Position of bilge pump for installation

[dnej]

Savage Pacific boat, half cabin glass, want to fit a bilge pump under floor., near stern. How do I find the position of the cross members, so I can cut an access hole in the floor, without hitting one of the menbers. I have no other access.
Would a stud finder work?
David

[blaze]

drill a test hole of about 10mm then you can poke a bit of wire through the hole with a bend in it of about half the size of the hole you want, put the wire through the hole and rotate 360 degrees.
cheers
blaze

[dnej]

Thanks Blaze, you dont happen to know, how to locate the cross members, do you
David

[cooky]

is it common to cut a hole in fglass floor to fit bilge pump? I was thinking about doing it myself. My boat has one installed, but not in lowest part of hull (hard to explain). I would have to cut a hole in glass too. Do you then seal back in? or do you make a removable lid or something?

[dnej]

Cooky, there are a big range of access covers, to replace the hole you cut out. You need to contact Whitworths, or a similar boat supplies place, and buy the one you want , before cutting the hole. The access plates, have seals, and do a great job. No point having a bilge pump, sitting on the top of your floor, Eh what.
Have a look on the net, for Whitworths, or BLA.
David

[dnej]

Cooky, there are a big range of access covers, to replace the hole you cut out. You need to contact Whitworths, or a similar boat supplies place, and buy the one you want , before cutting the hole. The access plates, have seals, and do a great job. No point having a bilge pump, sitting on the top of your floor, Eh what.
Have a look on the net, for Whitworths, or BLA.
David

[cooky]

No point having a bilge pump, sitting on the top of your floor, Eh what.

yeh - i've sort of got 2 levels to my floor - top level has fuel tank, etc in it (underfloor) and this has bilge pump, but the main underfloor section doesn't - I've been thinking about rectifying this.

[NQCairns]

Cooky that section is sealed, the design is such that even if you hole the lower hull and it fills with water you will not sink, it is also designed so that if you take a wave that section is your flotation tank, probably enough to keep the nose up at least if there is no other flotation in the boat.
Keep an eye on what happens when you pull the bung ie you put the bung in in the middle of the day when the air and boat is warm then you pull the plug when it is colder like in the early morning you should hear the hiss of air being pulled in. That is your sealed compartment insurance procedure.
Possibly you could place a pump at the tank level and drill a clearance hole for the pickup to be inserted into until it hits the hull proper all sealed very well, but the pump will put an end your sealed section. I would be contacting the factory and ask for their opinion on you bilge before giving it a go.
IMHO the sealed portion if it is and stays sealed is a better safety option. cheers nq

[cooky]

thanks as always NQcairns - the guy who sold it to me did say it was to do with floatation. I'd say that;s it. I will talk to factory. It wasn't on my urgent list, just interested.

[dnej]

Cooky, as I said, the access hatches come with a seal , but as NQ says, maybe installation will effect the floatation. The Savage is an old boat, a cuddy cab, and the bunk area, is not sealed, so there is access via this area.
by the way , what happens, when under floor fuel tanks are installed, do you loose the floatation?
David