Bilge pump not working 232

[Titaniumboy]

Did you test for power at the circuit breaker by measuring the voltage across the two circuit breaker studs?

Yes I checked and there is no power at the circuit breaker.

If you measured between the two circuit breaker studs then you would only see voltage while the circuit breaker was tripped, and I don’t think your breaker is tripped. Put the voltmeter red lead on one of the circuit breaker studs and the voltmeter black lead on something grounded like an engine bolt. Be sure and be in DC Volts mode.

Your arrow is correctly pointing to the 20 Amp fuse holder.

[Titaniumboy]

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Nice post Tb.

Thank you.

Got in it after a few weeks and the red light on the dash next to the bilge bump switch was lit up once I turned the battery power on to the boat. It had rained quite a bit and the bilge had a few gallons of standing water in it. The red light on the dash was probably triggered by the float switch, however when I flipped the bilge pump switch on, nothing happens. I hand pumped the water out of the bilge and the dash light went off.

As part of the testing I did, I poured water in my bilge with the battery switch OFF. All of a sudden the bilge pump springs to life and the bilge pump dash light turns on - even though the bilge pump dash switch is still in the off position. When the water got low enough in the bilge, the bilge pump stopped and the bilge pump dash light turned off.

So it is strange that your bilge pump dash light didn’t turn on until you turned the battery switch on. It is almost like your bilge pump power is connected to the battery switch OUTPUT terminal instead of either the INPUT 1 or INPUT 2 terminals. Do you have one or two batteries?

https://www.bluesea.com/products/9001e/ ... ery_Switch

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[Bradford]

Thanks Titaniumboy for taking your time to help out. Yes I have 2 batteries. I will check the leads that you recommended. My bilge pump normally only works with the battery switch on and the BP toggle switch on.




7

[Titaniumboy]

Thanks Titaniumboy for taking your time to help out. Yes I have 2 batteries. I will check the leads that you recommended. My bilge pump normally only works with the battery switch on and the BP toggle switch on.




7

That is a gorgeous picture and a beautiful boat. I’ve only been to Tahoe twice with our boat and both times we stayed and docked at the Tahoe Keys neighborhood in South Lake Tahoe. I wish our dash had the white instruments; they look so classic and stylish.

Something is definitely off kilter if you need to have the battery switch turned on for the bilge pump to run. Much better to have run down batteries than a sunken boat.

Are you also saying, even with the battery switch on, that the float switch never activates the bilge pump when you have water in the bilge? That sounds like perhaps a second issue, and a serious one at that. Of course it only took me 15 years to check my float switch operation.

I thought I had a hard time accessing my boat with my 60 minute drive, but you have to first get to Tahoe and then take a boat to get to your boat? God forbid that you forget a tool or something.

Let us know what you find out. Pictures are even better.

[Bradford]

So I checked some things out today. No concerns about forgetting tools, the boat is moored in front of my house. Yes I am getting 12 volts at the bilge pump circuit breaker when I ground it to the engine, thanks for that tip. The fuse holder behind the battery switch did NOT have a fuse in it. There are just 2 wire’s dangling as in the picture below. The second photo shows what it looks like when I put the fuse holder together without a fuse. Could this be the cause of my bilge pump not working? Do these use the standard glass type fuses? Thanks.

[Titaniumboy]

Good news about having 12 volts at the bilge pump circuit breaker! That shortens the list of possible problems considerably.

My fuse holder had a 20 Amp glass fuse. I had thought this fuse went to my Mercruiser engine, but hopefully installing a new fuse will get your bilge pump running again. What engine do you have?

Thanks for the pictures of the battery switch. Can you get a clearer picture showing exactly where the cables are attached to the battery switch?

Just curious, is your bilge pump issue a new problem or has it been around for awhile?

That is pretty neat that your boat is moored in front of your house on Lake Tahoe. I’m still wondering how you get out to the boat? Tahoe is a bit on the brisk side to routinely swim to and from the boat.

[Bradford]

No need to swim to the boat.


Well, no good news. I put a 30 amp fuse in the fuse holder and it didn’t make a difference.
I guess I will need a new bilge pump. Is this something I can do myself? I’m guessing the bilge pump is under the engine? Anyone? Thanks
[]

[Big Block Power]

Good news is it's much easier to remove the engine first

[AsLan7]

Good news is it's much easier to remove the engine first

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I heard that.

[bruceb58]

Out of curiosity, where are you in Tahoe? I am as well if you want a second set of eyes.

[Titaniumboy]

Hey Bradford,

I don’t understand what I’m seeing. Where is the motor on the little boat?

Nice big block engine. It looks kinda like mine.

I sweated off my oblate spheroids today during our California heatwave chasing down where that fuse holder went. You will not believe what that little fused wire ends up going to. You can see the red wire in the pic below.

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I had no idea that this boat had a MerCathode system installed. I don’t remember it being one of the listed options when we bought it in 2007. This crazy thing is hanging on the rear of the engine on the starboard side. I assume your fuse holder goes to something similar? Or maybe not since your fuse holder was empty?

I don’t know about your 232, but on my boat I have to slither into this tiny hatch that is under the aft walk-thru to see where that fuse holder went. Not. Fun. At. All.

While I was down in the miniature pit of hell, I decided to check out the bilge pump. I have no idea how to get that bilge pump removed. Working quarters are almost nonexistent, not to mention that there isn’t any room to use a screwdriver. All was not in vain: I removed a bunch of debris between the bilge pump and the drain hole.

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[Titaniumboy]

Out of curiosity, where are you in Tahoe? I am as well if you want a second set of eyes.

I can be in Tahoe in short order if you need a third set of eyes.

[Bradford]

Thanks guys for the replies and photos! I appreciate the offers to take a look at the boat. In 2 weeks I will be taking my boat in for winter storage to Sierra Boat. They do all the maintenance so I will just have them replace the BP. Cobaltchat has has been very helpful and I’m sure it’s not the last time I will be on here asking for more help.


I’m on the west shore

[Titaniumboy]

Winter storage? We don’t do winter storage down on the Delta. Bring your boat down off the mountain and we’ll have you boating on into December.

On a more serious note, can you still get a picture showing where the cables are landing on the battery switch? It really sounds wrong to me that your bilge dash light didn’t come on until you turned your battery switch on?

[bruceb58]

I’m on the west shore

Tahoe Keys here.

BTW...the bilge gets power two ways..one is a direct connection to the battery(fused/breaker) through the float switch...the other is from your helm switch. The helm switch will, of course, not work with the battery switch in the off position.