Johnson Bilge Float Wiring

Jfrano

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 12, 2018
Messages
473
Fluid Motion Model
C-30 CB
Vessel Name
June Sea
I was swapping out the Johnson Bilge cartridge and the Magnetic float sensor, for new ones.

I thought I wired up as was previously done,
Float would work Automatically and
Manual switch on helm dash worked independently .

Now the pump won’t stop and have pulled the fuse For the time being. The helm switch manually works.

Below are the wires for each device;

Bilge Pump: 2 Wires Black and Brown
Float Sensor: 3 wires: Black, Brown , Brown and Red
From house: 3 wires: Red, Yellow and Brown and Red

Any thoughts on how to wire this up.

Thanks
 
I was swapping out the Johnson Bilge cartridge and the Magnetic float sensor, for new ones.

I thought I wired up as was previously done,
Float would work Automatically and
Manual switch on helm dash worked independently .

Now the pump won’t stop and have pulled the fuse For the time being. The helm switch manually works.

Below are the wires for each device;

Bilge Pump: 2 Wires Black and Brown
Float Sensor: 3 wires: Black, Brown , Brown and Red
From house: 3 wires: Red, Yellow and Brown and Red

Any thoughts on how to wire this up.

Thanks
Did you say that after the swap out it worked OK at first?
 
I won't speak to the wire colors. But if you have a meter or 12v troubleshooting light it's not hard to sort out.
  • make sure dash switch is off
  • find which wire is still hot. That's the one that should be connected to the side of the switch opposite the pump.
  • turn dash switch on and find which wire turns hot. That's the one that connects to the pump lead/pump side of the switch
 
I’m kinda confused about your problem as written in your post. As to the number of wires,
The bilge pump should have two wires a negative and a positive.
The float switch depending on which one you have, which you said is a magnetic should have three wires a positive, a negative and a load going to the pump, the power supply for the float switch is straight from the battery and is fused usually with a 5amp fuse.
The bilge pump switch at the helm is powered from the 12 volt buss and can be turned on and off by the house battery switch.
Note: your bilge pump is powered by two different and separate power supplies, usually the float switch gets its power from the starter battery and the helm switch gets its power from the house battery.
Why you have three wires from your house switch is a mystery and I hope you will post your findings when you get it all sorted out!
Best of luck Bob
 
I suppose you could check continuity through the float switch to see if it is defective?
 
Back
Top