Re: Opinions on bilge pump wiring
Actually there are no real opnions on how to wire a bilge pump. There are three methods and there are industry standards of course. There are also a lot of people who don't have a clue in the world what they are talking about that will spout all sorts of potentially dangerous ways to wire stuff, but I'd hardley call those opnions.<br /><br />Here is the deal, there are three ways to wire one. You can wire one for automatic operation only. You can wire one for manual operation only. You can wire one for automatic operation with the option of manual operation. The third method is the best - that is an opnion.<br /><br />The question to fuse the circuit for automatic operation or not is not a question at all and should not be an option. Because the line to the float switch will always be 'hot' it must always be fused. This is not an option nor is it an opnion, it is a safety requirement that will keep your boat from burning to the waterline.<br /><br />Here are the three ways you can wire your bilge pump.<br /><br />For automatic operation only:<br /><br />Connect a wire from your constant power source, preferably the input lug on your battery switch, to one of the two wires from your float switch. Connect the second wire from the float switch to the brown wire from your bilge pump. Connect the black wire from your bilge pump to your ground buss bar. That's it. Of course the hot wire going to the float switch is fused within 18" of the battery switch, as required by code. When the water rises it closes the circuit in the float switch and the pump is automatically activated. You have to do nothing.<br /><br />For manual operation only:<br /><br />There should be a power feed line comming from your battery switch to your console where it provides power to your fuse box or your circuit breaker panel. This line is fused within 18" of the battery switch. The fuse box or circuit panel should have a separate circuit just for the bilge pump. That fuse or breaker will supply power to a simple switch. The output line from that switch will be connected to the brown wire on your bilge pump. The black wire from the bilge pump will be attached to your grounding buss bar. When the switch is manually closed it will send power to the pump.<br /><br />Automatic and Manual Operation:<br /><br />This one simply combines the two wireing methods mentioned above. Its the best way to wire one because it will work with or without your intervention and it allows you to bypass a bad float switch (the least dependable link in the chain). Here is how you wire it.<br /><br />First you run a wire (fused) from the input lug from your battery switch to one of the wires from the float switch, just as you did with the fully automatic scheme I started with. Next you run a wire from a powered switch at the dash back to the float switch as well. This would be the same as the second, manual, scheme I gave you above. Here however you will connect the wire from the manual switch (that is up on the dash) to the other wire on the float switch and you will then connect both of those wires to the brown wire from the pump. Of course the black wire from the pump will be routed to the grounding buss bar, just like in the other systems.<br /><br />So with this system if you have water in the bilge it will close the circuit in the float switch and power the pump, if you are there or not. On the other hand if the float switch fails and you find yourself needing to get water out of the bilge you still have the manual option because if you throw the switch at the console it too will power up the pump. You get the best of both worlds.<br /><br />None of this has anything to do with fuses. Fuses are required to protect your boat and anyone who has an opnion that you don't need one is not your friend.<br /><br />How you wire it is at your option but how you actualy wire it is not an opnion, its a choice between methods. Each of the first two is limited in its capability and if it is your choice to limit your options then so be it. The third method gives you the full range of options. That is normally the best choice but there is a cost of course. In this case the cost is in a swithch, which shouldn't cost you more than about $5, and some wire, which will cost you another $10. Throw in a buck's worth of fittings and you'll have it.<br /><br />Thom
