Adding a Bilge Float Switch + Fuse?

[murphini]

All:<br />First, am a wiring neophyte. Like the old Sat. Night Live Phil Hartman Skit Caveman Attorney "I'm just a simple caveman...all these things amaze and confuse me..."<br /><br />Have an Atwood 500 bilge pump for my 1989 VIP 20' runabout that the previous owner installed 2 years ago. It works, but I have to run it. Last week I found an Atwood float switch at WalMart that fits into the tabs of the bilge pump. <br /><br />Here is the neophyte part. The wiring diagram is cryptic on the instructions. Posts on the internet mention inline fuses. The existing pump has a black and brown wire. The new float switch has 2 brown wires.<br /><br />After reading instx, am relatively confused.<br /><br />Option 1. If I want to make it really slick, I'll need to buy a new 3 way switch--On-Auto/Off/Manual Override. Where do I get a new switch and how do I add that to my console--not to mention how to wire?<br /><br />Option 2. Seems easier--I can use the same ON/OFF switch, but wire the float so that when I turn the bilge pump ON, it will only come on when the float rises. In this case, one of the posts and diagrams mentions an inline fuse. Where can I get that?<br /><br />I did buy the waterproof shrink wrap things...<br /><br />I would seem to me I could just cut the Brown wire from the pump, and hook up the float inbetween....hook brown wire from the pump to the first float brown wire, then the 2nd brown wire from the float hook up to where I cut the brown wire and it goes off to the mystical place where all wires go.<br /><br />Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[DangerDan]

Re: Adding a Bilge Float Switch + Fuse?

or you could hook up your pump to the switch and your float switch directly to the battery via fuse and to the pump. This way activate the pump from the switch and have the float switch on constant power.

 

[murphini]

Re: Adding a Bilge Float Switch + Fuse?

Thanks--I think that is what I understand my Option 2--which leads to my question--where do I get an inline fuse--like an autopart store? <br /><br />Then does brown wire to brown--then wire the other brown to the fust to the black? <br /><br />I am a bit embarassed that I can't really articulate what I am asking....

 

[Perfidiajoe]

Re: Adding a Bilge Float Switch + Fuse?

You only need a inline fuse if the pump is not fused now. Look under the dash or switch panel follow the wires if 1 of them leads to a fuse you're good to go. But why would you want a switch to an automatic switch? You can eliminate the switch on the dash, if you don't want a manual override. Good Luck Joe

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: Adding a Bilge Float Switch + Fuse?

You only need the 3 way switch if you want to turn off the automatic function. If the switch fails and stays turned on then your battery will die unless you disconnect the wire or pull the fuse. You still need another fuse for this switch because you will be powering the pump from a different source, the existing fuse is only good when using the existing switch to turn the pump on. Take one brown wire from the switch add an inline fuse and wie it right to the battery or battery switch. Take the other brown wire and splice it into your pump brown wire. This way either the float switch will turn on the pump or your existing dash switch.

 

[murphini]

Re: Adding a Bilge Float Switch + Fuse?

My boat has a switch panel with "circut breakers" underneath the switches. The bilge pump is wired there to a switch, so it must have a fuse and/or circuit breaker.<br /><br />That would mean I can hook up the float--brown wire from pump to float-brown wire from float back to the brown wire that leads to the switch.<br /><br />Then if the pump switch is ON, it will only work if the float rises. <br /><br />Is it really that simple?

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: Adding a Bilge Float Switch + Fuse?

Yes you could do it that way, in effect what you are doing is putting the 2 switches in series with each other so that they must both be on for the pump to work. I myself wouldn't do that only because the float switch will not allow the pump to drain all the water out and most people like to manually turn on the pump to get as much out as they can.

 

[murphini]

Re: Adding a Bilge Float Switch + Fuse?

Figured it out...nothing like having a screw-driver and stumbling across a WestMarine Store during business travel to San Diego.<br /><br />I wandered into a WestMarine store Wed evening and they showed me a 3 pole switch that was pre-wired with a light to show when the pump is on and a place for a fuse. I was going to cut a new hole in my dash and install it.<br /><br />THen I looked at my curent switch panel, and it has a 2 pole switch, and no place to cut a hole for the new switch. So I unscrewed the panel where all the switches were on and found that the current switch is wired in and has a loop to/from a circuit breaker. NExt I figured out I can unscrew the black round thing over the toggle switch and the old 2 pole switch came out. So I unscrewed the new 3 pole switch from the thing I bought at WestMarine and swapped them.<br /><br />I put the new switch in the place of the old switch, hooked up the switch to the circiut breaker and the old wire to the new switch for the Manual over ride position. Tested, and it worked. NOw I need to hook up the 14guage wire from the new "Auto" pole down to the float switch that I will install next to (hooked into) my Atwood bilge pump.<br /><br />The key was unscrewing the access panel for the switches and seeing how it was currently wired to/from the curciut breaker and understanding the mystical inline fuse thing. <br /><br />Thanks for all the help/posts.