Troubleshooting my bilge pump circuit reset/fuse

[plenny7]

The gist of the problem, other than that I'm a noob, is that I'm not sure how the bilge reset works on my battery switch panel. Or perhaps they are not resets but fuse holders?

See the photo below. There are two red buttons marked 50 for the battery and 25 for the bilge. You can see that the battery button sticks out farther than the bilge button. The battery button, when pressed, has a springy feel to it. The bilge button doesn't move at all.

Then I thought, perhaps they're fuse holders, not buttons, but they won't twist, at least not with the amount of force I'm willing to give them.

The manual I have for the boat is fairly complete, but it does not mention how this panel works. Are these fuse holders or reset pushbuttons?

Here's how this issue came about.

Two weeks ago while cleaning out my bilge of my '92 Hunter 33.5, I had the bright idea to pour a bucket of water in the bilge to give the pump (the original pump, I'm told) a good workout. I started pouring water, the pump kicked on, and all seemed good.

I was pouring faster than the pump could keep up and about the point where the pump was nearly submerged, it quit running. I flipped the Auto/On switch to On and it ran for less than a second before quitting again. Another flip of the switch and for just a blip of time then nothing.

Since it did come back on, however briefly, that tells me that I didn't blow a fuse or trip a breaker. Could it be that the pump burned out?

I have a new pump in hand and am eager to get it installed but I want to figure out how my system is wired. I know how it's supposed to be wired but I'm not sure where the fuse is if it's not part of the battery switch panel. I opened up the electrical panel where the Auto/On switch is and there's no fuse there, not that I would expect it to be. I don't see anything that looks like a fuse holder near the batteries.

The other problem I'm having is finding where how the wiring is routed from the pump. I see it going up into a wiring chase under the salon table pedestal but can't figure out how to access it from there unless I want to start tearing stuff apart.

 

[Benny17441]

Bilge pumps are usually hardwired directly to the batteries. There needs to be a fuse on the (+) wire as close to the batteries as possible. The pump will have three wires and the manufacturer will indicate the color code to their function. One is to turn the pump with the switch to ON and another to be connected to a float switch to turn the pump on in AUTO and the third wire is the common negative lead. All these wires will meet at the Bilge switch, those coming from the batteries and those going to the pump and float switch. I concur that it seems like the pump may have failed and being the fact that you have a replacement in hand just cut the wires at the old pump and wire the new pump temporarily by just twisting the corresponding wires together. Energize the circuit and test the pump both in the ON and AUTO positions by moving the float switch by hand. If everything is OK then it is a matter of installing the new pump, connecting the discharge hose and connecting the wires with waterproof terminals. If the new pump does not run at all or poorly then check the voltage at the wires (there should be close to 12V). If it runs at ON bit not in AUTO bypass the float switch and if it then runs replace the float switch.

 

[SailormanDan]

I'm not an electrical expert, but the red buttons may be circuit breakers that pop out/up when tripped and you press to reset them. They could be bad and refuse to reset anymore and will need replaced.

 

[Skipper]

I'd suspect the float switch before the pump. Those Rule switches are notorious.
After 3 replacements, I finally resorted to elevating mine an inch with a tang, to keep it from sitting it water in my deep sump. Which is a hilarious necessity for a bilge switch. I still keep the last inch of sump empty by manually operating the bilge pump when needed.

It may be that your float switch shorted when submerged, popped the breaker, and the breaker won't reset because it's still shorted.
Then you tried turning the pump to "on" and it blew the direct line fuse, because with the float switch connected to the positive side it was still feeding current to the water.

These are all guesses, of course.

 

[plenny7]

Thanks for the input so far. I appreciate it! The main questions I had were how those red buttons are supposed to function (common sense says press it but the bilge reset isn't agreeable to being pressed at the moment) and where else I might look for a fuse. I will look closer near the battery for that fuse.

I have multimeter to test the voltage to the old pump, both with the float switch and with the Auto/On switch in the On position.

@Benny17441 I have a crimper and FTZ waterproof butt splices on order to wire in the new bilge pump but will try a temporary connection as you suggest.

If that checks out, I'll wire in the new bilge pump. While that may get me a functioning bilge pump, I still need to trace down the wiring and make sure I have the circuit properly protected.

@SailormanDan you bring up a good point, that reset may be bad and need to be replaced. I'll unscrew the battery switch panel and take a look behind there (after disconnecting the batteries, of course).

@Skipper if I understand your point correctly, you're saying it's possible that the positive coming into the float switch was shorted out by the water to the negative connected to the pump, perhaps due to bare conductor somewhere? That might explain the bilge reset not cooperating.

 

[SailormanDan]

I think it was the Woodster who recommended making up two "jump" type wires with alligator clips about 10' long that he uses to bypass wire and test-run something directly, might be something else to try here.
Good luck with it.

 

[Hunter Ad Bot]

And now a word from the sponsor...

Hunter props, shafts, struts, and cutless bearings

See the product

 

[Skipper]

@Skipper if I understand your point correctly, you're saying it's possible that the positive coming into the float switch was shorted out by the water to the negative connected to the pump, perhaps due to bare conductor somewhere? That might explain the bilge reset not cooperating.

Yes. Inside the switch. Known for lousy waterproofing, which is comical, given the intended placement.
Some have opted for other mfg/designs, but the others are $100+, and I've found that the Rule switches can be reliable if kept above the water. My current one has lasted for 5 years so far, being used every weekend to pump out icebox water that drains to the bilge. I then clear the last inch with manual activation.

 

[Benny17441]

I would not trust those old breakers to work properly in an emergency so I would replace them with ANL fuses.