Should I Leave Bilge Pump On?

Author : Efrain E. Silva

If you are a positively paranoid skeptic, like me, and like to make sure that all things are properly accounted for ( did I do the laundry yet? Do I have enough food for tomorrow? Is pay day today? Will my boss fire me this week? Yada yada yada ), and more so when it comes to boats and parts, like your special bilge pump, then this is meant for you. Read all of it. Share it with a friend.

The first thing I would like to point your eyes over to, diligent reader, is the fact that almost every type of pump you will find today will be an automatic one. This is thanks to modern progress, and it is certainly a more revolutionary, less traditional age that we live in, in which progress is everything. The old - school, manual sorts of pumps that you saw before are becoming more and more old, and will soon take their place next to the ancient dinosaurs of legend. They will pretty soon belong in a museum ( and, in fact, I know some really old manual ones from W. W. I.I. that are actually there for display already ) . So with that said, check this out next —- in your boat, your front pump will more than likely have its own float that helps to actually kick it right in…no kidding. Just lift it up. It depends on the model though, as I noted, most automatic pumps have this, to some form or degree, and it’s all not too different once you figure it all out….the overall look and process is more or less the very, very same. Same dog, different color, or however that old saying goes….

So with that said, in most cases, this bilge pump can actually continue to run for a very nice, long time all on its own without ever even hurting itself. It can run, in other words, on dry….for quite some time. If it’s a manual bilge pump, at some point, of course, it will go dead faster than an auto (matic) one will….if you just keep it on. So try to avoid doing so either way, just to help conserve the life and energy of the bilge pump, but rest assured in the glorious safety net of the truths that I have just revealed. There is a wide enough safety net to catch you, waiting just beneath, in case you should fall…in other words, if it’s an auto bilge pump and you forget to turn it off, try and do so at your earliest convenience but don’t stress yourself over it. It is not, all in all, the end of the world ; these can last a long time when left on.

I hope this has helped ease some of your worries away if this has ever happened to you, my good friend. That is what this blog was here for. And I hope I have also not just taught you a thing or two but even inspired you to share this piece, if you can.