Bilge Pump Problems

[mustang90302]

My bilge pumps work in the off switch position but not in the on. What happened?

[skipmac]

Was the pump just installed? Is this something new? Did the pump previously work correctly, pump when the switch was on, not pump with the switch off?

If this is a recent change have you done any work on the wires or electrical system?

Need more information to give an answer.

[mustang90302]

Have had a wiring problem since lasr year. Have been trying to trace which wire is the culprit with no luck. Took the old small bilge out (the one in the floor of the cabin) Put a new one in. It worked the first time, but not after that. Now, when the float is lifted and the switch is in the off position the pumps turn on. When it's in the on position, nothing. Checked the switch, it's okay.

[skipmac]

It sounds like the pump is wired wrong.

Do you have a volt meter? Have you checked the wires to confirm which one is hot, which is ground? Have you checked the switch panel and followed the wire all the way from the panel to the bilge pump?

[sailingaway221]

There should be three wires to the switch and pump......one power that comes from the manual switch.....one power that goes to the float switch...one ground ...that goes to the float switch....the only way you can get power to the float in the off position of the switch is if the switch has the power in the off position. It may have shorted or there were some switches that you could put the power on either side of the switch. Look on the back of the switch and see if there is a red wire coming from the off side of the switch. If you cant tell which side is off i would swap the wire from one side of the switch to the other......just touch it and see what happens.

[Ex-Calif]

Off and on are confusing names for a two position bilge pump. I would prefer Auto and On or Auto and Manual.

My 3-position switch has manual, off and auto.

Sailing away has it right about 3 wires to the pump. The question is what kind of switch do you have.