High water alarm

[tbilyeu]

We went out for our first sail today on my 2014 OC 45. After the engine was off for thirty minutes the high water alarm went off. I did not even know we had a high water alarm. After a frantic search we found no water in the boat. We started the engine and headed back into port. The alarm went off after thirty minutes. After tying up to the dock we plugged into shore power. I turned off the battery charger and in twenty minutes the alarm went off again. It went off after turning the charger back on. My batteries are one year old. I used a battery tester and they tested good. Anybody else have this happen? My dealer had little to offer. Why should a high water alarm go off due to a drop in voltage?

 

[Apex]

could it be that switch is bad....or stuck up? not sure it has anytiing to do with voltage, but rather the alarm circuit was completed/closed. start there, but for others o this forun report back voltages for all battery bamks

 

[Will Gilmore]

Do you know what the high water alarm is measuring? Maybe it isn't the bilge water. Maybe it is battery water.
I have never heard of a bilge alarm that didn't turn on a bilge pump.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Kings Gambit]

Find the alarm and work it manually if you can--see what happens. It is activated essentially by a float switch. On some, you can manually test (manipulate) the float switch with a little lever sticking out of the unit. The alarm and the bilge pump do not have to be the same unit. On my boat the alarm goes off at a water level slightly lower than that which activates the electric bilge pump. Also, there should be somewhere a switch to turn off the alarm. You do not want the thing buzzing all the time you are looking for water ingress.

 

[Davidasailor26]

I have never heard of a bilge alarm that didn't turn on a bilge pump

Our Beneteau also came with an audible high water alarm. It's not tied to the bilge pump, just a standalone device to alert you if the bilge pump failed or water is coming in too fast.

 

[Kings Gambit]

This is the unit I have. The white box (float switch) has a little lever sticking out near the bottom at the back so you can manually test it. (See post #4 above.) I had to install a switch to turn it off when the water is still high enough to activate it.

 

[Chenega]

This same unit was required by my insurance company