Another rant about bad designs

this drives me nuts. 2009 Lazzara 84

This little, lonely Rule 2000 is that tiny little sump is the only bilge pump Lazzara felt was necessary in the Lazarette. Even though they installed high water alarms in the other bilges, I guess they believed rudder glands never leak and shower sumps never fail

There is a pick up for the emergency high capacity Hail Mary 240v crash pump but other wise no back up.

Note how small the sump is... so you must have a check valve otherwise the pump cycles non stop as the **** sump holds about as much water as the hose! I hate check valves.

This ridiculously stupid set up has cost us a $650 motor for the master and crew head transfer pump... you can see it sits just 2" over the bottom of the "bilge". Luckily it happened here in Miami with nobody on board. Imagine having to tell owners or charter guests while in the Bahamas "sorry you cant use the master head"

Now to add a high water alarm, I can run new wires to the nearest ISIS box but then would have to get someone reprogram the ISIS system to include the new alarm... or I can hook it up to the nearby ER high water switch

.... and as bonus a previous captain had butchered the bilge pump wiring and left it hanging on the floor of the lazarette hidden behind the transfer pump. Neither I in over a year or the surveyor could see it.

That s what they did in the main bilge in addition to conventional pump although it s used with a float switch

But regardless of pump type, having only one pump and no high water is just plain stupid

As good as the Ultra Switches maybe I don't want to use the same switch for the high water alarm. Doesn't make any sense... if the switch fails you loose the pump and the high water alarm

On my old Hatt, only 53, i redid the whole bilge system basically from the pump all the way to the battery with new pumps and switches, secondary high water alarms, new wiring, new alarm/switch/breaker/led panel and new feed to the battery. I used 4 rule 3600 and have provision for two more on the panel. I sleep better that way.

On my boat running new wiring harnesses is pretty simple, not so on this 84...

The range of the ultra switch is the same as the rule switches, 1 1/4" i believe. If ther was a simple way to test them instead of relying on the green light, they d be perfect

I ve often used a dual pump setup with th back up a litle higher. Thats what i m trying to do here. Problem is having to run th hose in the cramped space along the transom and add a new TH

Or I may tap it in the discharge of the 240v emergency pump. With the right height and angle it should be fine. I ll see.

Sure but not as easy as flipping a conventional switch up...

Problem is the sump is way too shallow, its about 1 3/8". No float switch will kick in before its full.

I think its too close to the bottom to make it any deeper although i am thinking about enlarging it horizontally.

I ve decided to add a rule 3700 and add a thru hull on the port hull side near the stern, there is more access on that side to run the 1 1/2 hose. This is a back up Lazzara should have installed.