
  • Hand drill
  • Marker
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Instructions

    • 1

      Place the manual bilge pump on your thermoplastic and mark it through the bolt holes of the bilge pump so you can drill holes through the thermoplastic for mounting studs. Drill holes through the thermoplastic, the size depending on the bolt specifications of your particular manual bilge pump. Mount the bilge pump on the thermoplastic with the bolts with the washers and nuts on the pump side of the thermoplastic.

    • 2

      Epoxy the bilge pump to the bottom of the hull. You want your bilge pump mounted on the lowest point of the hull. If you do not know where that point is, dump water in the bilge and see where it settles. Remove the water and dry the bilge before epoxying the pump to the bottom of the hull.

    • 3

      Drill a hole through the hull and place a discharge fitting in the hull. It is absolutely critical that the discharge hole is above waterline. Attach the discharge hose to the discharge fitting and attach the other end to the pump.