Battery/ bilge pump video

[Boatchick]

Can someone link the videos for wiring the bilge directly to the house battery.. also one for installing a second bilge?
Hoping these are things I can do myself as the boat is in a wet slip and bilge was tested and only works when battery is on switch is on…. In turn I have now killed the battery and need to find a long term solution

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

If you use the search engine on this site you can find a lot of info on adding a second bilge which would use totally separate bilge pump system would use a float switch.

As far as your OEM bilge pump it should be a relatively simple process of just moving the wiring from the switched side of the battery switch to directly to the battery.

I don’t know of any video’s that cover what you are looking for.

 

[Boatchick]

If you use the search engine on this site you can find a lot of info on adding a second bilge which would use totally separate bilge pump system would use a float switch.

As far as your OEM bilge pump it should be a relatively simple process of just moving the wiring from the switched side of the battery switch to directly to the battery.

I don’t know of any video’s that cover what you are looking for.

I did that the other day and saw a you tube video on how to do it but I can’t get back to find the same thread

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

So look in your battery compartment and you may find a stand alone fuse holder that says “bilge” on it. That is the automatic side of the bilge pump, and it is probably connected to the switched side of the battery switch. You can probably take that lead and connect it directly to the battery. I’m assuming you have a rocker switch on the dash that says bilge on it that turns the bilge pump on when you activate that switch? Most of the time there are three leads coming off of a bilge pump, a ground or common, then a hot for the manual operation and then another hot for the auto function.

BUT !

You need to verify whether your bilge pump is the type that cycles every few minutes to check for water. If it is that type you do not want to connect directly to your battery. Its easy to check for this type of operation, open the engine hatch so you can see & hear the bilge pump, then turn on your battery switch. If it is the load sensing type it will run for 30 seconds every two minutes.

At this point you could just put a float type switch inline with the auto hot wire and then connect the bilge pump directly to the battery. This way the auto function becomes active when there is high enough water level to raise the float and connect the battery to the bilge pump in the bilge so that it will operate on the auto function and you will still have manual operation.

My OEM bilge pump has an internal float or sensor for the automatic function so it does not cycle, plus a manual switch on the dash. I added a second bilge pump in the aft bilge that also has the internal float or sensor, I fed the auto side from an additional 12V buss that is fed from the switched side of the house battery. If the boat is on the water the house battery is left on so there are two bilge pump’s available.