Need Help Troubleshooting Water Witch Sensor, Alarm and Rule Bilge Pump

[davidjpio]

Hello. I'm trying to troubleshoot my inherited system. I have a Watch Witch Sensor, Water Witch Alarm, Rule Automatic 500 gph Bilge Pump, and two-way manual (on-off) bilge switch. I don't think the automatic function of the bilge pump is working correctly and I want to make sure that it is wired properly. I believe there may also be a short present, but before chasing that down, I'm interested in thoughts on the wiring. I've attached a diagram of what I've traced in my boat. Any comments or thoughts would be appreciated. My boat is a 1986 Catalina 25. Thanks!

 

[rgranger]

I think there should be a hot line from the sensor to the pump

 

[RitSim]

Is that a buss bar or a terminal strip?

 

[davidjpio]

Is that a buss bar or a terminal strip?

I'm not entirely sure. It's possible it is a terminal strip. I'm not sure I know the difference, unfortunately. Below is a picture.

 

[davidjpio]

I think there should be a hot line from the sensor to the pump

I was thinking this as well. But then it occurred to me that perhaps the Water Witch was not designed to work with the pump and was installed purely for the Water Witch alarm. Theoretically, if the Rule pump is automatic, a Water Witch switch is unnecessary, correct? Then my question is, is the bilge pump wired correctly to run automatically if the batteries are switched off?

 

[rgranger]

If I’m reading your diagram correctly, you don’t have any power to your pump… you only have negative leads feeding in. Can you get the pump to run at all? If so, your diagram is wrong ( or the op used the wrong colored wire)

 

[LloydB]

Your diagram doesn't look accurate. Does your battery switch only have one wire coming in one wire going out to the pump? If it does it probably should be labeled as a pump on off switch. With that in mind- does your pump actually have have three separate connections and how are they labeled? The image you posted looks to be that of two parallel bus bars mounted on the same non conductive base with separate screw terminals for each side. I would expect each separate bar to have a red positive feed from the battery or a black separate negative from the battery however they could be both wired the same, only a meter would tell you if they were the same or different.

 

[davidjpio]

If I’m reading your diagram correctly, you don’t have any power to your pump… you only have negative leads feeding in. Can you get the pump to run at all? If so, your diagram is wrong ( or the op used the wrong colored wire)

The pump does run when switched to the on position when the battery selector is on (will work if only house batteries are selected or starter battery or both). There are 3 wires that come out of the pump (brown-white, brown, and black). They are connected to a 3 wire strand (gray, black, and white). The white/brown wire goes to the battery selector, the black/gray line is connected to the bus bar/terminal strip, and the black/white-brown wire is connected to the bilge pump switch)

 

[JamesG161]

Tip: The Bilge Pump should always have battery power.

A Battery selector switch is not a good idea.

Jim...

 

[JamesG161]

From your picture on your post#4.

It appears the Upper strip or bar is Negative

The Lower Strip or Bar is Positive.

Jim...

 

[jviss]

Tip: The Bilge Pump should always have battery power.

A Battery selector switch is not a good idea.

Jim...

You know, that would make for a great debate. Maybe I should start a thread for that. I have often gone back and forth in my head about whether the bilge pump, the automatic bilge pump, should be connected to the batteries, bypassing the switch or main circuit breaker. Why? The only reason I've ever heard is that someone might notice that your pump is running, and do something to save your boat. But what are the chances of either of those happening? And so on....

 

[jviss]

but before chasing that down, I'm interested in thoughts on the wiring.

I'm interested in your thoughts on what the system is supposed to do! Before you can evaluate the wiring scheme you need to know the design intent. Then you can see if the system functions according to the design intent, and if not, where a fault may be present. And, if you don't like the design, you can change it, and rewire to satisfy that new design. Make sense?

 

[rgranger]

I think the OP stated in post #1 that the automatic function isn’t working and wonders if it is the sensor or screwy wiring.

 

[jviss]

View attachment 215928
I think the OP stated in post #1 that the automatic function isn’t working and wonders if it is the sensor or screwy wiring.

No, he said "I don't think the automatic function of the bilge pump is working correctly." But he didn't state what it does do, and what the definition of "correctly" might be.