DIY Bilge Pump Switch?

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gregcope

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Hi All,

I want a simple Bilge Pump switch - Manual/Off/Auto, with Alarm on Pump running.

Most / All of the commercial ones have exposed wiring, and are quite deep.

Any suggestions. Is it as simple as a moment/off/on switch, and a 12V alarm inline (serial) with the pump?

Any suggestions? Thoughts?
 
Moment - Off - On will work provided: you want to hold the switch on for the manual mode and the On wire goes to the pump via either a sensor or float switch.

The alarm... Mmm.. that'd bug me! But if it needs to be there then I'd have put it in parallel. If you put it in serial the same current goes through the buzzer as the pump which is unlikely to be desirable. If the buzzer fails your pump fails. If the pump fails the buzzer fails and your boat sinks. Better to do it parallel - if the buzzer fails the pump still works, if the pump fails the buzzer stays on and you investigate why its not clearing the water quick enough to switch off. You **MAY** also find a change in 'note' of the buzzer if the pump fails.

Would the buzzer be in the Pump path or the Auto Path?
 
ShinyShoe said:
Moment - Off - On will work provided: you want to hold the switch on for the manual mode and the On wire goes to the pump via either a sensor or float switch.
Click to expand...

Yes.

ShinyShoe said:
The alarm... Mmm.. that'd bug me! But if it needs to be there then I'd have put it in parallel. If you put it in serial the same current goes through the buzzer as the pump which is unlikely to be desirable. If the buzzer fails your pump fails. If the pump fails the buzzer fails and your boat sinks. Better to do it parallel - if the buzzer fails the pump still works, if the pump fails the buzzer stays on and you investigate why its not clearing the water quick enough to switch off. You **MAY** also find a change in 'note' of the buzzer if the pump fails.
Click to expand...

Good point.

ShinyShoe said:
Would the buzzer be in the Pump path or the Auto Path?
Click to expand...

Auto path, so that I know it has run (if on board).
 
My bilge pump has a float switch built into the base, 3 wires +plus -minus and a manual override pump on.

You can get toggle switches and rockets that have centre off, stick down for ready, then up 'biased off' for manual override, simply use a normal push button.

Either type get the rubber boots to keep the water out.

Various industrial switches as used on machinery, can be employed from ebay, Mapins or TLC electrical wholesalers.

Alan
 
gregcope said:
My pump is remote and I am trying to source a solid state switch like a bilge-mate
Click to expand...

There are loads of solid state bilge switches around - Whale BE9003, Water Witch, Bilge Bug, Johnson Ultima, etc, take your choice. As for making your own switch, of course you can, but I can't see anything wrong with the commercial offerings.
 
gregcope said:
Hi All,

I want a simple Bilge Pump switch - Manual/Off/Auto, with Alarm on Pump running.
Click to expand...

gregcope said:
My pump is remote and I am trying to source a solid state switch like a bilge-mate
Click to expand...

A bit confusing as to your intentions, you're talking two entirely different things.

I'd stick to one of the better quality commercial offerings to activate the pump, with a mom-off-auto switch on the switch panel. You could also be a little creative if you wanted and fit a 12v hour counter so you'll know if the pump has been running while you've been away from the boat.
 
pvb said:
There are loads of solid state bilge switches around - Whale BE9003, Water Witch, Bilge Bug, Johnson Ultima, etc, take your choice. As for making your own switch, of course you can, but I can't see anything wrong with the commercial offerings.
Click to expand...

Sorry - I mean a pump control switch. I will buy a commercial bilge switch.
 
PaulRainbow said:
A bit confusing as to your intentions, you're talking two entirely different things.

I'd stick to one of the better quality commercial offerings to activate the pump, with a mom-off-auto switch on the switch panel. You could also be a little creative if you wanted and fit a 12v hour counter so you'll know if the pump has been running while you've been away from the boat.
Click to expand...

Sorry - yes in retrospect I have confused people.

It is the control switch I want to improve on... the commercial offerings all have expose wiring at the rear, and are quite "deep".

Something low profile, with a counter, with a man-off-auto setting, a buzzer and enclosed electrics would be nice.
 
pvb said:
There are loads of solid state bilge switches around - Whale BE9003, Water Witch, Bilge Bug, Johnson Ultima, etc, take your choice. As for making your own switch, of course you can, but I can't see anything wrong with the commercial offerings.
Click to expand...

Yeah! Whale BE9003 was a total disaster. It worked very well at first, but after a few months away I came back to a flooded boat. On examination the encapsulation had failed.
Furthermore, the quiescent current is around 10mA, which is not insignificant.

Only decent (traditional) float switch I have found is a Johnson. I sourced my last one on Ebay from the US.
 
pvb said:
So do your other switches have exposed wiring? Any problems with them?
Click to expand...

No, but they are 1M above where I plan to mount this (near the batteries and pump), and will not stop the boat sinking if flooded.

Seems a bit odd to me to make a switch, the is to do with pumping and safety, and have exposed wiring.
 
VicMallows said:
Yeah! Whale BE9003 was a total disaster. It worked very well at first, but after a few months away I came back to a flooded boat. On examination the encapsulation had failed.
Furthermore, the quiescent current is around 10mA, which is not insignificant.
Click to expand...

They're still on sale, so maybe yours was simply an unfortunate failure. The standby 10mA current isn't huge, and is less than some other electronic switches. 10mA is less than 2Ah a week, and if the system can't cope with that, it needs improving.
 
gregcope said:
No, but they are 1M above where I plan to mount this (near the batteries and pump), and will not stop the boat sinking if flooded.

Seems a bit odd to me to make a switch, the is to do with pumping and safety, and have exposed wiring.
Click to expand...

Most people mount their bilge pump switches on a panel with their other switches.
 
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