I thought I would be slick and replace bilge pump and float switch with one that had both in same housing. I purchased a rule-mate 500. It has three wires. Black to ground. Brown to automatic. and Brown/White for manual. It is design to use a three way switch. My leads run directly to battery bank with no switch in between. I hooked up the auto side to the postive lead and the black to the negative. The float would not engage the pump. Manual side works fine. Why would the auto side not work directly hooked to battery. I am clear as mud?
rule-mate automatic bilge pump.
- Thread starter ChuckThomas
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Chuck
You should have the black lead connnected to the neg. post. When wired correctly, a lead from the pos. post will go to a switch which will send current to either the brown or white/brown lead. You said the manual mode works ok. As for auto mode, with the brown lead connected to the pos. post and assuming you are submerging the pump deep enough in water to actuate the float switch the pump should work. If not, it is most likely defective.
You should have the black lead connnected to the neg. post. When wired correctly, a lead from the pos. post will go to a switch which will send current to either the brown or white/brown lead. You said the manual mode works ok. As for auto mode, with the brown lead connected to the pos. post and assuming you are submerging the pump deep enough in water to actuate the float switch the pump should work. If not, it is most likely defective.
rule pump
I had the yard install a bilge pump, as the boat I purchased did not have one. I got the boat back, thru the batteries in and checked out the pump (Rule 2000). The auto switched worked o.k., however I noticed the pump came on every 2 minutes for a second and shut down. That being the case, boat on a mooring... I put 2 and 2 together and figured I would have no battery left and the boat sitting on the bottom. Being the hot headed person I am... I called Rule and read them the riot act on why they would even think about designing a pump like that. They apoligized... for the yards mistake, and sent me a Rule-Mate 2000 at no charge, told me to use the other one as a paper weight. Wiring was the same... so that was no problem. If you have a questions with the wiring... give them a call or send them an e-mail. They were very helpful to me. I would not hesitate to purchase an ITT product... so I bought a Jabsco macerator! My boat is covered for the winter... so I can't look at the wiring for you. Rich
I had the yard install a bilge pump, as the boat I purchased did not have one. I got the boat back, thru the batteries in and checked out the pump (Rule 2000). The auto switched worked o.k., however I noticed the pump came on every 2 minutes for a second and shut down. That being the case, boat on a mooring... I put 2 and 2 together and figured I would have no battery left and the boat sitting on the bottom. Being the hot headed person I am... I called Rule and read them the riot act on why they would even think about designing a pump like that. They apoligized... for the yards mistake, and sent me a Rule-Mate 2000 at no charge, told me to use the other one as a paper weight. Wiring was the same... so that was no problem. If you have a questions with the wiring... give them a call or send them an e-mail. They were very helpful to me. I would not hesitate to purchase an ITT product... so I bought a Jabsco macerator! My boat is covered for the winter... so I can't look at the wiring for you. Rich
Remove the pump from the base,
invert it and shake it a little and it should come on. If it doesn't it is defective. If it works while inverted it shows power and the pump are fine and now the float itself remains to be tested. Snap back into the base and fill the bilge with enough water to cover the pump, it should come on. If repeated attempts fail the float may have a leak or an obstruction. Make sure you use a fuse on the positive lead close to the battery. Good luck.
invert it and shake it a little and it should come on. If it doesn't it is defective. If it works while inverted it shows power and the pump are fine and now the float itself remains to be tested. Snap back into the base and fill the bilge with enough water to cover the pump, it should come on. If repeated attempts fail the float may have a leak or an obstruction. Make sure you use a fuse on the positive lead close to the battery. Good luck.
you will need...
a good 3 or 4 inches of water before the pump comes on. I think Benny has it right for a check. There should be a couple of ears holding the screen base to the body if the screen is secured. Rich
a good 3 or 4 inches of water before the pump comes on. I think Benny has it right for a check. There should be a couple of ears holding the screen base to the body if the screen is secured. Rich
Re-think your application ...
When I first got our boat, I had to replace the bilge pump and the yard installed a combination pump and float switch. It wasn't the same as the separate Rule pump and float switch that was in the boat to begin with but I thought 'so what'. They've worked fine on my ski boat that way. In this case the pump drew the water down just barely past the level where the float switch was triggered. And when the backwash from the hose re-entered the bilge, the float would be at the point where just a little boat rocking would cause the float to activate the pump. I think the problem was that the pump stopped drawing water before the float switch could be fully disengaged. I noted that the pump would keep running even though it wasn't drawing any water so I would suck out a little bit of water with a manual pump (just to see what was happening), and it would shut off, but then the boat would rock slightly and the pump would begin to run again even though it wasn't drawing any water. This would go on endlessly. I came back to the boat with a dead battery and a nearly full bilge (I did have a slight drip from the packing gland) on a couple of occasions before I took it back and had a separate float and pump installed. No problems since. BTW, the yard replaced it without charging me.
When I first got our boat, I had to replace the bilge pump and the yard installed a combination pump and float switch. It wasn't the same as the separate Rule pump and float switch that was in the boat to begin with but I thought 'so what'. They've worked fine on my ski boat that way. In this case the pump drew the water down just barely past the level where the float switch was triggered. And when the backwash from the hose re-entered the bilge, the float would be at the point where just a little boat rocking would cause the float to activate the pump. I think the problem was that the pump stopped drawing water before the float switch could be fully disengaged. I noted that the pump would keep running even though it wasn't drawing any water so I would suck out a little bit of water with a manual pump (just to see what was happening), and it would shut off, but then the boat would rock slightly and the pump would begin to run again even though it wasn't drawing any water. This would go on endlessly. I came back to the boat with a dead battery and a nearly full bilge (I did have a slight drip from the packing gland) on a couple of occasions before I took it back and had a separate float and pump installed. No problems since. BTW, the yard replaced it without charging me.
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