No more cheapo float switches

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pcatterall

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Just doing the winterisation jobs and taking some care as we are afloat and far from home!!18 months ago I fitted a float switch which failed after 6 months I then fitted another and then a second one higher up. |Belt and braces I thought. I have checked them from time to time and they were ok.
Now, of course putting the boat to bed I found that niether of them worked.
Removed them and played about for a while and one decided to work but not the other.
They were admittably fairly cheap items ( one is SeaFlow the other has no name but they look identical.
I know the maxim about getting what you pay for but often I see more expensive kit looking as cheaply made as the cheap stuff.
So are there any recommendations out there please and also a supplier who will post out to me in France.
Many thanks
 
Not sure about the Water Witch. I don't like the idea of submerged electrodes in my bilge, and I'd be surprised if they worked if coated in oil.

I know you can get a device that polls the bilge pump to see if it has a load, and deals with the result accordingly. It's on my list of electronics projects to make one.
 
nigelmercier said:
Not sure about the Water Witch. I don't like the idea of submerged electrodes in my bilge, and I'd be surprised if they worked if coated in oil.

I know you can get a device that polls the bilge pump to see if it has a load, and deals with the result accordingly. It's on my list of electronics projects to make one.
Click to expand...

we dont have oily bilges thank you very much :p
we do get rain water via the mast sheave box`s though :)
 
Go for the super sub 500..........NO float switch or other moving parts, it works of a sensor (some kind of proximity switch I guess?) Its a long cylindrical shaped jobby so it fits neat and snug low down wherever you want it.
It was the only thing we took off the last boat to keep!
 
Thanks guys. The 'Water witch' type look to have 3 leads. I really just need a switch which is open circuit when off then closed when actuated ( commomly just two brown leads) so as to fit into my alarm and switch circuit.
I guess that at this time I want a good quality conventional 'mechanical' type ( if this exists!!)
It was 'alarming' to find that both switches were US especially as the upper switch has never even been submerged.
I will chop up the lower switch to see if I can determine the cause.
 
pcatterall said:
Thanks guys. The 'Water witch' type look to have 3 leads. I really just need a switch which is open circuit when off then closed when actuated ( commomly just two brown leads) so as to fit into my alarm and switch circuit.
I guess that at this time I want a good quality conventional 'mechanical' type ( if this exists!!)
It was 'alarming' to find that both switches were US especially as the upper switch has never even been submerged.
I will chop up the lower switch to see if I can determine the cause.
Click to expand...

2 wires for power to the circuit 1 switch wire
 
Can't remember where I saw them or if they were even commercially available but they were based on a washing machine part. It consists of a plastic tube with a pressure sensor at the top. The bilge water compresses the air in the tube and via a relay it turns on the pump.

W.
 
You could always make your own - just need a magnet and a reed switch,
only need to bring the magnet and switch into proximity to close the switch; the switch would need to be well sealed against water ingress, then should be very reliable.
However, I wouldn't switch the bilge pump directly from a reed switch, I'd use the reed switch to activate a relay, then use that to activate the bilge pump.
 
greenalien said:
You could always make your own - just need a magnet and a reed switch,
only need to bring the magnet and switch into proximity to close the switch; the switch would need to be well sealed against water ingress, then should be very reliable.
However, I wouldn't switch the bilge pump directly from a reed switch, I'd use the reed switch to activate a relay, then use that to activate the bilge pump.
Click to expand...

I've found relays to be not that reliable in a marine environment.
You can get cheap reed/magnet float switches. I've used mosfets to buffer them to drive bilge pumps.
 
Salty John said:
T....

Six months in the bilge of a North Sea trawler must have given these switches a good test!
.....]
Click to expand...

Six months is only six months.
It's probably several degrees colder in the North sea, so that's only worth half a season in the bilge of a Solent keelboat.

All these things lead short and not very glorious lives!
I don't believe there is such a thing as fit'n'forget when it comes to bilge pumps.
 
markdj said:
I'd suggest the Rule switch

http://goo.gl/qmOkS

There is also a heavy duty one for higher amperage and an enclosed one for better protection of the float.
Click to expand...

I have two of those, I find that probably one time in twenty they fail to operate.
That the biggest worry about leaving the boat and I have dry bilges.when moored ,water does enter the rudder stock when under way as the stern drops.
 
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