Bilge pump and float switch

[BTF112989]

I have a mayfair bilge pump and float switch in my boat. The float switch is only 10 months old and has already stopped working so I am in the process of starting to replace it. The float switch does not have anything stuck in it to stop operation and I can hear the thing bobbling around it it's casing so everything is free. It is just not working. Is it normal for a float switch to go bad in under a year? Also should I just replace the float switch or should I get a whole new bilge pump with the float switch in it as one self-contained piece?

 

[Boatist]

Re: Bilge pump and float switch

Are you sure it is the float switch that bad?<br /><br />Does the bildge pump run in manual mode?<br />If it does not run in manual mode then I would supect the wireing or the motor not the switch.<br />Are you sure all the wire conections both hot and ground are clean and tight with no corosion.<br />I would expect the float switch to last many years.<br />Have you actually tested the switch with a meter?

 

[BTF112989]

Re: Bilge pump and float switch

The bilge pump works great when I flip the switch. But if I leave the boat in the water all night and come down to the boat the next morning the bilge is half full of water because the float switch didn't come on. The system is wired so that the wire connected to the battery goes into the float switch first then to the manual switch on the boat and the bilge pump. So the power goes to the float switch first yet it still does not come on. I have not tested it with a meter. The float switch stopped coming on about 3 months after I had it and the bilge pump installed.

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: Bilge pump and float switch

I would agree that the float switch needs to be fixed. But more important than that is to find the reason that much water is getting in the boat to begin with.

 

[BTF112989]

Re: Bilge pump and float switch

Yeah I have it in my garage now trying to fix the leaks most of which I think are coming from the scuppers and their hoses. There is also a little chip in the fiberglass that I am going to patch up. Somebody also messed up when they mounted the fishfinder transducer and drilled an extra hole in the boat so I will patch that up as well. The boat is also 14 years old so it should leak some.

 

[ed/il]

Re: Bilge pump and float switch

Are yor scuppers under water. Do you get wet feet when you stand at the back of the boat? If so I would plug them before they sink your boat.

 

[BTF112989]

Re: Bilge pump and float switch

Yeah my engine is so heavy that my scuppers are about 3 inches underwater. My boat is rated for a 175 but I only have a 150 on there yet the scuppers are still that low in the water. Water comes back in through the holes when I stand in the back of the boat. I have ordered the sea scuppers with the ping pong ball in them to keep the water out. Keeping water out of the boat in the first place is more important to me than letting it out. The ping pong ball should work well since my scupper holes are underwater at all times.

 

[ed/il]

Re: Bilge pump and float switch

I plug mine from the inside. At the end of a days fishing I rinse boat and pull plugs for ride in to let dirty water out. Replug and open drain to bildge in case it rains. Those low scuppers are dangerous.