bilge pumps tripping breaker when wet

[temptress]

I was cleaning out my bilge today and noticed that when the water would get high enough to switch on the lower pump it would instantly trip my bilge pump breaker.

Any ideas what I can do to fix this. This makes me very nervous!!!! :smt100

 

[temptress]

This issue has me scratching my head. I wonder if I just go out and buy a new pump and float switch to see if this fixes the problem.

 

[fwebster]

This one is probable pretty simple.

Sea Ray uses common butt splices to wire in the bilge pumps and float switches. On most boats, the splices are wire tired in a location that can get wet. The usual problem is the bilge pump stops working as corrosion builds in the splice. In your case, you have a hot lead in contact with a ground when it gets wet and its tripping the breaker.

The solution is to find some liquid or silicone filled shrink type butt splices then cut out the factory splices, check for voltage on the hot lead and replace all the connections with the new butt splices, being sure to strip the wires back far enough that you see copper colored wire, not corroded wire which will look black.