Malfunctioning Manual Bilge Pump Switch??

[Bob Pullen HC-33 1981]

Malfunctioning Automatic Bilge Pump Switch??

We have a bilge pump with one of those non-floating float switches on it, works great (wiring diag attached). Brown/White is positive, attached to hot side of bilge pump breaker...black is negative, going to ground strip on panel.
We just got a new manual override switch without any instructions.
We attached the brown wire on the switch to the brown open lead on the brown wire connecting the pump to the float switch. Then connected the red to the red and the black to the black on the same circuit to the same pump's breaker. It works great when the switch is toggled into Manual, but when it gets switched to Auto we have a 2 second very faint pump sound, then it goes silent. If we test it by filling the bilge with water, the pump would hardly pump with enough power to push the water up the pipe and overboard...it would barely trickle out at the thru hull.
My friend who is electronically savvy "measured and found only a couple volts when it was in Auto..."
It seems the switch might be defective? It is brand new outta the box...but that doesn't really mean anything. the fuse is good.
I am as electronically unsavvy as can be defined...and so I reach out:
Has anyone had any experience with this switch, made by REC-Tech out of Minneapolis, MN ? I have included the wiring diagrams, if anyone would like to suggest the correct way of connecting the wires? Any suggestions or ideas on how to troubleshoot? I am able to measure with a multimeter, which is already a great step in the right direction.
Many thanks again
Bob
S/V Seanorita
Yucatan

 

[LloydB]

This looks more like a generator transfer switch to me as I would expect a more simply color coded a/b switch. Do you have a complete wire diagram of your configuration or a product part number? Two questions come to mind what is the brown/white wire connected to and is this a solid state switch?

 

[Bob Pullen HC-33 1981]

Sorry corrected the misnomers and added the connections to battery bank info as well. Even though I thought it was a manual override and thus a manual switch, apparently the name for the animal is an Automatic Bilge Pump control switch. Oh well...
If anyone has experience connecting one of these, please adivise.
Many thanks in advance.
Bob
S/V Seanorita
Yucatan

 

[JoeWhite]

Based on the switch wiring diagram you have provided, it is not wired correctly. The red wire must be in the center rather to one side. So when the switch is up the current flowes on one lead and when it is down it flows from the other lead. If you think that one of lead contact is bad then you can just take a piece of wire and connect it directly - or by pass the switch contacts entirely and see if the pump will remove the water as expected. You can also reverse the switch contacts and see if the effect is reversed. That is it work in auto position but not in manual. Now you know it is caused by the switch. Red in the center and the black wires on the end contact of the switch. Good luck.

 

[LloydB]

Re: Malfunctioning Automatic Bilge Pump Switch??

I think the switch should be connect is this way: RED to main power pump breaker , Brown to brown wire at pump, Black to Br/W wire at float. I would expect the LED only to light when the pump is running as the negative would be supplied by the pump negative when opperating(to verify on) I would test the output voltages from the switch before final connection. +12VDC on auto (Bk) +12VDC on manual(Bn) 0 VDC on OFF while being sure to test each wire in each switch position. I think you should (after verifaction) mark the black wire with a label such as(+12v auto pwr) Make a diagram of the complete circuit with connections and wire colors noted.
One way to test the float switch is by wiring it into the brown circuit because you know that circuit works. One way to test the float switch supply wire is to wirenut the Brn and B/W float wires together.