Automatic bilge pump question

[MicHughV]

those paddle type float switches are notoriously bad......

just replace the entire unit...and test it at least once a month..be sure your electrical connections are properly connected and sealed from any moisture...often a problem.....it's a small price to pay for security....don't even think twice about it..

one last bit of advice....when the bilge pump goes off it means water is inside the boat, where it should not be.....this is not good.

water can come inside the boat at night...while you are sleeping....gone..any reason...

my advice...rig an ALARM into the wiring...this should be mandatory on any boat...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!

I have a buzzer wired into mine....there is no mistaking it when it goes off......I do have a switch inline with the alarm so I can switch it off...but if I'm sailing at night, I want to hear it go off....as I can't hear the pump come on...

I want to hear the problem, before the problem becomes a problem....

[DeValency]

Originally Posted by michigander

Hopefully in the right sub-forum and first of many questions. Took possession of our first boat (1985 Oday 28) yesterday. The automatic bilge pump has a paddle type float switch to engage the pump. In checking it seems to me that it is engaging the pump incorrectly. It sounds like it is engaging the pump with the paddle down (touching the bottom of the bilge area). If I lift the paddle switch all the way up it sounds like it turns the pump off. Ideas/suggestions?? Thx!

This is the best time, as part of the refit you probably need to do anyway, to replace this unreliable switch with a solid state “water-witch” switch. All the mechanical switches will fail one day and in many cases you’ll find this out when it may be too late...

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by AJ_n_Audrey

Okay, while we're on the subject, what's the consensus for best primary bilge pump to hook that pneumatic switch to? i.e, most reliable?

I always found the higher capacity Rule pumps to be very reliable. I guess the lower capacity ones are good too,- I just always wanted a pump that could do best with volume when there was the need.

[Dougtiff]

Johnson bilge pump and a ULTRA switch, the best money can buy, discovered the combination working on Mega Yachts.

[Lepke]

Back when we had mercury switches, they lasted forever. I still got one that's about 40 years old.
So if you could buy a mercury switch that lasts the life of the boat, but are forced to buy a EPA approved sensor style that last a few years at most. (My experience with sensor type pump controls).
I had a Johnson shower sump, it lasted a year on a liveaboard. Sensor failed. Never buy a Johnson anything again. Now I make my own sumps.

[michigander]

Thank you for all the responses, help and suggestions! Had to replace it with the same type as that was all that was available locally but will be ordering and upgrading to one of the suggested switches as soon as I can. Thx again!

[jmschmidt]

Don't use those crappy flopping float switches for you bilge pumps if you value your boat. Even is they work correctly, which they won't for long, they can get jammed with foreign objects at exactly the wrong time.

I use the solid state type on both the main pump and the little sump pump. One failure in 30 years and they won't get clogged by floating debris just wipe off the face of the sensors with a soft cloth every so often.

I wire them both with their own circuit breaker switches on the main DC panel and to fused circuits in a separate "Hot Battery Bus" (airplane talk). Each pump has its own "Auto, Manual, Momentary" with a red light to indicate "on" control panel. I also installed a "silence the bell" switch (more airplane talk) for running the pumps from the main DC panel switches for testing and maintence.