Stand Alone Dehumidifiers- Good idea or not worth it?

[rustybucket]

You have water in your bilges?

I bow down before thee oh mighty keeper of the clean bilge! lol . Yeah, there is always a little water in by bilges. It is freshwater, usually from me washing or spraying something. The pumps don't suck it all the way out, so unless I go in with a shop vac there will always be a little. For the most part my bilges are oil free, until I screw up and spill some in them. I keep diapers under the engines for the known leaks/slobbers (getting that number down lower every season though!).

Someday I'll be able to vacuum out my bilges and expect them to stay dry!!

[Westfield 11]

How do you know the bilge water is fresh? Do you taste it? Or are there salt detecting test strips? I am very leery of putting my bilge water on my tongue although I have been tempted as a leak location method. Anyway, is it safe to ingest bilge water even in tiny amounts?

[rustybucket]

How do you know the bilge water is fresh? Do you taste it? Or are there salt detecting test strips? I am very leery of putting my bilge water on my tongue although I have been tempted as a leak location method. Anyway, is it safe to ingest bilge water even in tiny amounts?

lol, not sure I'd taste it. We know it's fresh b/c the only time it rises is when we spray fresh water in it. We have dripless shaft seals so there is no real way for saltwater to get into the ER other than if we are spraying saltwater on the back deck or rear bilge it will flow forward (when at idle or rest) to the ER.

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Anyway, is it safe to ingest bilge water even in tiny amounts?

Depends. How's your immune system holding up? You've got holding tanks, hoses, head pumps and God knows what, and the bilges are interconnected. Personally, I got a tetanus shot when I bought Aslan.

[rustybucket]

Depends. How's your immune system holding up? You've got holding tanks, hoses, head pumps and God knows what, and the bilges are interconnected. Personally, I got a tetanus shot when I bought Aslan.

Guarantee there is some of my blood in my bilge water!! Knuckle skin as well!!

[oscarvan]

1: On previous boat I put the dehumidifier on the sink/galley countertop draining into the sink.

2: Dehumidifiers tend to ice up below 65ºF. There are "Basement Dehumidifiers" which have a defrost cycle built in.

3: A developed sense of taste is the advanced mechanics friend. We're talking "TASTE" not "INGEST".... lol. TIP: Smell it first.

[Jammin']

I've been working on my boat every weekend and vacuum out any water. When the conditions are right, condensation runs down the inside of the boat and creates pools of water.

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Guarantee there is some of my blood in my bilge water!! Knuckle skin as well!!

Ya think?

[bigbill]

from what i have heard , you DONT want distilled water in your bilge, that is why the a/c condensate drain goes overboard not into the bilge. it causes premature rot in wood and causes smells

[Entonces]

JR, I've done the Pepsi taste test! Sorry we haven't met up again. I'll be back in the US in April. Hope your around then.