Bilge Pump Instalation

[jorgefife]

Got a nice 1100 gph. pump ( Rule), with compliments from the salvage yard
Installed it, works great!
Not inside the bilge there was a float switch, which works well: I filled the bilge with water, and immediately the water came out from the side, strongly!
Small things amuse small minds, I know that is what you are all thinking, but for someone like me, it is a major accomplishment
Now for one question: the pump had 3 wires: the black to black, the stripy brown/white is positive, but there is still one brown wire coming out of the pump: where does it go?
Any input on this?
Thanks!
Jorge

 

[KD3PC]

I suggest that you check out Rules website for proper wiring...they say:
...pumps come with a brown, brown with white stripe, and black wires. Black is negative, brown is positive (for automatic operation), brown with white stripe is switched positive for manual operation.

....I hope that you are not 100% dependent on your salvage pump, especially given that it is a rule.

A boat your size should have at least two bilge pumps, one mounted higher than the other...

 

[jorgefife]

I suggest that you check out Rules website for proper wiring...they say:
...pumps come with a brown, brown with white stripe, and black wires. Black is negative, brown is positive (for automatic operation), brown with white stripe is switched positive for manual operation.

....I hope that you are not 100% dependent on your salvage pump, especially given that it is a rule.

A boat your size should have at least two bilge pumps, one mounted higher than the other...

You are quite right!
I need to install another pump higher: and where does it connect? Also to the battery?

 

[Paul F]

Jorge,

If you are installing a second bilge pump, I would suggest putting it in the engine compartment as the connection between the engine compartment and the main bilge is very narrow with little flow between the two. If the stuffing box or stern tube fail the engine compartment will fill up before the water can drain into the main bilge. I had this problem when the stern tube failed.

As far as running the electric wires they will be similar to the main bilge pump. The one I have installed has its own float switch, which I use for testing the pump. I do not have a manual turn on switch for this pump. The water outlet is a new hose and thru hull which was placed high in the starboard lazarette.

 

[jorgefife]

Jorge,

If you are installing a second bilge pump, I would suggest putting it in the engine compartment as the connection between the engine compartment and the main bilge is very narrow with little flow between the two. If the stuffing box or stern tube fail the engine compartment will fill up before the water can drain into the main bilge. I had this problem when the stern tube failed.

As far as running the electric wires they will be similar to the main bilge pump. The one I have installed has its own float switch, which I use for testing the pump. I do not have a manual turn on switch for this pump. The water outlet is a new hose and thru hull which was placed high in the starboard lazarette.

Paul,
You have some pictures to show where you installed the hose?
Is it similar to the one that is placed inside the sliding doors, in the head, just above the sink? There is an outlet right there
Curious as to where you installed your pump: is it just under the engine? Or is it under the battery bank, just forward of the engine compartment? I have a sump there with a switch, for the water from the shower
I ask these questions because you have the exact same boat
Thanks
Jorge

 

[Ed Schenck]

Hard to help much because you don't say how you wired the one you installed. The auto wire(striped) goes to always on 12 volts. Mine comes off the back of the battery switch. But anywhere there is a constant 12 volts. Do you have a bilge pump switch on the panel? That is for the solid brown wire. A second pump should be wired the same way. When you turn on the panel switch both pumps will run. My panel switch is a circuit breaker and can handle the amps of two pumps. Finally there should be an inline fuse on the striped wire between the float switch and the battery.

 

[Paul F]

Will take some pictures on Tuesday and post them here. The second bilge pump is behind the engine in the compartment with the prop shaft. A one and an eighth inch smooth hose runs up and out along the lazarette bulkhead wall to a new thru hull. The hose runs straight out without a loop which might hinder the water flow.

 

[Benny17441]

I have always considered these small 12V pumps of 500 to 1500 GPH installed in the boat's bilge as a convenience pump. They automatically expel incidental water which may collect in the bilge thus preventing me from having to pump it or scoop it manually. I think it would be unrealistic to rely on these as a safety system. The capacity of these pumps is small and to think that only minor emergencies would occur is at best wishful thinking. The chances are any real emergency will quickly overwhelm these pumps. I have used them to get water out of the boat after the emergency has been contained and time is not an issue. The main reason why a 2nd backup pump is recommended is because these pumps and their switches are very unreliable. At least with a 2nd pump the owner of an unattended boat may have an added peace of mind that the floor boards may be dry upon his return. If I had to choose the proper size of boat to add a backup bilge pump to I would choose the smaller boat because it has less interior volume and will fill up and swamp faster than a larger one. Last I have seen a couple of folks concerned about safety install a 120V high volume sump pump hooked to a large discharge hose. This relies on the availability of shorepower but for those unattended baots at a marina may provide some practical degree of safety. A boat sank at a mooring a while back and the owner blamed the batteries and the float switch but it seems to never have ocurred to him that the fault laid in his placing his trust in a pump of inadequate capacity.

 

[Bill Roosa]

You have 3 wire because you need them to have the "auto/manual" switch on the panel work correctly. Wire as follows:
Always on power goes to the common on the auto/man panel switch.
The brown wire comes off the switch either where always on power is supplied or a dedicated terminal that is always on it goes to one side of the float switch.
The red wire comes of the auto/man switch terminal that is ON when you hold the switch to the manual setting. It goes directly to the pump positive.
The ground black wire goes from the pump negative to the ship ground buss.
There is an additional wire that goes from the side of the float switch that has not been use to the pump positive.
You will probably need a multimeter to test the auto/man switch to get the terminals identified.

 

[Paul F]

Engine compartment bilge pump

The attached pictures are of the second bilge pump added in the engine compartment. This is a straight forward installation. The pump has a float switch which activates the pump when water is present. The hose exits a thru hull in the side of the boat.