Auto Bilge Pump - How you connected ?

[Refueler]

Just interested on peoples thoughts for this .... I have seen about equal split as to how connected.

Some have wired auto so it works when boat is left and main battery power is off.

Others I know have it only useable when main battery power is on.

All of course have dedicated switch to isolate the pump itself ... usually a 3 position : Manual - Off - Auto.

 

[Stemar]

Mine are on their own circuit, which bypasses the battery isolator, so they're always on via a fuse, isolating switch, and man/auto switch.

 

[Ammonite]

Mine are on their own circuit, which bypasses the battery isolator, so they're always on via a fuse, isolating switch, and man/auto switch.

Same here plus a loud alarm (with silencing switch) to alert me or passers by when it operates. I have a pet hate for fridges, wet lockers etc that drain into the bilge and the boat doesn't leak so it won't go off unless something is wrong.

 

[onesea]

Mine are on main switch board, isolated when I turn domestics off.

I leave domestics off when I leave the boat, I want to know if my boat has small leak when I come back.

If left it on I wouldn’t know if or how much she is leaking, if I was going to have that system i would want to know how many times the pump had run in my absence.

If the need I could leave domestics breaker on and turn everything else off, except bilge pump switch on auto.

My thinking is if she has catastrophic leak the bridge pump probably would not keep up. I would hope passersby would notice her floating lower in the water.

 

[Tranona]

Automatic should be wired either to an "Always On" box or direct to the service battery bank. You want it to work when you are not there, but you want your other domestic circuits isolated when you are not there.

 

[38mess]

Can't you wire it directly to the battery bank
Edit
Sorry didn't see the above post

 

[rogerthebodger]

Mine is on all te time via a circuit braker then to a on off auto switch. I also have an electro machinal counter to rexord how many times the bilge pump operates

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Hot wired and left in auto.

 

[Refueler]

Why I ask ? I am changing the setups on two boats ....

My SR25 has it wired via Man - Off - Auto direct to Battery A. I can isolate everything else ... She's good to go.

But >>>
The Conq 38 is wired via isolator but with solid state auto switch on side of pump - its failed and pump is at this time Manual only ... I am ditching the pump and its useless expensive brand name auto - replacing with a standard type auto bilge pump and then wire it direct via Man - Off - Auto separate to the main board.

The Primor 24 MoBo has a manual only pump but wiring has fault ... so need to rewire - while doing it will also replace with a standard auto float type pump with direct via Man - Off - Auto switch.

With regard to knowing if boat leaks ... given that no auto pump actually pumps every last drop out ... if the bilge is dry by hand and then next visit you find that cm or so the pump cannot remove - you know you have a leak ...

 

[Tranona]

But >>>
The Conq 38 is wired via isolator but with solid state auto switch on side of pump - its failed and pump is at this time Manual only ... I am ditching the pump and its useless expensive brand name auto - replacing with a standard type auto bilge pump and then wire it direct via Man - Off - Auto separate to the main board.

when you say "main board" do you mean after the isolator. My 3 position switch is physically on the main panel but is wired positive direct to the positive bus bar before the isolator. as you can see I laid out the panel to take it.

 

[Refueler]

My thoughts are to have separate from main switch panel ... its separate on my 25 ...

But thoughts change .. but to make pump live on the switch panel when main power is off - will mean running a new feed just for the pump.

The whole panel is disconnected when isolator used. The pump switch on the panel is only ON - OFF as well ... so would need change.

Half the panel doesn't work anyway .... would like to change to a better one ....

 

[M Cuff]

Does anyone have a diagram (simple) to wire a bulge pump with float switch to bypass the isolater. I only have an on/off on the main panel so presumably this would need to be changed to a 3 way?
Thanks

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Does anyone have a diagram (simple) to wire a bulge pump with float switch to bypass the isolater. I only have an on/off on the main panel so presumably this would need to be changed to a 3 way?
Thanks

google

 

[mikegunn]

My setup is similar to that of Stemar’s (post #2).
In addition, i have installed one of the excellent “Hello-Sailor” monitoring devices, which will send me a text to my phone if it senses that the bilge pump has been activated. Should that occur I then need to send a reply instructing the “Hello-Sailor” to re-set itself, in readiness for any subsequent activation of the bilge pump. Having a keel stepped mast does allow some rainwater to accumulate in the bilge over time, so infrequent activations of the bilge pump do occur.
Incidentally, the “Hello-Sailor” device also monitors the voltages of two battery banks and the status of other switched circuits.
Mike

 

[Tranona]

There is a danger of making this all too complicated. Important to have an automatic bilge pump live at all times so it must be wired direct to a battery. The physical location of the switch is irrelevant, I just designed my panel to have it physically located there but it is independent of the switch panel with the positive going back to a busbar in the positive for the house battery before it gets to the isolator. The same bus bar for example takes the positive from the mains charger and if I had solar would also take the feed from the controller. On the last boat I rewired I had a dedicated always on box which was essentially an enclosed bus bar and I had the pump on that plus the tiller pilot, although I would not do it that way now.

 

[Graham376]

I have 2 x positive bus bars behind the panel, one is permanently live for two bilge pumps and anchor light (which is used on mooring) and the other bus switches off via battery isolator when leaving the boat for a while.

 

[onesea]

Important to have an automatic bilge pump live at all times.

I have to ask why?

 

[jwilson]

Depends on the boat: If you have a boat that due to construction/fitout always gets some leakage, then yes, direct to battery, and make sure you go aboard and charge battery regularly. On a typical modern GRP boat with a no-drip shaft seal and deck-stepped mast, I'd wire to be after the breaker. Any leak big enough to sink the boat won't be stopped by a bilge pump and your battery capacity.

 

[ridgy]

Doesn't have to sink it, a few inches over the floorboards can make a real mess over time.

 

[Daydream believer]

My open launch has a manual/off/auto pump hard wired to the battery because rainwater can soon fill it up. My yacht has a bilge pump wired to the switch panel. As far as I am aware it has never run in 21 years, as there has never been enough water to turn it on.
I suck up any small amounts of spillage etc. via a hose connected to the shower pump. The hose has an 8mm copper pipe on the end which I insert through a hole in the cabin floor. Being small diameter & placed vertically, it sucks up almost as much as a sponge would.
The hose goes into the shower circuit with a hoselock fitting & will reach places like under the engine tray & the heads when blocked etc. The shower pump is a whale gulper, which will handle some solids. So is very handy for unblocking procedures.