Electric pump systems are very common in Australia. There is a variety of "waterproof" switches _commonly_ available, but they all use a rubber boot over a toggle switch. The rubber boots last six months of regular exposure and up to twelve months if treated with Armourall or equivalent. If any salt water gets in , corrosion starts very quickly. With regular replacement of the rubber boots, these switches last as long as the kayak. Some paddlers have tried filling the boot with Sikaflex, so that the innards of the switch have some protection after the boot starts to crack.

There are some waterproof rocker switches, too. These are much more expensive, but lower in profile. You can protect either type of switch from accidental engagement with plumbing saddle or a kitchen cupboard D-handle.

Several local paddlers are experimenting with magnet-actuated reed switches. The home alarm type of reed will take up to 100 mA, which is plenty to operate a miniature relay. Several relays available here draw less than 5% of the current that the pump draws, so are very suitable. They do need to be encapsulated in a big glob of epoxy to prevent salt water from entering. This is regardless of their location - day hatch, rear hatch or cockpit. All compartments get wet eventually.

It is worthwhile also considering the self-contained pump from Atwood - 3 D cells, and an adequate pumping rate. It is, of course, nowhere near the rate of even the smallest Rule bulge pumps. The Atwood has several advantages: no need to protect a switch; no mounting or sealing complexities; and you can use it to empty a flooded bow or stern compartment on your boat or someone elses.

Typically we use Rule 360 to 1100 gph pumps, mounted on the rear bulkhead, a 2 to 3 Ah lead-acid gel-cell inside the day hatch with the switch coming through the deck from inside the day-hatch compartment.

Some Tasmanians have the battery in the cockpit (!!!) and have found (with up to two decades of experience) that there is no noticable loss of battery capacity due to leakage through the occasional immersion in seawater (these models of gel-cell have terminals at opposite ends of the battery). They have found however that the positive terminal corrodes quickly unless it is covered in a blob of BluTak. It's crude but it does work. This sort of experience is invaluable. I wonder is any electrochemists on the KBBB can explain this.

The other common option here is a Henderson Chimp (or clone) mounted on the forward bulkhead as a foot pump.

Either option is HANDS-FREE. How else can a stricken paddler paddle out of trouble?

: Hi All,

: I was down at the local Radio Shack yesterday looking for the bits and pieces
: needed to hook up an electric pump in my kayak.

: While there, I found a rubber cap that goes over the top of a toggle switch
: and makes it WATERPROOF. You still need to seal the switch into a
: waterproof box but the problem has always been the part sticking out of
: this box.

: They come in 2 sizes. The part number is 275-1598 for the larger size and
: they cost me $4.99 Can. for two; one red, one black.

: I now have all the pieces for the system so I will put the switch and box
: together tomorrow (I left my soldering iron at work!), throw it in a sink
: full of water and let you know how it worked.

: Ian