Batts died .... and Bosch Relay

[Alex_Blackwood]

Today I decided to have a go at the boat before the forecast snow starts again.

Lifted the two 75A/hr Lead acids on board - they were checked before leaving home and they have stayed at 13.2V for days now idle.

Dropped into boxes .... and connected up .. what was that noise ?? A gurgle and a buzz ......

Now I know what discharged the batts ... automatic bilge pump was stuck on ... I'd forgotten to lift it clear of bilge bottom when laying boat up. The pump is a strange pump I have never seen before with what I thought was solid state detector fixed to the side of ..... mmm I'm wondering if its not solid state as usually they do not stick on even with ice.
Anyway - for now I just cut the +ve wire and will sort out later.

This is interesting - when boat was afloat - we could not get the auto to work. Now we cannot get it to stop !!

Whoever wired it in was daft anyway .. on my other boat - I have a 3 way switch ... Auto - OFF - Manual ON. But this boat has only Auto - Manual ON with no over-ride OFF.
Once I get a new switch - I will swap out the 2 pos switch for a 3 way.

Another good bit of news - once I put the batterys back in .. the solar controller came to life showing LED's lit and feeding 14.4V out .... amps would have been very low but at least it was working. It has no display so I had already decided that I would swap out the controller for one with LCD display. 10 mins later - all done and now I can see at a glance state of the house bank ....

Have used these types of sensors in lots of different applications on ships. Like Paul has said they do need to be cleaned off now and then. Also it is possible that they could be sensitive to temp. extremes. Quite a few solid state(Electronic) sensors can be. Just might be worth a play with before discarding!

 

[Refueler]

Here is the Electronic switch ..

Says Electronic Float Switch ?? In my mind - its either electronic or float !!

I cleaned it and spent effort trying to get it to function correctly ... but it would not play ! As soon as power connected - it started up again ..

Luckily the manual ON still works .... so I still have pump capability ...

I also considered that temp may have an influence ..... but anyway - a new auto pump is on its way .... and the old will be removed - relegated to another job on another boat that needs sorting. The simple float switch can be used there ...

 

[Refueler]

I only us separate pump and level switch so if one fails I only have to replace one not both.

On my previous boat I went through several switches but now use the one below as the electrical side is not in the bilge.

Jabsco Hydro Air Switch | Xylem US

If you wish a cheep way would be to find a water level switch from a automatic washing machine

"operate bilge pumps once water level reaches 2 1/4" (55mm)."

That's higher than my floater switch auto pumps ......

 

[rogerthebodger]

"operate bilge pumps once water level reaches 2 1/4" (55mm)."

That's higher than my floater switch auto pumps ......

But turns off when the water gets to 25 mm.

Too close the high and low water levels will cause the pump to hunt more.

I do have a sump in my bilge that water drains into and th bell is located in the sump.

I have 2 of these staggered driving 2 separate high capacity pumps

 

[Refueler]

But turns off when the water gets to 25 mm.

Too close the high and low water levels will cause the pump to hunt more.

I do have a sump in my bilge that water drains into and th bell is located in the sump.

I have 2 of these staggered driving 2 separate high capacity pumps

I agree ... about hunting .. but my 25 has a round bilge with barely the height of the pump itself under the cabin sole. I need maximum pump capability there with very low trigger height.
The 38 of course has a keel space that is about my arm length to get to bottom (the joint of lead keel to GRP) ... 25mm is about the max I would accept ..

Anyway auto pump is on its way ...