Atlantic 21 - Fitting bilge pump in hull (skin fitting question)

alt · 14 September 2020, 23:30

Hi all,
Anyone had experience with a 'through floor' skin fitting in this scenario? Needed for both bilge pump pipe and 2-core wire.

Normally in a situation like this....
1) For bilge pump pipe, is there some sort of a double-sided skin fitting? ie. threaded pipe, and make water-tight by using a big flange nut under and over the floor.... then pipe from bilge pump to threaded bar, and again another pipe from the threaded bar on the floor out the back of the boat?

2) For 2-core wire (well, possibly 3-core for the auto bilge), normally a cable gland would seem to make sense, but I can't find any long enough to go through approx. 1" floor... can these be found 'extra long'??

alt · 14 September 2020, 23:34

Here is what i'm on about re. double-skin fitting... I'm in Ireland, just need to find an Irish / UK supplier:

Cable Gland:

GuyC · 15 September 2020, 06:44

1 I had a similar issue on my Pac 22. The bilge pump exit is in the transom just above the deck. I ended up with putting a doubler under the deck and then sikaflexing the pipe in. It's not an ideal scenario but it kept the exit pipe close to the deck.

2 I've used Scanstrut through deck glands. They sit on the deck rather than in it. I epoxy a doubler on top of the deck and then mount the gland to that. The doubler gives more to screw the gland to and keeps the interface between the gland and the deck slightly above surface water level which should help minimise leaks. Obviously it wont help if you get a wave on board but for general cleaning and rain water run off, the doubler protects the gland.

alt · 15 September 2020, 22:58

GuyC - Thanks for the info.

For anyone else who finds themselves in a similar situation, we found a solution. It's a bit agricultural, but it worked....

BILGE PUMP
Length of 3/4" brass pipe through the floor, with flange nuts holding it in place.
Attached flexible hose either side of the floor (underneath, to the bilge pump, on top, out the back of the transom)

CABLE
As mentioned above, a bog standard cable gland. We kept the hole tight so we had to thread in (slowly) with sealant.

While it's not the most glamorous, it works!