Help With Bilge Pump Wire Connection - Solid Wire to Stranded Wire?

Timm R Oday25 · Apr 28, 2023

Good morning . It should make no differance if the wire is stranded or solid . Most pumps of this style aren't able to suck up the last 1/4' inch or so of water . Are you sure the outlet hose isn't kinked or plugged ? Respectfully askng if you are positive the pump is wired correctly ? Normally these are pretty straight forward . Does the hose exit the through a thru hull cleanly ? The outlet might be plugged .

jviss · Apr 28, 2023

First, I would be suspicious of a bilge pump with solid copper wire leads, it doesn't sound "marine" at all. You really want tinned, stranded wire, everywhere. But yes, it's certainly possible to splice solid to stranded. How are you trying to do it?

Terry Cox · Apr 28, 2023

mcarter024 said:
My question is whether or not connecting solid wire to stranded wire is possible?

If it were my boat I would use an inline/butt crimp connector followed by some heat shrink to seal the connection.

RoyS · Apr 28, 2023

Crimp connections do not work on solid wire.

BigEasy · Apr 28, 2023

RoyS said:
Crimp connections do not work on solid wire.

If a crimp connector doesn’t work on solid wire, the only other option is soldering, that isn’t advised, especially in a bilge. Totally agree with @jviss that a marine bilge pump with solid wires is very suspicious. I would return the pump and purchase one from a reputable manufacturer.

Scott B · Apr 28, 2023

mcarter024 said:
Hi All,

Novice sailor here.

I am working on installing a bilge pump for my Catalina 25. I bought the pump, have it all connected, but it doesn't seem to be working. It sounds very quiet and I can tell it's on, but no water seems to be coming out. Everything appeared to be connected properly.

I figured maybe the issue was with the pump itself, so I bought another pump to try out. This one:

Amazon.com

When I took it out of the box I saw that the wire connections were solid, whereas the electrical cable I bought to connect to the battery was stranded wire.

For the new bilge pump, I tried to connect the stranded wire to the solid wire and go back to the battery, but it didn't work at all.

My question is whether or not connecting solid wire to stranded wire is possible? Anyone run into something similar?

Did you check for something stuck in the impeller of your old one?

Project_Mayhem · Apr 28, 2023

The wire in one of the reviews for this pump looks like it's stranded wire that's been tinned with solder at the end

Tally Ho · Apr 28, 2023

Wiring issue aside, you need to put a fair amount of water in the bilge before it will turn on…several inches up on the pump. These sorts of pumps are pretty quiet, but I can hear mine when the floorboard is up, and I am watching the pump. Again, you need a fair amount of water in the bilge to trigger the float switch.

Greg

BarryL · Apr 28, 2023

Hey,

No offense but you seem like a novice. There is nothing wrong with that, we were all novices once.

I suggest you do some simple tests to make sure things are working the way you think they are. You need:
bucket
bilge pump
car battery (it can be an old battery, a jump back battery, any 12V battery that has some power)
hose for bilge pump - 2-3' is more than enough
2 short wires with alligator clips on the ends (like this: https://www.amazon.com/Alligator-Cl...locphy=9004539&hvtargid=pla-624878728721&th=1)

To perform the test:
connect hose to bilge pump
connect wires to pump - just connect the alligator clip to the bilge pump wire. Don't connect to battery yet
place pump in bottom of bucket. Place a brick or weight on the pump so it won't move
Add water to bucket until the pump is covered
Connect + wire (typically red) to battery + terminal
Connect - wire (black) to battery - terminal

The pump should run and pump the water out of the bucket.

The Seaflow pump you bought from Amazon has a built in float switch. It should switch on when the water level rises and turn off when the water is (mostly) gone.

If your test is successful, then it should work on the boat. I would use a butt connector with heat shrink on both ends to connect to your onboard power.

Good luck,
Barry

Richard19068 · Apr 28, 2023

Project_Mayhem said:
The wire in one of the reviews for this pump looks like it's stranded wire that's been tinned with solder at the end

+1

jssailem · Apr 28, 2023

I suggest the pump choice to be less than satisfactory if you get a serious leak.

One must understand the problem before they can seek a solution.

Boat Flooding Rates in Gallons per Minute

Depth of Hole Below Waterline	Diameter	of	Opening	or	Hole
1 in	1.5 in	2 in	2.5 in	3 in	3.5 in	4 in
1 ft	19.4	43.8	77.9	121.7	175.3	238.6	311.6
2 ft	27.8	62.5	111.1	173.6	250.0	340.2	444.4
3 ft	33.9	76.3	135.7	212.0	305.3	415.6	542.8
4 ft	39.3	88.4	157.1	245.3	353.5	481.2	628.4

The pump selected states 750 gal per hour if running perfectly. That is 12 gallons a minute. You can lift a 5Gal bucket of water on average better than the pumps perfect performance.

I would look at something with a performance record in boat bilge pumps. Whale, Johnson, Rule are all solid manufactures of pumps for boats.

For you boat this one might serve well to protect your investment in boat and crew.

WHALE
1100 GPH Supersub Bilge Pump - Automatic Models
Available in 12 and 24 VDC

Project_Mayhem · Apr 28, 2023

mcarter024 said:
I believe I had enough water in there. With the first one, I could hear it powering on but it was very quiet and didn’t seem to be pushing any water through. That’s why I bought the second one, to ensure that it wasn’t just a “pump” issue.

As a test, get some power going to it. Then pick up the pump an turn it upside down. In most cases it will trigger the float switch inside the unit. These units are built to occasionally be ran dry but not continuously.

capta · Apr 28, 2023

It sounds to me you have the pump running backwards. Check your wiring as many former boat owners seem to be color blind when wiring electric stuff up.
Since one can expect to change out bilge pumps or float switches now and then (usually at the most inconvenient time) I use the connectors pictured below. The white one can easily be cut for as many wires as needed, while the black one should be bought for as many wires as needed. Both should be kept out of the water, but pumps usually have enough wire to do so. If you are wiring in an auto bilge switch, you may need 3 wire spots.

Benny17441 · Apr 30, 2023

If the pump is turning silently, it does not sound like it is primed. Make sure the impeller grill is completely submerged under water. Most bilge pumps are self priming. Don't know how deep is your bilge, but some boats in your class have very shallow bilges that do not favor the use of a float switch. For those boats there are electronic bilge pumps that turn themselves on and off every couple of minutes to test for water resistance on the impeller. If they find adequate resistance they will run until the water is expelled or if there is none they will turn themselves off in a couple of seconds. They hardly use any power other than when they are pumping water out. Do not expect to be able to get all the water out, there will always be some backflow from the discharge hose once the pump turns off.

Project_Mayhem · Apr 30, 2023

Heat shrink crimp connectors or heat shrink over crimp connectors would be the way to go in areas with water (still best to keep them out of the water). There's a huge difference between regular plier like crimpers and a decent ratchet crimper. I've had good results so far with Klein ratchet crimpers and Ticonn heatshrink connectors from amazon.

However, lever nuts have been my go to as they're easy to use, easy to service in the future and accept a wide range of wire gauges. To mitigate corrosion you can squirt some dielectric grease into the connector before the wires

Don S/V ILLusion · Apr 30, 2023

Project_Mayhem said:
Heat shrink crimp connectors or heat shrink over crimp connectors would be the way to go in areas with water (still best to keep them out of the water). There's a huge difference between regular plier like crimpers and a decent ratchet crimper. I've had good results so far with Klein ratchet crimpers and Ticonn heatshrink connectors from amazon.

However, lever nuts have been my go to as they're easy to use, easy to service in the future and accept a wide range of wire gauges. To mitigate corrosion you can squirt some dielectric grease into the connector before the wires
View attachment 215140

Note the easier reminder to not use crimp connectors on solid wire

Project_Mayhem · Apr 30, 2023

Don S/V ILLusion said:
Note the easier reminder to not use crimp connectors on solid wire

If you look at the product listing, one reviewer posted a pic with the end of the wire. It looks like the tip has been pre tinned with solder for easier installation

Help With Bilge Pump Wire Connection - Solid Wire to Stranded Wire?

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SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John

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