lited switch on bilge pump

goingagain · Apr 4, 2007

I have tried to install a lited switch with a bilge pump that also has a auto float switch connected to it. when i hit the manual switch it bows the fuses. if i disconnect the ground to the lite part of the switch everything works well. have checked to make sure the grounds and power are not crossed. don,t quite understand it.

john:/

burroak · Apr 4, 2007

Re: lited switch on bilge pump

Diagram the wiring of the switch and how the wires are routed. The fuse is telling you all is not right in your world.

burroak · Apr 4, 2007

Re: lited switch on bilge pump

Go to the Stingray boat home page >faq >dc wiring. They have an excellent diagram for just about any circuit that you would want. The switch in the diagram is not lighted; however, all you have to find is the ground for the LED in the switch. That is a stand alone ground.

drewpster · Apr 4, 2007

Re: lited switch on bilge pump

Sounds to me like you have the switch ground on the wrong post.
An easy way to consider it is that any lighted switch has a circuit dedicated to making the switch light come on. This is the only circuit in the switch that should have a ground. The rest of the circuits are hot in hot out.
If the switch is blowing fuses when closed you have a ground connected to a post that should be a hot wire coming out.
On the back of the switch there should be a marking indicating the ground post. it should have a "G" on it or some sort of hash mark to indicate the ground post.

burroak · Apr 5, 2007

Re: lited switch on bilge pump

Drew, you're right.

However, I suspect he has a switch much like the ones I installed. They all blank. Since the lite has a dedicated circuit, he can induce the current to the switch (mine were the center terminals) then connect a ground to the bottom terminal (dedicated ground for my switches). If the switch lites up, viola! If not just use the inelegant ole' sparky test and connect different terminals until you get light. If you know your way around a multi-meter, when you get a reading it will be registering the resistance of the light. You'll look more professional, too.

goingagain · Apr 6, 2007

Re: lited switch on bilge pump

the switch is a red rocker and has three terminals all marked for instal the mid is power in the bottom is power out and the top is earth ground, no way to get confused. the bilge pump has brown(hot) and black Ground wire, the auto has two brown wires for power only. power from switch and auto are wired together along with a power wire direct to battery. auto wired to pump and ground to battery. switch ground to ground. sorry i cant put a picture of set up on here, not know how to use this thing very well.. getting too old..LOL john:/

I/O WALDO · Apr 6, 2007

Re: lited switch on bilge pump

Is this a replacement switch or a new wiring/pump install?

goingagain · Apr 6, 2007

Re: lited switch on bilge pump

its a new install. i had tried using the lited switch (LED)
with the wiring that was installed by the boat builder(trophy 2359) but it would blow the fuse same way, so i rewired the whole works so i know exactly how the wires are laid out. just wondering if for some reason when the switch is used and the lite is on the ground somehow shorts out. john:/

Boatin Bob · Apr 6, 2007

Re: lited switch on bilge pump

If this switch only has 3 terminals then the internal light doesn't have it's own separate circuit like some that have 5 or 6 terminals. I believe you are getting a short through the bulb to ground. I would assume that it does not blow the fuse if you remove the ground wire?

bruceb58 · Apr 6, 2007

Re: lited switch on bilge pump

Do you have it wired like this:

goingagain · Apr 6, 2007

Re: lited switch on bilge pump

bruceb58, thankyou, that is exactly how it is wired, i just thought i could put a lite on the switch so i would not forget to turn it off. when i pull the ground off the switch all is well. same as the way it did before i rewired. new pump etc. just baffled me . i guess i can not have a litedswitch with the auto installed, which i want.

john:/ (68 at next birday- statring to get shorts also)LOL

drewpster · Apr 6, 2007

Re: blitzed switch on bilge pump

Re: blitzed switch on bilge pump

Seems to me you have bad switch. I tend to agree with Boatin Bob. I think the lite circuit in the switch is shorted. My first move would be to verify that the wiring is as Bruce diagrammed. (Its easy to misconnect a wire). Then I would remove the switch altogether from the circuit and manually energize the float switch and the bypass by touching the wires together to verify the pump comes on correctly. If all is well there, I would throw the switch as far away as possible and try another one.

bruceb58 · Apr 6, 2007

Re: lited switch on bilge pump

If the switch is in the off position, the light should come on when the float switch is activated...does it?

The only way you could have it wired wrong would be if you had the ground terminal and the terminal to the pump swapped. If you did that, the light would be limiting the current to the pump and causing a big voltage drop. It would also blow the fuse. The pump would be going very slow if at all.

goingagain · Apr 7, 2007

Re: lited switch on bilge pump

ok guys, thank you for ure help, its working now. i changed the switch with another one i had on a back-up pump with no auto on it and its working good and the other pump works with the bad switch, but it does not have that auto feature, but i will change the switch anyway. tks again.

john why didnt i think of that????

lited switch on bilge pump

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