In my Freedom 25 there is a hose that is all the way down into the keel. I followed it up as it goes under the sink and then all the way back, crosses to the other side and just before exiting it enters a plastic block and exits thru the transom on the port side.
There is no pump anywhere? I don’t know what the black,plastic block is, but it doesnt appear to be a pump. There is no power to it. And the bilge is full of water.
Thanks
Joe
There’s a manual pump in my F25 mounted above the port cockpit locker. The hose certainly has a circuitous route – it takes more than 40 something pumps to get the first water out!
There is black plastic device tucked up there that certainly looks and feels like it could be a manual pump, but where and the heck is the handle?
Thanks,
Joe
There should be a hole in that black box that is visable above the port locker. Thole is about 1/2" dia and a rod is inserted to activate the pump.
Regards. Harv Invicta II F-25
So, Joe,
Did you manage to try and see if this is the pump? I guess anything that can fit in the hole can be used for pump handle temporarily. 
Yes, but I feel like an idiot. I looked once and thought no way would the pump be placed where it was. The boat came with an auto helm,which I’d never seen or used before; and I thought the rubberized fitting was to accept something with the autohelm.
Anyway, I tried the pump, and after 40 plus pumps, nothing. Im not sure the thing works.
I will worry about that later, since I’ve moved onto figuring out the Yanmar and trying to figure out what might work best to clean the stains off the hull-esp those at the waterline.
Thanks for your help. Any advice re my Freedom is welcome.
Joe
Joe; everything you could want to know about cleaning and polishing the hull can be found on this Sailnet discussion.
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance/52772-tips-compound-polish-wax.html
Best of Luck, welcome aboard
Joe, As I recall my (former) '82 Freedom 25, the large vinyl hose was coiled in the area under the cockpit, and I had to uncoil it, stick it into the keel sump, and then start pumping. My F-25 was outboard powered. Judging from the discussion, your hose is permanently routed. The pump handle can be any sturdy thing (perhaps a junk shift lever of a small car is a source for such a rod with handle) that firmly fits into the recess in the pump mechanism. As far as where the pump is located; the F-25 emphasizes single-handing (note all lines led to cockpit), and given that, the pump is placed at the helm so that the sailor can pump, steer, and manage sails all at one time from the location in the cockpit. I would check to see what is at the end of the hose down in the sump. The hose entry could be blocked. In addition, I’d advise cutting 2 to 3 3/8" notches at the end of the hose so that it can suck water from the bottom more readily. Lastly, the pump should be inspected. The pump very likely is a diaphragm type, and given its age, the diaphragm may be cracked/ripped.
I think you might be right re the condition of the pump. I will take it down and have a look. Hope I can find a replacement.
There are lots of little jobs to get done before I launch her this spring.
Thanks,
Joe
ED;
Wonderful link re hull cleaning.
Thanks,
Joe
The other thing to look for in trying to make your pump work…
That large coiled corrugated vinyl hose only needs to have one small crack or puncture in it to prevent the suction from the pump from drawing the water out of the bilge.
I’d take that hose off and test it by plugging up one end and filling it with water before going to the trouble & expense of rebuilding the pump.
Thanks. The pump does make a nasty noise when pumping, so I’m thinking it may be toast.
Do you know anything re the 1GM Yanmar? Where the heck is the exhaust outlet?
Thanks,
Joe
Joe, see if this gives you what you need regarding your 1GM yanmar
http://www.soverel33.com/Boat/Engine/Forward/Content.html
By the way, I recently took the 3 day Mack Boring Diesel course in MA. Very good course. The engine has gone from a silver mystery to something I actually understand and can do much work and analysis on. I also know what work I wouldn’t do. Not cheap but neither is having the yard work on your engine.
I know nothing about the 1GM Yanmar, but… here’s a little “Marine Exhaust 101”
Looking at the top of the engine from the front, you will notice an exhaust manifold tying each of the cylinders together and piped to an elbow which contains a hose fitting which leads back to the heat exchanger and ultimately to raw water pump on the front end of the engine. This is the mixing elbow, where water is injected into the exhaust gas stream in order to drop the pressure and the temperature so that it won’t set fire to the inside of the boat on its way outside the boat.
By the time this water enters the mixing elbow, it has been sucked through the raw water inlet seacock (the first point at which it enters the boat) and thence through a sediment filter (raw water strainer) then to the raw water pump where it emerges as pressurized water and thence passes through the heat exchanger (like a radiator on your car, except that seawater is what cools the fluid in this radiator instead of air).
Following this mixing elbow, you will find a large black rubber hose which leads to a “can” sitting somewhere in the bilge. This “can” is the water-lift muffler. It works like a hookah in reverse. As the (now) wet exhaust flows through it, the water settles out into the bottom of the can and is further cooled by bubbling through it on its way overboard. As the water level rises, some of the water is “pushed out” into the exhaust stream. This tends to happen somewhat cyclically, producing alternate “sprays” of water and much drier exhaust gas at the outlet in the transom (not far above the resting waterline), particularly at low rpm.
Following the hose which leaves the muffler, you will note that it rises above the level of the engine, sometimes to the base of the cockpit floor on its way sternward. This is by design. The idea is to get it high enough that a wave hitting the transom outlet (even at maximum heel angle) will not travel backward through the hose and flood the waterlift muffler (which can make it hard to start and…if it floods enough…fill whichever cylinders happened to have come to rest with the exhaust valve open).
Follow this hose to where it attaches to the fitting in the transom and then go ouside the boat and look at that spot on the outside of the transom and you will find the exhaust outlet…or start the engine and go to the stern and look for the hole that has water and gas vapors spitting out of it.
Excellent input guys! Thanks. I thought the “black can” was some sort of intake filter. So it appears that there is not an air intake filter. Anyway, thanks for solving another mystery for me.
Joe
I pulled the pump, found a chunk of wood stuck in the outlet, and now it works. I would like to install an automatic pump in the bildge and run it throu the same hose and by-pass the manual pump then out the transom. Anybody done this before? Do anybody know if one of the “standard” bildge pumps would be able to pump that distance?
Thanks,
Joe
They will pump the distance. I’m not a fan of the little plastic ones. A diaphragm type pump (check the Defender website) will last a lot longer and be able to “help” in the event that you’re taking on water while off away from the dock. Disregard all the “gallons per hour” claims on the “dinky” pumps.
You’ll want to run your outlet hose all the way to the transom before tying it into the existing discharge line from the manual pump. You can use 3/4" black rubber “soft” hose on the discharge, but you want something stiffer that won’t collapse on the suction side. You’ll need a bilge strainer screen AND a “wire basket” type inlet line filter to keep the gunk out of the pump. These are easily cleaned out by unscrewing the top of the plastic body of the filter.
I use an electronic ‘smart switch’ that detects when water has risen to the level at which it makes sense for the bilge pump to turn on. You’ll want a momentary contact switch on your electrical panel to override this so that you can “dry the bilge” down below the point at which the switch would turn off the pump. The power to the pump should be ON at all times when you’re away from the boat. Use only “tinned” marine wire to connect the switch and pump, and make sure that your connections down in the bilge are adequately waterproofed (electric tape doesn’t cut it)…solder the connections after slipping a piece of heat shrink tubing on the wire, then daub the soldered connection with “liquid electrical tape”, then heat shrink the tubing down over that, then smear a thick coat of silicone sealant over everything.
Whatever you do, make sure that you retain the manual bilge pump. Something may happen to your electrical system (such as flooding the batteries) which will cause it to fail. You want to make sure that you have a manual system. As the saying goes: nothing pumps faster than a man on a sinking boat.
– Geoff
Has anyone had any luck connecting two ends of the bilge hose found on the Freedom 25? I discovered a small leak so I cut the hose and have no luck joining the 2 ends together. I’ve tried “ribbed” hose connectors, ridgid black poly pipe, which was a prefect tight fit with no success.
Does anyone know what spares are needed for replacement parts of the bilge pump?