Cleaning the bilge pump

At the end of last month we tied up near Norton Junction so that I could change the oil and have a go at cleaning up the bilge where the pump sits. (I wrote about this here too, but with no piccies.)

You have to be quite a contortionist to do this on our trad-style boat with the engine in the usual place on a leisure boat, i.e. not in its own room forward of a back cabin.

When I touched the bilge pump it immediately fell apart. Oops! At least it meant that I would now take the opportunity to clean it before putting it back together again.

The top part of the pump, housing the motor, float switch and impeller, is the dirty white thing on top of the swim, also dirty white. The bilge sump, full of filthy black water, is directly below the prop shaft.

The bottom half of the bilge pump is bolted to a square metal plate which normally sits snugly in the bilge sump. I used an old knife to clean the gaps in the coarse strainer.

There's also a wire mesh strainer which I cleaned with a toothbrush and canal water.

I was still wearing wellies from doing the Braunston locks with their extremely muddy towpath.

I was very pleased when the two halves of the pump snapped together after I'd cleaned it all.

The bottom part of an old milk container was useful for removing the sump contents. It was a leg-achingly filthy job, but it had to be done.

Thanks to Jan for taking the photos.