Bilge / Switch Wiring Problem

[jhi3600]

My mechanic, recently replaced my bilge switch with a new three-way lighted switch panel made by rule (#41). It was connected to a float switch. In addition, he added a wire from either the float switch or the bilge pump itself to the negative ground of the battery with a line that had a fuse. . Even if I turned the switch to the off position the pump would still work when I raised the float switch.
I had an unrelated problem and had to disconnect the battery. When I reconnected the battery I neglected to connect the ground wire. Subsequently, it rained a lot, and the whole thing flooded. I'm now in the process of doing some re-wiring and need some help. I would like a diagram of the switch itself, and the wiring to the float switch and the bilge, etc.
Thanks.

[stevensc]

Check out this site,
Support > ITT Flow Control - Engineered for life.

Good luck
Steve

[Ike]

Automatic Bilge pumps should be wired directly to the battery. The power source can be the Battery switch rather than having a wire go directly to the battery, but it should be wired so when the switch is off it still has power. Otherwise.........wel, you know that already.

Here is a very simple diagram

[marting]

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A circuit of a simple bilge pump. Hope this helps

[jhi3600]

Thanks for the diagrams and info folks.

I followed them and the bilge pump and auto switch work. However it seems to be spinning the wrong way. Water is not going up the tube and out but just circulating back to the bilge. I did remove the bilge pump prior to re-wiring and took the plastic plate off the bottom and replaced...could that have something to do with this problem?

Please help. Thanks.

[CharlieJ]

From your description it sounds like you have a submersible pump. With the symptoms given, at the very least, the polarity is reversed so the pump is running backwards. Most submersible pumps (Rule, Flojet, etc.) have two short wires exiting the pump. The brown wire is positive (B+) and the black wire is negative (B-). Swap them in your circuit and you should be fine.

Hope this helps.
Charlie

[GordMay]

One Gray wire from the Float Switch connects to the Brown (Positive) wire from Bilge Pump.
The other Gray wire from the Float Switch connects directly to the Automatic side of Panel Switch.
The third wire should to be connected directly to Manual side of Panel Switch.
Connect the Black (Negative) wire to Negative battery terminal or Negative buss bar.

[jhi3600]

Thanks.

It seems that the bracket that the pump (Rule 1500) fits onto is not making a tight seal on the two red clips. The pump is turning the correct way. But, because water is "leaking" back into the bilge it's only operating at about 30% . I guess I'll have to buy a new bracket unless anyone has a better idea.

[CharlieJ]

The "bracket" is a trash strainer and other than straining the bilge water before the trash can damage or jam the impeller, it has nothing to do with the actual pumping action. There is no seal between the red strainer and the white body of the pump. The pumping action is created by the impeller rotating inside of the volute... all of this is going on in the bottom of the white portion of the pump. If you are certain that the impeller is operating with the correct rotation, inspect carefully for a cracked housing, improperly attached discharge hose, etc.

Charlie

[simonmd]

I had this with my grey water tank pump. (essentially the same setup just not in the actual bilge) The plastic clips are known to fail if removed once or twice so simple fix is to get either one long or two plastic cable ties and feed them through so that they loop around the top of the pump and the base so that the pump is held snugly against the base mount, creating the correct seal. Much better than spending £50 on a new pump!

[jhi3600]

Thanks!

I can buy a new bracket but I'll try your idea first. It makes sense to me.

Thanks again.

[CharlieJ]

Seal? What seal?

Chrlie

[jhi3600]

Thanks Charley.

You're right, it's not a seal in the normal sense. The impeller is turning in the correct direction (there's an arrow on the base) but alot of the water is squirting out through the strainer red clips that hold the pump on and some of the water is geting pumped through the pump hose and out.

[simonmd]

Simple way to see if this works is to press down on the pump so it is snug against the mounting bracket/strainer and then opperate the float switch. If it pumps out as it should then tie the two together like I said and job done.

[jhi3600]

Thanks to all.

Well sometimes the simple things are overlooked. Like when I re-attached the bottom plate of the pump and blocked the discharge hose thus causing the water to exit anywhere except where it was supposed to! What a fool.

Anyway, thanks to all and I still learned new stuff.