Rule bilge pump

[bcguy]

In the interest of conserving battery life on the cloudy west coast here, just wondering if the "automatic" setting on the Rule bilge pump draws current when in auto mode? ... thanks

[wellin]

Negative. When "on" the pump is powered and running. When "auto" is used it routes the power through the float switch. So if the float is down the power to the pump is cut off. So no current draw at all.

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[Zai]

It depends on which pump you have.

" Rule Pumps 12 volt DC automatic computerized bilge pumps do not require float switches. They turn on to check for water every 2-1/2 minutes. If present, it will continue to run until all the water is removed. Power use in the checking mode is minimal"

Rule Pumps - Bilge Pumps

[ontherocks83]

the auto is identical to the manual switch just one you have to "manually" turn on the other floats in water and makes contact when the level rises. There is no computer that "monitors" the system. Just simple on and off

[Jon Neely]

Both of the posters above are right when it come to float switch activated rule pumps. Rule also make a bilge pump with an auto setting the cycles for 3-5 seconds every five minutes. If the pump catches any water in that 3-5 seconds it continues to pump until dry. So if you are referring to one of these pumps there is a current draw every 5 minutes to run the pump motor for 3-5 seconds. Is it a lot of current? no and is usually dismissible with the boats natural discharge but it is still there.