High water Alarm

[Jfrano]

So came to the boat and the High Water Alarm was blaring. I manually turned on the bilge pump and ran for 20-30seconds.
So I guess there’s no connection between the alarm and the auto Bilge feature? I have seen the auto bilge work in the past, is there a quick test?

 

[BradOwens]

Most likely the bilge pump sensors need to be cleaned.

 

[bob daily]

My understanding is your talking about two different systems, the bilge pump and the bilge alarm!
I believe there are two different sensors you need to check. If the bilge pump is working properly and your getting a high bilge alarm your sensor on your high water alarm is not working properly and needs to be cleaned or replaced.

 

[Jfrano]

Not sure why the bilge alarm doesn’t trigger the pump?

 

[bob daily]

The two system are not connected to each other!
Note you can turn off your bilge alarm and your bilge pump will still work ( manual or auto)
And you can remove the fuse for your bilge pump and bilge alarm will still work (sound alarm)
Two different systems (apples - Oranges)

 

[bob daily]

I might also add that your bilge alarm is (or should be) in a position well above your auto pump switch and is to alarm you that the pump is not working or water is at a critical level, and immediate action is required!

 

[Jfrano]

So some of the reading on the auto bilge, I need to look at in line fuses by battery and clean sensors on both pumps .
The sensors are on the pump housing?

 

[bob daily]

There is also a moisturizer sensor on the bilge alarm! This is different, not associated with the bilge pumps. I do not know location on your boat, hope someone else will comment as to location.

 

[Jfrano]

What’s the purpose of that sensor?

 

[BradOwens]

On the pump body, look for two small metallic discs close to each other. Those are the sensors. You can test them by putting two fingers on them and the pump should come on. They often get a film of oily dirt on them which prevents them from working. That's why they need to be cleaned periodically.

 

[Jfrano]

Problem solved. The fuse block for bilge Pump 1&2 had 3 amp fuses instead of the 7.5 specified and pump 1 fuse was burnt.

Looking at the pump to test, sensors wow that’s tight. There’s a coating of dark oil in the bilge area, is that normal ?
Maybe will use the hose method, tomorrow.

 

[bob daily]

So now I'm confused ! On your original post you stated that high bilge alarm sounded and pump only pumped for 20-30 seconds ! Indicating that the bilge was free of water, obviously this is not what happened and your bilge alarm worked as it was designed for and the problem was your bilge pumps
We're not working and bilge was full of water. Is this correct?

 

[Jfrano]

So the high water alarm was on , I pumped our via the manual switches on the helm, the auto bilge pump were not working.
So I traced that to the fuses in the cave being 3 amp rather than the correct 7.5; also one was burnt out. So I corrected that. Just tested the auto bilge by adding water, The front bilge started but NOT the rear. So my guess is the sensors are dirty from the oil in the bilge water.