bilge pump not working properly ?

[slamer12]

Anyone out there give me some advice my bilge pump is only working if you manually turn it on it's not automatically turning on when the water level rises i have a perko switch hooked up to the batteries but my pump is wired directly to the batteries should i leave the pump swictch on at all times ?? or not ?

 

[QC]

Re: bilge pump not working properly ?

Does your bilge pump have a float switch?

 

[vipzach]

Re: bilge pump not working properly ?

Has it ever turned on automatically? I would not leave it on all the time, if there is no water for it to pump out it may burn up. If you want it to run automatically you may have to get one with a float switch ot check the wiring on the one you have.

 

[Solittle]

Re: bilge pump not working properly ?

Do not leave it on all the time without a float switch. I have mine wired to go on automatically from the float switch or by a toggle switch.

 

[rwidman]

Re: bilge pump not working properly ?

Some bilge pumps have a built in float switch, others do not. You need to determine if yours has a built in float switch (there will be three wires, not two). If the switch has a built in float switch, one wire will go to the battery negative, one wire (from the float switch) will go to the battery positive (through a fuse) and the remaining wire will go to the manual bilge pump switch.<br /><br />Float switches can be blocked by debris. You may need to check yours (if you have one) and clear away anything that restricts its operation.