can't turn on bilge pump. 2000 240DA

[k-nutz]

So on the water today I hooked up my water heater and found out that the pressure relief valve went bad so I ended up bypassing the heater and draining the tank This resulted in 6 gallons of water in my bilge. After I finished I hit the bilge switch and I could hear a clicking but the bilge pump never turned on. The clicking didn't seem to come from the bilge, it almost seemed like it came from behind the dash panels. So I am pretty sure that the switch itself is functional.

I am thinking that either I have a bad fuse somewhere or my pump just went bad over winter. I never even thought to pour anti-freeze into my bilge during the winterizing process. since the bilge pump should be wired straight to the battery am I correct in thinking that the bilge pump fuse will be inline somewhere in the bilge? or did they wire these things to the fuse panel in the cockpit or the breaker panel in the cockpit storage cabinet.?

thanks in advance for any ideas of things to look at, going to try to get out early tomorrow and try to get this knocked out so the more ideas I can get the better. If I don't get it figured out I will just pull my boat out of the water (just to be safe) until I get it squared away.

 

[sibnai1]

I know that our boats are totally different animals but my OEM bilge pump switch has a fuse right above it. When my OEM bilge pump quit I put a new pump in and wired it to the original switch for manual operation and the automatic switch was wired directly to the battery with a fuse approximately 6 inches away from the "+" terminal.

 

[k-nutz]

Thanks Sibnal, my boat doesn't have a fuse above it.

******Safety Note****** Older float switches do contain mercury - please be cautious when working with hazardous materials.

So for future reference if anyone searches this problem. went back to the boat today, found the following - breaker in the cabinet above the bilge was tripped, reset the breaker. I then attempted to run the bilge pump. No joy. Then I checked the fuse panel under the dash. Blown 5 amp fuse. Swapped out with my horn fuse (also 5 amps) and turned on the bilge pump manually and the light came on then immediately blew the fuse. So much for an easy fix. I was still fairly certain that my boats wiring did not develop a short since very little work was done around any wiring that would have resulted in a short anywhere.

Below are the troubleshooting steps to determine if you have a bad bilge pump or float switch (assuming you have a 2 component system vs. a bilge pump with builtin float switch). - if neither of these steps work then there is a short somewhere in your wiring harness, not something I would want to ever have to trace.

1 - follow the two wires from the bilge pump to the nearest bullet connectors. remove the bullet connectors and jump them to the positive and negative terminals of the battery. If the pump turns on then your bilge pump is functional.
2 - Next you have to rule out the float switch - most have a manual test but there could always be a problem further up the circuit preventing power so you need to rule it out.
3 - trace the wires to the float switch back to the nearest connectors - remove both connectors and leave the circuit open - this indicates an open circuit or No water in the bilge.
4 - After you have disconnected the float switch swap out 5 amp fuses and then hit the bilge pump button - if it works then you know that there is a problem with your float switch.

So that is how we troubleshot the bilge pump system and determined that my float switch was bad vs. a bad bilge pump. I am swapping out the float switch for the time being just because it will be easier. In the fall, or whenever I decide to pull my boat for something else I plan to remove both the float switch and the bilge pump to swap for a bilge pump with a built in float switch.

*****SAFETY NOTE****** My old bilge float switch says on the label that it is a mercury switch - please be careful when handling older float switches as mercury can be dangerous.

 

[sibnai1]

good job trouble shooting the bilge pump and auto switch. My OEM pump is mounted so far back toward the transom I could barely even find it when I set out to trouble shoot mine ................. I'm hoping you can take a little ribbing, if you don't like to be ribbed I apologize in advance but whatever you do please do not look at the "Are bilges supposed to be dry and clean" thread. Please notice I did not participate in that thread, lol


I wanted to add to your post: If you test your pump by connecting the leads directly to the battery post (without a fuse) please only do so momentarily, do not leave the leads connected for any measureable period of time as the pump though a very hardy piece of equipment can be damaged.

 

[k-nutz]

Thanks for adding that about not leaving the pump directly connected to the battery, common sense should indicate that you do not want to run a pump without water going through it for any measurable amount of time but you were right to add it since some people may not have that knowledge.

as for the ribbing - haha... my bilge is pretty clean for the most part. I read the clean bilge thread before and spent a couple hours cleaning my bilge after reading that one. Some of the guys on here have bilges that I would eat food off of if I dropped something inside it. As for the nasty looking float switch, it was tucked away under the front of my motor so it did not get much attention. It was pretty disgusting looking inside the box when I pulled it out this afternoon. I was going to wait a couple days to take care of it but there is flash flood warnings for tonight with 1-2 inches per hour forecast and rain for the next week, so I raced to the marina after work and jumped in my bilge wearing khaki pants and I am happy to report that I fixed the problem with no stains on my pants . I will throw in the caveat that I did not keep my work shirt on and my elbows and forearms did end up having some grease on them from rubbing up against the motor. Next project clean off all the grime off the motor itself.

 

[sibnai1]

Thanks for adding that about not leaving the pump directly connected to the battery, common sense should indicate that you do not want to run a pump without water going through it for any measurable amount of time but you were right to add it since some people may not have that knowledge.

as for the ribbing - haha... my bilge is pretty clean for the most part. I read the clean bilge thread before and spent a couple hours cleaning my bilge after reading that one. Some of the guys on here have bilges that I would eat food off of if I dropped something inside it. As for the nasty looking float switch, it was tucked away under the front of my motor so it did not get much attention. It was pretty disgusting looking inside the box when I pulled it out this afternoon. I was going to wait a couple days to take care of it but there is flash flood warnings for tonight with 1-2 inches per hour forecast and rain for the next week, so I raced to the marina after work and jumped in my bilge wearing khaki pants and I am happy to report that I fixed the problem with no stains on my pants . I will throw in the caveat that I did not keep my work shirt on and my elbows and forearms did end up having some grease on them from rubbing up against the motor. Next project clean off all the grime off the motor itself.

Glad you have a sense of humor and that you were able to get your pump fixed, we have pretty much the same weather system up here in the dirty Jerz, I encountered some torrential rains and hail on my way from work tonight!!!! Like you I admired some of those bilges in that other post and I'm just gonna throw this out there: if any of those guys ever want to get their act together and get serious about keeping their bilges clean I'd actually think about letting them practice on mine, maybe, lmao

PS: My bilge really isn't that bad she's pretty clean just not surgically clean .............

 

[aerobat77]

so for confirmation ... is the bilge pump hot wired to the battery or not ? will it start to pump with battery master off ?

 

[sibnai1]

my automatic bilge pump is wired to the battery with an in line fuse approx. 6" off of the + battery terminal

1) If I had a battery master on/off switch the pump would still automatically turn on regardless of if the battery master is on or off, because of how its wired.

2) The auto switch is triggered by water in the bilge independent of the position of the battery master on/off as it is wired directly to the + terminal of the battery.

3) One caveat is the battery must have juice.

4) My bilge pump is also wired to the fused bilge switch for manual operation.

You would need to check your boat to see how your bilge pump is wired. My bilge pump is an aftermarket pump because my OEM was not working and could not be easily serviced because of its location in the bilge