bilge pump float switch does not turn off

[blifland]

Sling-ed 2011 25SC into water after 10 months on trailer and motored around for 2 hours.
After docking - found aft bilge pump running, packing gland dripping 3+ drops/second.
Pumped out bilge water with hand pump but bilge pump kept running. Reset bilge pump switch on control panel (turned on-off).
Bilge filled with water and pump turned on automatically again.
Hand pumped out water again, but bilge pimp still kept running. Did this several times.
Is this a 'feature' or is the auto switch defective?
Adjusted packing gland to stop flow - will set to 3 drop/min spec next time on boat.
Thanks for any help or info.

 

[NorthernFocus]

Why are you hand pumping out the water? Isn't the bilge pump removing it? There are a couple of possibilities:
1) If the bilge pump isn't pumping and you're having to pump it out by hand, you may simply not be getting enough water out for the switch to turn off. If the pump isn't pumping then it likely is fouled with trash around the suction or pulled some into the inlet. Make sure there's no debris around the pump. Also pull the pump and make sure there's no trash inside it.
2) If the pump is in fact pumping until it runs dry and still won't turn off, then try cleaning the switch real well. Make sure there's no debris around it as well as wiping/brushing it with soapy water.

Oh, and I'd tighten the packing gland 😀

 

[rpmerrill]

If your pump is anything like mine, it is not real a "float" switch. Mine is an electrical sensor that (apparently) senses conductivity of the water and then turns on the pump. When mine got "stuck" I was able to reach down and simply wipe off the front surface of the sensor. I'm guessing it is slime that causes the problem. A little detergent or bilge cleaner and a fresh water hose down seemed to be a good fix.

Then I read the manual and there is a sensor test method that turns on the pump by putting your finger on the sensor surface for a few seconds to make the pump cycle.

 

[tugnnaweigh]

Mine did this, including being able to get it to stop by turning the switch on the control panel on and then off. The float of the float switch is under a shield of sorts that lets water in through some slits, I believe that is a sort of "filter" to keep things from getting under the float itself and sticking it in the "run" position and to stop things from falling on top of it and not letting it float up to initiate pumping.

Took the switch and cover out for a look and found it pretty gummed up with growth, thought about cleaning it and reinstalling, but just replaced it and the problem went away. Hope this helps, rich

 

[blifland]

Thank you all for the comments.
I wiped with rags and hosed off (strong streams) the auto switch a few times and it turned off as it should after that.
How long the fix will work is unknown.
Next thing to tackle is water in the aft thruster cavity - it ain't rain water... but a slow leak - the water level stops a few inches below the the thruster motor housing. Am putting in an auto-on bilge pump till I pull the boat in early August.
Thanks again...so that I can "Keep on Tuggin"