Vesparider11

Should I just give up making the Vacuum Bilge Pump work and just throw $120 at a $350 JS and buy the electric Bilge Pump with switch?

Discuss Now.....

Btw. I just spent the past 6 hours cleaning the bilge of years of neglected and cleaned out the Vacuum Bilge Pump. I also replace a bad line. Haven't been out to the lake yet to see if I made it work.

Richard Z.

no fear here

I have two. Both on vaccume bilge and never had a problem with either clearing out the water. There is a small hole on the white plastic block that bolts to the rear wall. This tiny hole has to be clean and allow air to flow through or else it will cause a siphon and fill the hull with water when the ski is just sitting.

I found that out the hard way one day, and it took a lot of troubleshooting to figure out.

Vesparider11

I cleaned the hole and made a repair to that fitting. I haven't gotten out to the lake since to check. Rained here alot the past week. I cleaned the entire bilge with Simple green and rags. Took rags to pay laundry mat afterwards. They won't be able to use those machines again... LOL

Richard Z.

no fear here

So have you had it out to the lake yet? If so what were the results? My wife and I had our ski's out this weekend and had a lot of fun.

Vesparider11

It sank while anchored..... Not really sank, but you could tell that it was taking on water just while sitting.

Thinking of just putting an electric pump on.

Ski's ran great all weekend. I'm still sore. The new ride plate and intake work great. However, in a tight turn I'm still not getting water into the pump. It's better but not digging enough.

Anybody? Know If i can just cap off the end of the hose to the pump from the bilge valve and get away with that.

Thanks,
Richard Z.

no fear here

]It sank while anchored..... Not really sank, but you could tell that it was taking on water just while sitting.

The tiny little hole I talked about in the earlier post must be clean. There is the 2 large holes for the hoses. 1 for the bilge pick-up, 2 for the vacuume draw out from the pump. In between is the tiny hole that I am refering to. It is about the size of a pin. If this hole isn't clear water will siphon back into the hull.

Vesparider11

I very carefully put a pin through that hole when I had the pickup and hoses out. I made sure not to oversize the hole any. I reinstalled everything correctly, I'm sure of it. Since doing this cleaning of the pickup and replace those hoses, I noticed that now it takes on water much faster. I must have screwed something up.

If I go to an electric bilge do I cap the hose from the Pump? Or does that still need to be above the waterline and open?

Thanks,
Richard Z.

no fear here

I would leave the hose hooked up to the pump. I would plug it where it comes through the hull into the engine compartment.

The second option would be to disconnect at the pump and plug the hole where it enters into the hull.