I have a 1983 Hunter 34 (irrelevant to the topic, but I love to talk about my boat) that has a weird bilge pump issue.
When I got the boat, it had a RuleMate 500 pump. This is the type with the internal electromagnetic level sensor with no moving parts. It is wired directly to a Rule Model 41 switch. The switch is wired directly to the house bank. All the connections are correctly crimped and covered in heat shrink tubing, and no connections are ever submerged. I have followed all the wiring, and there are only connections at the ends. This pump would operate erratically; sometimes working correctly, sometimes it wouldn't start when it should, sometimes it wouldn't shut off until I manually turned it off and back on (Auto). It seemed to help if I kept it clean, but that may be conjecture.
I got tired of this, and, on the assumption that the pump had failed, replaced it with a larger RuleMate 750. It did the same thing, although originally not as much. Then after about 6 months it began running for 2 to 5 seconds at random intervals between 10 minutes and an hour apart, then shutting off. I found that if I turned it on manually, it would blow the (correctly sized, 5A) fuse. It was not blocked, as I could freely turn the impeller by hand. I concluded that this pump had failed too.
I replaced that one with an Attwood Sahara S750, which has an internal mechanical float switch. It seemed okay initially, then started the random short runs that the previous pump had, at similar intervals. This time it did not blow the fuse when run manually.
Okay, so it's not the pump. What's left is the wiring (very clean, done correctly according to the diagrams supplied with both the pumps and the switch) and the switch. So I replaced the switch.
Note that throughout this debacle, when the bilge pump runs the indicator light comes on.
AND it's still doing it. And I have nothing left to replace. What the H*** is going on?
When I got the boat, it had a RuleMate 500 pump. This is the type with the internal electromagnetic level sensor with no moving parts. It is wired directly to a Rule Model 41 switch. The switch is wired directly to the house bank. All the connections are correctly crimped and covered in heat shrink tubing, and no connections are ever submerged. I have followed all the wiring, and there are only connections at the ends. This pump would operate erratically; sometimes working correctly, sometimes it wouldn't start when it should, sometimes it wouldn't shut off until I manually turned it off and back on (Auto). It seemed to help if I kept it clean, but that may be conjecture.
I got tired of this, and, on the assumption that the pump had failed, replaced it with a larger RuleMate 750. It did the same thing, although originally not as much. Then after about 6 months it began running for 2 to 5 seconds at random intervals between 10 minutes and an hour apart, then shutting off. I found that if I turned it on manually, it would blow the (correctly sized, 5A) fuse. It was not blocked, as I could freely turn the impeller by hand. I concluded that this pump had failed too.
I replaced that one with an Attwood Sahara S750, which has an internal mechanical float switch. It seemed okay initially, then started the random short runs that the previous pump had, at similar intervals. This time it did not blow the fuse when run manually.
Okay, so it's not the pump. What's left is the wiring (very clean, done correctly according to the diagrams supplied with both the pumps and the switch) and the switch. So I replaced the switch.
Note that throughout this debacle, when the bilge pump runs the indicator light comes on.
AND it's still doing it. And I have nothing left to replace. What the H*** is going on?