batate":esou2fmz said:
Greetings all. We're in a 2014 classic R29s. Our bilge pump 1 activates with the sensor switch, but not from the electrical panel. The light comes on when we hit the switch but the motor is not on. I see 2 fuses that drop in near the batteries, and 2 more that drop in near the big red dial power switches near the inverter under the port side cockpit hatch.
I have two questions.
1. I wouldn't expect to see the light on without a running motor. What might cause these symptoms?
2. What do the battery switches do vs the switches near the other fuse boxes near the six big red power dial switches?
Here's what I did, and what I found.
Before I started, I confirmed that both motors and auto switches were working. This confirmed that the fuses, components, and wiring worked for the automatic circuit. Then I troubleshot the manual override.
1. I verified the panel switch. The panel switch is accessed by removing four screws behind six plastic cosmetic clips on the Blue Sea panel. I turned off shore power, disconnected shore power, and turned off the six main red power distribution switches. I switched the wires for bilge 1 and bilge 2. As before, bilge 2 came on (when powered by bilge 1 switch) and bilge 1 did not. Then I switched them back. This step confirmed that the panel was not the culprit.
2. I found the color of the wire run for both bilge 1 and bilge 2. My bilge 1 wire was red with a brown stripe. I'll call it the bilge 1 wire from here on out.
3. Under the engine hatch, I traced the wires from the bilge to underneath a storage shelf. I removed the zip ties and looked inside plastic sheathing containing the bilge run. Inside that run, there was the bilge 1 wire. I traced it up for a bit and found a tag that said Bilge 1 manual override.
4. I traced the wire down and found 3 different crimp joints. I pulled on all of them and they held. I noticed one of them had been crimped, but the heat shrink was not activated so i pulled hard on that joint and it came apart. I applied a new crimp joint, activated the heat shrink, reapplied the zip ties, and checked the rest of the connections.
Here's what I think I learned.
- There are at least 2 independent circuits for each bilge switch. On my boat, the manual override requires the house bank.
- There are 2 fuses, one for each bilge pump, coming right off of the battery. These circuits are completely different circuits from the manual overrides.
- There are 2 fuses, one for each bilge pump, coming off of the power distribution switch (I think) for the stern thruster.
- There is one fuse for the bilge alarm, coming off a power distribution dial.
- The bilge alarm is on bilge 2, the fore bilge, and is right next to the auto float switch for the motor. On my boat, the sensor for the alarm and the fore bilge are the same type of sensor.
If I were checking out the bilge system, I would test:
1. Manual overrides fire the bilge alarms.
2. Water in the bilge triggers bilge 1.
3. Pressing the two buttons on the first bilge 2 sensor fires the pump.
4. Pressing the two buttons on the second bilge 2 sensor triggers the bilge alarm.
5. The dash rocker in the up position triggers the bilge alarm.
6. The dash rocker is left in the armed position (pointed down).
7. Inspect the wiring under the hatch. These can corrode over time if they are not properly installed.
I hope this post helps someone investigating the bilge system.
I had a tough time finding these details
