Replacing the Bilge Hose

In 2024 our boat is 21 years old. We've been living on it for 10 years. Reason and prudence dictate that in addition to the normal and routine maintenance that we've been doing routinely that it's time to do some deeper maintenance. We came to Cartagena where labor is cheap with the intent to do many of those projects.

The "before" picture of our auto bilge pump hose.

We are getting bids on many projects such as the bottom replacement, rigging, gelcoat and canvas. But, one project I thought I could do as a DIY project was replace the bilge hoses. Bob Johnson with his usual overbuilding used extremely good materials in all his work and the hoses were no exception. I've had to replace a few hoses in the past, but, I thought it would be good to replace the bilge hoses. Our automatic bilge pump is critical to the survival of our boat so the hose is of paramount importance. If it is leaking or gives way the pump efforts are totally negated.

The bilge pump laying out on the floor before the new hose reached it. 

My original intention was to replace hoses on both the automatic and the manual bilge pumps. But, after replacing the automatic and reviewing the condition of the hose, I decided not to replace the manual bilge hose. The hose we did replace was hard and replacing the manual hose would be more difficult than the automatic for reasons I will explain later.

Like all of the mechanical elements of the boat, the bilge hoses are installed in the early stages of construction when there's not much in the way. Later elements are added that make access to the earlier resources more difficult. We added to that complexity when we added the generator and many of the electronics as the hoses, wires and cables ended up running through the same passages as the bilge hose.

From the bulkhead in the lazarette to the bilge, the automatic hose is on top making it easier to access than the manual hose that is on the bottom of the two. Also, the manual hose is longer and goes through the bulkhead in the lazarette on the side meaning that inside the bulkhead the hose makes a 90 degree turn which would be extremely difficult if not impossible to execute. 

The new hose section mounted without cable ties. I will have to get the right ties when we travel in the States. 

In my original zeal and naivete I estimated the hose length and bought hose based on running a tape measure through the existing hose. After buying the hose I discovered a document online with the hose package for the boat and it was way more than I had estimated. After removing the old hose I found the hose was about the length on the list and far more than I estimated. We had enough to do the one hose line that I definitely want to replace and to do some of the other small pieces on the manual pump..

The more I thought about the work the more trepidation I had. From previous experience replacing hoses I knew it was not going to be easy and that obstacles would emerge that I could not foresee and I was right about that. I also knew I could not do it by myself so fortunately I had a local guy that I inherited from another cruiser. He is much younger than me and is local and knows his way around the area.

To pull the new hose through we tied it together loosely. On some past hose replacements I used a hose connector that I joined with 5200 which is almost permanent. But, this hose made several twists which would make it impossible for a connector to go through. So we thought tying it would give it some flexibility. So we began pulling and pushing. As hose came through I worked it through the other access points and then pulled the old hose from the bilge.

Also did a service on the engine.

Well, on the first pass under the refrigerator after lots of pushing and pulling the line broke the rubber and pulled out of the old hose. So we would have to work the new hose through on it's own. I used a steel tape measure to go through and find a path and tied a line to it and pulled it back through. 

In our boat the inside of the bulkhead of the starboard lazarette can be accessed from the panel in the aft cabin that provides access to the packing gland. We were able to get in there, albeit very tight, to help feed the new hose through and I was able to reach it under the refrigerator and pull it through.  That was a momentous achievement because it was the longest path without direct access. Although the next move proved to be equally difficult even though we had better access.

 

One of the really difficult passes was getting the hose through the locker under the sink and through the floor locker under the nav station. I had to disconnect the chair arm in order to get access to cut the cable ties and get the hose through. In the back of the picture you can see one of the old cable tie mounts that I haven't replaced yet because I can't find the thick straps that were used.

Pulling hose under the refrigerator into the galley floor panel proved easy once the hose was through. So the next step was to get the hose from under the galley floor into the lower locker under the sink. We tried many times to pull the new hose through with the old hose but the new hose would not go through the bulkhead. After we had the hose completed and I was going back looking at it, I believe part of the reason was because my helper had the hose going over a cable that it should have gone under. Since the hose combo wouldn't pull through we decided to undo the connection again and try pulling a new line through using the steel tape. This time pulling the line and the helper manipulating it in the galley we were able to get it into the floor locker under the nav table. At this point we were 80% of the way with one last turn to go. 

To get through the last portal took a lot of effort and then we had to  pull enough hose through to make a reasonable connection to the pump. After making the connection we began putting the pump into the bilge with the suspension rod and the plastic screen on the bottom of the pump to which the rod was connected broke off. This was after we had already replaced several rusted out hose clamps on the pump assembly. We decided to use hose clamps to secure the bottom piece but the ones I had were either too big or too small. 

 

This is the hose that I used. It's comparable to the Shields hose used in the OEM.

Before we fixed the problem I noticed that the hose ran over a cable bundle that it needed to go under. so we pulled the hose back out and then worked it back through correctly. Then we were able to get two clamps cris-crossed around the pump to hold it all together. and successfully put the pump back into the bilge after testing it. After going back over the line pushing the hose into position, we cut the hose and attached it to the vented loop in the lazarette.

After we cleared out the other locker in the cockpit we worked on the section of hose from the vented loop to the discharge port. That hose went in without much difficulty. The spec sheet says it is a 12 foot section but we put in 11 ft. There were two cable ties securing the hose before its exit that we had to cut. 

So now we have a new hose on the automatic bilge pump. The hose didn't look that bad so we're not doing the manual bilge pump since that's used less, it will be much harder to replace and the automatic line is the more critical one. That's the one that has to work all the time.