bilge pumps 2005 270 vista's vee

lionelz

Can anyone help.  I have two bilge pumps on my boat.  And have had a strange issue with them.  When I bought the boat a year ago I has a survey done one of the issues picked up was the pump under the berth in the cabin was not working.  No issues I was going to change it but just did not get round  to it.  The bilge pump in the engine bay used to operate when I used the switch at the helm position, so no issues.  Well a strange thing has happened.  When I operate the switch at the helm position, the pump in the engine bay no longer works, although it does work automatically  (an engineer has looked at it and checked by f putting water in engine bay)  this was pumped out on the port rear side where it always has.  However it does not work anymore by operation the switch at the helm position.  However apparently my pump in the cabin has now started to work and they have stated that they can feel air  (no water in hull) coming out of the hole on the mid starboard side.

So the question is should the switch on the helm position operate both pumps?  And if so any ideas why it now does not operate the pump in engine bay.  Or have i just had a gremlin and it is now operating as it should do.

Cableguy Greg

The switch at the helm operates both pups. It should be a double pole, single throw switch. There are 2 circuits for the pumps, one for the forward and one for the aft pump. If the switch isn't powering the aft pump, I would start at the switch. Make sure you have power across the switch on both circuits. You could also have a bad connection at the pump coming from the switch. The float switch should be hot all the time and the other wire, the brown one, should be powered from the switch.

lionelz

Thanks I will have a check next time I go down to it, hopefully this easter weekend.  Will check connections and also hopefully it's a simple connection issue

lionelz

OK supplementary,  how do you remove the switch at the helm position, is it easy as I don't want to break anything

aero3113

lionelz said:

OK supplementary,  how do you remove the switch at the helm position, is it easy as I don't want to break anything

You'll have to unscrew the panel. There are tabs on top and bottom of the switch on the underside. But if you unscrew the panel you will see all of your connections without having to remove the switch.

lionelz

Thanks will have a go next week, hopefully it's just a connection that has come loose

lionelz

Just an update and just after a bit more advice.  First of all let me say electrics is not my thing so this is really simple terms. So have now done lots of investigation and am after some further advice.  We had some corrosion and the electrical connections which we have now sorted.  The wiring was at follows (this was to aft bilge pump)  black (earth)  Brown, permanent live which keeps the Auto switch active.  We the had two Brown and orange which we believe are the power cables for the switch circuit.

the question is how are the bilge pump connected,  is it a split IE from switch one lot of wiring running to mid pump and another to the aft pump? or is it a continuous circuit and if so in what direction aft to forward or other way round?

Thanks in advance

Handymans342

My bilge pump between the engines is hot all the time, no switch or float. It just comes on every few minutes. One of those auto type. The mid bilge has a float, with a dash switch override. 

MarkB

Handy, your bottom bildge pump shouldn't come on every few minutes for nothing. It should still be activated by a switch (probably a conductivity switch). Is it pumping water when it comes on?

raybo3

MarkB the pump Handy is talking about is a "smart" pump. It turns on every few minutes and if it senses water it will stay on. If not it just shuts off and repeats its cycle. No switch......

MarkB

Mine is hardwired and turns on only if it senses water. Where is the sensor in the smart pump? Is it in the discharge line?

raybo3

It is in the pump head. If the impeller feels any resistance it will run until the resistance is gone. I had one on a small boat that I had many years ago. Works pretty good........

Dream_Inn

The only issue for me with the smart pump is it uses more battery power checking all the time.  It is why I just replaced mine again with a regular one.

Now, back to topic.  I believe you're wiring would be split.  Meaning, you'd have wires from each pump going up to the switch.  Maybe others will chime in to confirm.

raybo3

If your on shore power it should not be an issue. If on the hook I dont believe it would use much battery because it turns on for only a second. If a switch gets dirty and stuck it will use much more battery and burn out the pump....... Just say'n

Handymans342

Thanks Ray LOL

raybo3

I got your back......lol

Dream_Inn

Another thing with the pump, it checks every 5 minutes.  If you had a leak, 5 minutes of water could be quite a bit.  Sorry, I'm just not fond of them.  & as far as dirt in the bilge, well, my bilge looks like MTs outside hull   (just say'n).  I guess it's why there is more than one choice.

Handymans342

Dont have to worry about a leak when on the lift 

Dream_Inn

Definitely agree Handy!  & covered, rain stays off too!

Michael T

....and rain getting into your hull from the inside will rot it faster than any exterior osmotic action. I see guys with boats on lifts that are not covered and I know they have no idea about water infiltration and destruction of their hulls.

lionelz

Well just to give an update,  the problem is now fixed.  After much searching and swapping pumps etc, we managed to isolate the issue to a wiring fault.  In the end we followed the cables from the aft pump to the transom where the first electrical connections where (lots of other electrical stuff too)  when we noticed one of the wires was very corroded and then broke when playing with it.  In the end we replaced the whole connection (7 wires)  connected back up and hey presto everything works both on forward and aft pumps.  Its fair to say my mate and I had great big grins on our faces as it meant we did not need to reroute cables and also that we managed to fix it

rasbury

good job!