On our older boat, the bilge pump could be automatically actuated by a float switch, wired directly to the battery.
On our more recent boat, the bilge pump can also be automatically actuated by a pressure sensor and there's a switch on the electrical panel to set automatic mode.
A friend of ours just got a brand new Dufour and there's no automatic switch on the bilge pump at all! It can only be run manually. This was very surprising to me as an automatic bilge pump could save a boat from sinking if there's a small leak when nobody's around for some time..
Asking around, it seems this is more typical than not on certain newer production boats. I think an automatic, direct to battery switch should be installed even if the manufacturer didn't thing it was important. Any thoughts?
On our more recent boat, the bilge pump can also be automatically actuated by a pressure sensor and there's a switch on the electrical panel to set automatic mode.
A friend of ours just got a brand new Dufour and there's no automatic switch on the bilge pump at all! It can only be run manually. This was very surprising to me as an automatic bilge pump could save a boat from sinking if there's a small leak when nobody's around for some time..
Asking around, it seems this is more typical than not on certain newer production boats. I think an automatic, direct to battery switch should be installed even if the manufacturer didn't thing it was important. Any thoughts?