Best boat bilge pumps according to redditors

Motor looks in very good condition.


Even on a motor that old there should be a plate with a serial on it, if you can get a picture of that and comment to let me know youve posted it i can take a look.


I work at A marina and have seen a lot of evinrude's over the years, but i think an earlier commenter was correct in saying this is 70's era.


Also The other comment about checking lower unit grease spark plugs, and carb are correct. Most likely it is going to need a carb overhaul, or at the very least pulled apart and thoroughly cleaned. If you are not confident in small mechanics look in your local craigslist for a "Small motor" Repairmen, typically these guys work on lawn mowers and chain saws, or other small items. But they should be fairly familliar with tearing apart the carb and cleaning it. Ask them before you take it to them though. Ask specifically if they will be able to reassemble the carb as is. As parts for a motor that old are hard to come by.


Also in terms of lower unit grease stop into a shop and pick up some 80w 90 gear lube. Order thishttps://www.amazon.com/Shoreline-Marine-Pump-Lower-Unit/dp/B004UOPZ9S/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=hand%2Bgear%2Blube%2Bpump&qid=1572987230&sr=8-3&th=1


The screw for your lower unit is at the very bottom down below the drive shaft for the prop, also once youve removed that screw there should be one just above the cavitation plate. i can actually see the top screw in your picture its on the top half of your lower unit. Remove that so that the grease will drain faster. Once it is empty plug your grease into the BOTTOM screw, and pump until it comes out the TOP screw. Pump a few extra times to ensure all air bubbles are forced out the top screw. Then before removing the grease from the bottom screw, replace your top screw. Then pull your grease out of the bottom screw and quickly replace the bottom screw.


It should be noted as well there should be a small gasket on each of these screws to ensure a good seal is made. Make sure both these gaskets are there and if they arent i would head for the local hardware store and find one that just fits on snug and is about the size of the head of the screw.


In terms of your spark plugs. Pull them out, and take them to a local auto parts store, napa, autozone, oreilys or something like that see if they have them in stock, if not see if they can order them. If you are not familliar with gaping the plugs yourself, ask if someone at the store would be willing to gap them for you.


I am assuming this is a 2 stroke motor. I would remove the old oil, and just replace it with new. Doesnt much matter the brand just any two stroke outboard engine oil.

After all of this, I would bet that motor will fire up and still run quite nicely. There really isnt much that can go wrong on these little older motors.


Oh if you have the old gas tank, pitch it. Get a new one. With a new line. Keep the line and tank around so that you can reference the connections to make sure you get the right ones once you are ready to replace them.

I think he does. High flow pump, low flow pump, quiet pump, crazy high flow pump.

Depends on what your use is I suppose, any of these can be controlled with a combination of transistors and/or relays. Can you give us any more detail?

Anchor with a decent amount of rope. You can buy one specific for a kayak but if you want something cheaper, get a 5 or 10 lb freeweight and just tie a rope through it and boom you have an anchor.

A bilge pump helps get water out of the kayak

A net helps greatly.

A tackle bag or box would fit nicely behind your seat in the area that has the tie downs.

A fishfinder if you want to get fancy

Covered or uncovered you should use a small bilge pump. They're super cheap and it's better than coming home to a submerged boat. Even covered if there's a small hole anywhere water is getting in so you'd need the pump.

This is a good one. You want one with a built in float or buy one with a separate float. Either way just know the 15 buck one is meant to wire up to an automatic float or switch.

You can get a 24volt bilge pump. https://www.amazon.com/Rule-Marine-Bilge-Pump-Non-Automatic/dp/B01N3CCK8R/ref=sr_1_3/141-9178635-4986428?ie=UTF8&qid=1525187582&sr=8-3&keywords=24v+bilge+pump

I'd imagine it'd run on 21volt, or even a submersible 12volt pump should be ok on 21volt.

I'd try the panel straight to the pump first, maybe adding a capacitor if you need to get over that start up hump. Seems like money spent on a controller and battery would be better spent on a bigger panel to get the wattage you need to overpower the pump. The difference between a 20 watt panel and a 40watt panel seems to be about $20, less than the cost of the better controller.

Like, this panel wants to run at 18v, which is only 4v higher than the 14v the 12v bilge pump might expect to see in a boat with an alternator

https://www.amazon.com/Powereco-Polycrystalline-Charger-Battery-Charging/dp/B0711TH5LK/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1525188017&sr=8-6&keywords=40+watt+solar+panel

If you're looking at a small 12v pump that's like $30, that's not too much risk in releasing the magic smoke. The battery is going to add another wear item to the sytstem.

After I smoked the first pump, I might add a buck converter https://www.amazon.com/Top-Spring-Converter-1-25-32V-Voltage-Regulator/dp/B079KDH8FS/ref=sr_1_6?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1525188405&sr=1-6&keywords=buck+converter to drop the voltage down, but I wouldn't expect to smoke a pump.

Good guide, thanks!

A point I'd contend is manual vs electric pumps. In the UK at least, some simple pumps can be much cheaper than the Whale foot pump you used, and I don't believe you need the accumulator tank or strainer (correct me if I'm wrong). Apart from adding a couple of wires in, it should be just as easy to install and possibly more convenient to use over it's lifetime.

Examples of cheap, simple pumps:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SEAFLO-12-litres-per-minute-SUBMERSIBLE-12v-WATER-PUMP-caravan-motorhome-boat-/152473298104?epid=675182421&hash=item23801de4b8:g:WVQAAOSw32lYyR75

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Whale-Standard-Submersible-Electric-Pump/dp/B004E1T67E/ref=sr_1_1?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1504782966&sr=1-1&keywords=whale+submersible

I don't know about the heat issue (i'm in tx) but my cousin kept his fish alive without power by using a battery powered live well aerator (similar to that) in his tank

Yep, that's exactly what it is. It's called a bilge pump. His has a hose attached.

This is similar to the pump I used. I have two Optima Yellow Tops with a Hellroaring BIC. All loads are on the main battery, second battery is only used to start when the main dies (rare, unless I leave the fridge on for a couple days without starting the truck). I wired in a second fuse box, and ran circuits from there throughout the truck. I use something similar to this between the cab and the bed. Hope that helps!

While I can understand the view of it not being food certified I use one of these anyway with awesome results. I utilize this 1100GPH bilge pump with a DIY keg cleaner made out of pvc with an end cap and holes drilled similar to a spray ball. It takes the pain out of using more PBW and the flowing water cleans surfaces much better with no scrubbing required. Just my 2 cents.

Might I suggest something like this?
(http://www.amazon.com/Unified-Marine-50002323-Hand-Bilge/dp/B000FZ346W/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_img_in)

One reviewer claims 50 gallons in two minutes. Understand that this is going to be a LOT of work, quick numbers tell me that 10x10x4 of water is 400 Cubic Feet, 7.5 gallons per cubic foot equals out to 3,000 gallons of water.

Assuming the random person giving the review of 25 gallons/minute is accurate, this is two hours of straight pumping, and likely much slower due to the height difference.

The real question is, assuming you can pump all of this water with a cheap pump: Are you sure it isn't just going to fill right back up as you empty it?

Your diagram shows a body of water off to the side, this very well could be the reason it has water, and you won't be emptying the pond anytime soon.

I'll end you with final thoughts on structural integrity, you noted it was old, any idea how long it has been flooded for? Most materials don't take well to being under water for for extended amounts of time.

Regardless of all that I have said, go for it! It sounds like fun! Blow a few bucks on a pump, and go have a good workout. :P

I use this one: https://smile.amazon.com/Seaflo-Automatic-Submersible-750gph-Switch/dp/B00B0L4ONM/

Battery is good. I've tested the bilge pump running directly off the battery. I do have a cheap harbor freight multi-meter.
The pump only pulls 3amps at 12v. I figured the fuse block was a little overboard, but for a few bucks more, I decided to get it (along with an assortment of 3/5/7.5 etc amp fuses) and leave room for future expansion.
The big questions is the fuse block. Looking at it confused me. I assumed the 14 terminals, 7 on each side, running down the long sides will receive positive wire. But I wasn't sure what to do with the negative wire. The top of the block has 7 additional terminals, but I wasn't sure what those were for, maybe the negative wire? But if so, why are there only 7 terminals and not 14? I'm sure its simple and obvious, but I'm missing it. Thanks

Here's the pump: Seaflo pump

I have two of these foot pumps, one in the cabin and one on the boat. I've tried other designs but none can compete with these. Flipper pumps and hand pumps all leak, if not in a week then certainly in a year. Tiptoe pumps just don't move enough water.

I like these because they're hands free which is great for washing your hands, etc. They're about 30 years old & I recently replaced a cracked part in one of them so parts are still available and the design hasn't changed.

Both of them are screwed to the floor under the sinks with just the foot pedal exposed. Both are feeding simple filtered water faucets, the cabin one draws from a 5gal blue camping tote also under the sink.

The pumps are double acting, they pump on the downstroke and the upstroke. They move about 4 gal/ minute and can easily be short-stroked to produce just the amount you need.

As with any manual pump they can be sensitive to particles in the water that can cause them to drain back from the faucet - they never leak but if not used for a while you may have to pump once or twice to get water back up to the faucet (common with all manual pumps and even some powered ones).

They can be changed from right hand to left hand operation which refers to which side the inlet & outlet hoses are on.

They're pricy at $90 but well worth it.

https://www.amazon.com/Whale-Marine-Gusher-Operated-GP0551/dp/B00H93M3RO/ref=mp_s_a_1_4

http://www.amazon.com/Shoreline-Marine-Bilge-Manual-36-Inch/dp/B004UOVA9W/ref=sr_1_46?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1367527071&sr=1-46

You can use a pump and just pump the water out. Once it's floatable you can tow it to a ramp and put it on a trailer and let the rest drain.

Wait til low tide and wait for the flood water to receed also.

You can do propane for your fridge, range and toaster oven.


As for water pumps, double your numbers if you plan on having a pressurized system, if you're running a watermaker double it again, look into marine wash down pumps (if you're not running a watermaker), they draw 3-8 amps, or do it the traditional way and use a foot pump for water.


Whatever ceiling fan you're looking at is a MAJOR power draw, these on a dimmer switch draw as little as 1 watt and can run all night on a crappy car battery.


Have you factored your battery weight/location into your van, as it looks now you're gonna need a skoolie to carry that much load.

Above your current pump. It's a backup. Not just for when the power is out but for when your pump shits the bed. Or just toss it in the bottom they are the size of a fist. Rule 20R-35A Submersible Bilge Pump with A-Matic Float Switch, 800 GPH, 12 Volt https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002694TFK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_pkdNBbHX3C6TC

Just get a lower unit lube pump for a boat, and pump it out into an empty quart.

https://www.amazon.ca/Shoreline-Marine-SL52226-X-Lower-Yellow/dp/B004UOPZ9S

I was just saying that in general. However, I search amazon for a hand water pump and this was the very first result:

http://www.amazon.com/Seasense-Hand-Bilge-Pump-72-Inch/dp/B004RDHU68/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376847321&sr=8-1&keywords=hand+water+pump

The blue and green thing is a Seattle Sports Paddlers Bilge Pump.

Get one of these if your bilge takes on water. https://www.amazon.com/Buffalo-Industries-90400-Bilge-Boom/dp/B001Q8HB8Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1500006139&sr=8-2&keywords=oil+bilge

No electronic valves anywhere, although in the future it will in order to refill the reservoir from a main water hookup.

Rule 24 Marine Rule 360 Marine Bilge Pump (360-GPH, 12-Volt) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000O8D8QG/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_S6O-wbNQYVHHN

You could use a bilge pump like this one (as long as you can get a vehicle close to the well and are willing to buy a piece of tubing - it connects to your car battery). There are also manual versions also that look like a bicycle pump. Counting on you OP!

Or, if we're just ordering shit off of amazon, one of these

This one has okay flow rate, still need to see how practical it will be. I'm positive I'll be ok though, otherwise replacing it with an electric one.

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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FHQL6K/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Gusher Galley MK3 Foot Pump... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FHQL6K?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share