Bilge pumps not coming on

TRG

Member
Jul 20, 2022
60
Vancouver, WA
Boat Info
2000 SeaRay 400 sedan bridge
2011 Mastercraft X45 (for sale)
Engines
(2) CAT 3126 diesels
I have 400 db that I bought last year so still learning. My 2 aft bilge pumps are not coming on. Checking on the boat I have water in the hull low spots and the switch is in the on position but 2 pumps are not coming on. I also can’t turn them on manually at the panel up top at the captains station. I think the switch and bilge pumps are good as they were working last year. There is a block of wires just above where the pumps are located where the switch and pumps are wired to the bottom row. Not sure how the wiring works though.
 

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Probably just corroded connections and wires but could be a bad switch or pump.

You will have a power (positive) connection that is likely a brown wire that will connect to one wire from the switch, a black negative that connects to the pump.

The other switch wire connects to the pump, but also likely connects to a manual switch (usually at the helm) and possibly your sea ray monitor or similar.

If the connections look corroded, they probably are worse than the look. Cut the positive and negative wires back a half inch at a time untill it's clean and verify your getting 12 (or 24) volts. If so connect the switch and test that, finally connect the pump and test that.
 
On our 370AC, the +12v wires are brown with either a red or yellow stripe, the battery "ground" is black, and the indicator/remote switch is brown or grey. The red vs yellow seems to distinguish switchable vs emergency pumps. We have 5 of total, and only 2 have indicators & a switch, so I have no idea where the 3rd wire goes on the other 3 pumps. All 5 have their own circuit breaker.
The float switch is between the +12V and the pump +12v and indicator lead (3 way connection - float/pump/indicator).

When I was checking our transom pump the manual float lever did nothing, after validating I had 12v between the feed and ground, I cut the switch wires about an inch from the butt splices and connected the wires from those butts and the pump spun. This proved the switch was bad. Had the pump not spun, it would be a failed pump. I could have put a test lead in the switch butt connector to the pump, but didn't think of that after checking for 12v.

Another pump was removed and never replaced. The wires were left in the bottom of the compartment, and with no pump some water had accumulated. Since the 12v wire was live, and in water with the gnd, the copper inside the insulation had dissolved up nearly 4 inches. Thankfully SR leaves -all- excess wire bunched up, and the pump and switch come with about 2 feet, so I had no issues with shorter wires.

If you have shower/condensate sumps, they are wired identically. It's just a bilge pump and float in a box.
 
I have 400 db that I bought last year so still learning. My 2 aft bilge pumps are not coming on. Checking on the boat I have water in the hull low spots and the switch is in the on position but 2 pumps are not coming on. I also can’t turn them on manually at the panel up top at the captains station. I think the switch and bilge pumps are good as they were working last year. There is a block of wires just above where the pumps are located where the switch and pumps are wired to the bottom row. Not sure how the wiring works though.
Is that a PVC plumbing fitting on a thru-hull below the waterline?
 
I have 400 db that I bought last year so still learning. My 2 aft bilge pumps are not coming on. Checking on the boat I have water in the hull low spots and the switch is in the on position but 2 pumps are not coming on. I also can’t turn them on manually at the panel up top at the captains station. I think the switch and bilge pumps are good as they were working last year. There is a block of wires just above where the pumps are located where the switch and pumps are wired to the bottom row. Not sure how the wiring works though.

Do the pumps come on when you manually lift the float switches?
 
I have 400 db that I bought last year so still learning. My 2 aft bilge pumps are not coming on. Checking on the boat I have water in the hull low spots and the switch is in the on position but 2 pumps are not coming on. I also can’t turn them on manually at the panel up top at the captains station. I think the switch and bilge pumps are good as they were working last year. There is a block of wires just above where the pumps are located where the switch and pumps are wired to the bottom row. Not sure how the wiring works though.

Do the pumps come on when you manually lift the float switches?
 
Do the pumps come on when you manually lift the float switches?
No. But after checking the pumps by jumping them to the battery, I have 2 in the aft under the generator, 1 works and 1 doesn’t. Also the one at the front of the engine compartment also works. I have a float switch in the aft I am not sure if it works, and a switch in the front that has vents in the side of it, not sure how that switch works.
 
I had same issue it was the fuse in the engine compartment
 

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