Bilge Pump Wiring

[Jerry San Diego]

I have searched this sit and found about 400 plus responses for bilge pump problems. However, I couldn't find one regarding my question. I hav a 21 foot 1989 Bayliner Trophy with a 3.0L engine and OMC Outdrive. The wiriing in the boat is a mess from previous owners attempts to rewire sever components.<br />I have three bilge pumps- Two in the enging compartment one forward of the engine(Rule 1500 GPH)and one at the rear of the engine Rule (700 GPH) with one float switch. In addittion there is one bilge pump in the front section of the boat with a 450 GpH and a Float switch. I discovered this pump has burned up leaving a hole burned in the cap of the motor. I have removed that pump and will be getting a new one today. Ther is one switch on the control panel for bilge pump- I believe this is the only manual switch for all three pumps. My question is- does each of the pumps and float switches have to have their own fuses? Is it appropriat for all three pumps to be on the same control panel switch? The two pumps in the engine compartment are running on the one float switch. Thanks for the help.<br />Jerry

 

[catfish1]

Re: Bilge Pump Wiring

yes, each pump has to have its own fuse.<br />yes you can have all three pumps on one switch (not recommended) as long as the switch can handle the load of all three pumps, and as long as you wire them to run off the float switches only.(unless they are in the same area) then they can run auto or manually, as long as one or more of them wont be running dry.<br />that is not the way i would do it, because you should have a manual switch position(bypassing the float switch) and an auto position(through the float switch). and if you wired all three through the same switch you cant manually run each set of pumps, and you should be able to! in case the float switch went bad, you could still pump water in the manual position. the two pumps in the engine compartment can be on the same float switch, as long as they are in a place where, when they both come on together and one of them wont be running dry. the third pump should be on its own bilge switch and float switch with a inline fuse or through a fuse box<br />there are many ways to do it, you can have each bilge switch with its own pump, float, & inline fuse.<br />when it comes to which pumps or how many pumps are on a switch, just apply common sense.

 

[Jerry San Diego]

Re: Bilge Pump Wiring

Catfish<br />Thanks for your great response. I will re-evaluate the current set up based upon your comments. It sounded strange to me for them all to be on one swith to. A fuse for each pump sounds smart too. Now the question is does the float switch for each pump have a fuse also as well as the main swithc for each pump.?<br />Thanks again for your help.<br />Jerry

 

[catfish1]

Re: Bilge Pump Wiring

jerry, you can fuse the float switch, fuses wont hurt a thing, just adds protection! to figure fuse size in (amps)just divide the draw of the pump in(watts) by the volts of the power source. example: you have a 12v system, and the pump draws 120 watts 120 divided by 12 is 10 amps, you would need a 10 amp fuse. <br />however you decide to do it, just make sure that none of the pumps will run dry. like the engine compartment, make sure that if they are on the same float switch, that one of them wont run dry when the float switch is activated. if you know anybody that is an electrician have them take a look, because i'm only guessing at what you have there. good luck

 

[Jerry San Diego]

Re: Bilge Pump Wiring

Thanks again Catfish-<br />I think I understand the process of bilge pumps and switches now first, don't do anything that will cause the pump to run dry, Make sure they can be operaed independantly by swith and float unless the pumps are located in the exact same area where water will reach both of them at the same time and will be pumped out at exactly the same time too.A fuse for everythin is good if possible. Thanks again Catfish for you help.<br />Jerry