Cleaning Bilge Hoses

[britinusa]

We found that we had a minor fuel leak as some had collected in the bilge and mixed with the recent heavy rainwater.

I removed the tank, found the leak and repaired it, the repaired tank will be re-installed today/Thursday.

We have cleaned out the bilge and de-fueled the inside of the hull where the leak ran down from the tank shelf to the bilge.

I'm concerned that some of the water/fuel may be on the inside of the hose from the bilge pump going aft, but??? How to clean out the bilge hoses??

The hose is the flexible wire reinforced type hose, so I'm guessing that the inside is kinda 'corrugated'

Thanks.

Paul

Link to blog article about the repair: http://www.sailingeximius.com/2018/06/fuel-tank-woes-part-ii.html

[KWKloeber]

Paul,

it depends on which hose you used. For bilge hose, I the corrugated Sheilds UltraFlex which has a smooth ID.

-k

oopps Sheilds MULTI flex.

[Ron Hill]

Paul : Most of the wire reinforced hose is smooth on the inside.  My bilge hose from the electric bilge pump is just heavy duty smooth hose - like well hose (no need for wire reinforce hose because it doesn't make any acute turns).

Every few years I use some Dishwashing liquid soap (low sudzing) and fill the bilge with water.  That cleans out the bilge, lets me know that the pump and float switch are working and I can check for any leaks.  Guess it also cleans out the bilge pump hose.

A few thoughts

[britinusa]

Ron, I had considered that process. My issue is with the possible discharge of fuel contaminated water.

Right now I'm considering detaching the bilge hose from the thru hull in the aft locker, putting the hose into a bucket and following your idea of the bilge cleaning, capturing the grotty water.

FYI, I was checking Y-Tube on the subject and found this.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yP_zq6kiOw

and here's a pic of our bilge. ( I tried to post it but get the response that it's too big, but only 403Kb [Your file is too large. The maximum attachment size allowed is 512 KB.])

https://photos.app.goo.gl/hwNur3cH8nFaemjG7

[Ed Shankle]

Paul,
Unless the bilge pump cycled on when the bilge water was contaminated, it seems to me that the approach you are pondering might spread the diesel in the hose, making the cleanup a bigger deal. My rationale is that the hose goes uphill from the bilge, so any contamination should be on the pump end. Maybe disconnect both ends, examine and wipe out pump end, and finish with a soapy flow (maybe a quart) from the exit end.

Regards,
Ed

[KWKloeber]

Brit

Whatcha got going on there?  Looks like a smooth OD, white, hose clamped to the pump discharge, inside a black, corrugated, hose?  The black does appear to be Shields MultiFlex (smooth ID).

As Ed said, unless the pump emptied the bilge, there's zero chance of fuel being in the discharge hose.  Also, the fuel will lay atop the water, so unless it pumps to dry most fuel should remain behind.

However. let's be practical here -- how much fuel could adhere to the hose?  You didn't dump the entire tank into the bilge.  Any slight amt of fuel pumped would tend to be emulsified in the water due to the impeller mixing.  This seems a non-issue and a bit overkill.  Get some marine bilge cleaner, partially fill the bilge, slosh it around a couple hrs salin' and mortorin, drink some beer, and when offshore, well, 'er, release it. 
You won't leave a visible sheen, which is the standard for a discharge. 

Or hold a 5 gal bucket underwater/ w the rim just at the thru hull, dump the water, filter it thru a spill diaper, run the fumes thru an activated carbon filter.  Then put a filter on the exhaust discharge to trap every bit of hydrocarbon that goes out that thru hull. 

JTSPO  - let's not go "overboard" on going overboard.

-k

PS: sometime I'll explain why, due to EPA, asthma suffers still must pay $75 for a life-saving inhaler, when they could have had a $10 generic.   Oops, on that "practicality" soapbox again.

[britinusa]

Thanks guys.

Keeping it real.

Paul