Bilge pump battery

[bcguy]

I noticed my bilge pump was running but not pumping...then I noticed this was due to low house battery charge. Is it a good idea to have a battery strictly for the bilge pump. Presently, I have a dedicated starter battery and 2 12v house batteries. If one has a dedicated battery for the bilge pump can it also be wired to the house batteries as additional back up and at the same time not draw down it's dedicated batter.

Also... I have a rule bilge pump set on automatic. However, when you look at this pump you can see that the switch can be accidently bumped and the switch easily turned off to manual. Is there a way to lock this pump on automatic?

...thanks
Gary

[Unicorn Dreams]

Rule pumps usually have 3 wires
ground wire- black
hot wire, red
auto on wire, other wire

When wired up, the hor and ground wire is hooked up at all times,
The 3rd wire go to the float switch, UNLESS

This is an older stle rule. Most new rule pumps have a built in float switch in the pump.

Personally, I would have the pump wired into the house bank, just in case you get a leak, a single battery won't last long. I'd rather have my 1100AH house bank hooked up to the pump.

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Unicorn Dreams

Rule pumps usually have 3 wires
ground wire- black
hot wire, red
auto on wire, other wire

When wired up, the hor and ground wire is hooked up at all times,
The 3rd wire go to the float switch, UNLESS. . . .

Huh? the ground wire is connected to boat's DC ground.
- - The red "hot" wire is attached to one outer terminal of a SPDT switch with the boat's DC supply wire attached to the center (common) terminal and the so you can manually turn the bilge pump on or off.
- - Additionally, the grey or automatic wire (on bilge pumps with an internal float switch) is attached to the other outer terminal of the SPDT switch.
- - Then you can flip the switch to turn the pump on manually or flip the switch to the other position to "arm" the automatic function.
- - If you have an external float switch then the pump will only have two wires, ground and hot. One of the external float switch leads is attached to the bilge pump "hot" (red) wire. The other external float switch wire is attached to the SPDT switch as described above for the automatic function.
- - The colors of the wires on the pump may vary so you need to read the instructions that came with the pump to be sure which wire does what.

[Unicorn Dreams]

Osirisail

Thanks for correcting me. I was looking as my wiring work book and not the actual rule wiring. I have my Rule on a 4 wire system so I have power to the internal float external float and on/off switch.
THANKS for catching my error.

BTW have you seen the Gulfstar 80 for sale at yacht world, wonder if they would take my 43 on a straight up trade???