Automatic bilge pump won't stop

[Daveroo]

I was out at Sandheads today enjoying our great September fishing and stayed out until suppertime. When I got home, I was cleaning the boat, tidying things up etc. in my laneway. As I crawled in to remove my drain plug, I noticed I could hear the bilge pump running. I had used it earlier because the deck got bloodied and I had rinsed it down after each boated fish. I have a Campion Explorer 542, so the drain goes into the bilge. The pump had been switched OFF. I suspected the float might have gotten stuck so I opened the hatch and poked the switch with my gaff. It was already in the down position. I flipped it up and then back down again just to see if this triggered it to shut off. Nope, no effect. I looked at the rocker switch and noticed even in the OFF position, there is a orange light still lit, as if it was still ON. I flipped the toggle ON and OFF again, but no change, the pump was still running. I shut off the battery switch to OFF, but being an automatic bilge, it is probably directly wired to a battery. I am not sure if the problem is the pump or the switch. Is my only short term solution is to disconnect the pump from the battery. Access is hard and it is now dark so I am not sure if I can follow the wires. If I do disconnect the wire from the battery, from which terminal should I remove the wire? The boat sits on a trailer in my garage or on the street.

 

[Rain City]

I was out at Sandheads today enjoying our great September fishing and stayed out until suppertime. When I got home, I was cleaning the boat, tidying things up etc. in my laneway. As I crawled in to remove my drain plug, I noticed I could hear the bilge pump running. I had used it earlier because the deck got bloodied and I had rinsed it down after each boated fish. I have a Campion Explorer 542, so the drain goes into the bilge. The pump had been switched OFF. I suspected the float might have gotten stuck so I opened the hatch and poked the switch with my gaff. It was already in the down position. I flipped it up and then back down again just to see if this triggered it to shut off. Nope, no effect. I looked at the rocker switch and noticed even in the OFF position, there is a orange light still lit, as if it was still ON. I flipped the toggle ON and OFF again, but no change, the pump was still running. I shut off the battery switch to OFF, but being an automatic bilge, it is probably directly wired to a battery. I am not sure if the problem is the pump or the switch. Is my only short term solution is to disconnect the pump from the battery. Access is hard and it is now dark so I am not sure if I can follow the wires. If I do disconnect the wire from the battery, from which terminal should I remove the wire? The boat sits on a trailer in my garage or on the street.

Remove the fuse from the panel.

 

[chille51]

Remove the fuse from the panel.

Assuming it's fused and not an inline somewhere? In the dark, I would just disconnect everything from the battery terminals and sort it out in the morning.

 

[Daveroo]

Assuming it's fused and not an inline somewhere? In the dark, I would just disconnect everything from the battery terminals and sort it out in the morning.

Thanks, I disconnected my house battery. That stopped the pump until I get time to look into it in the daylight.

 

[brutus]

Thanks, I disconnected my house battery. That stopped the pump until I get time to look into it in the daylight.

Short in the float switch is my guess, but if it’s wired properly it should 2 live wire, one the the main switch and one to the float switch going direclty to your battery

 

[searun]

I would check the float switch - quite likely that there is some gunk in the float mechanism that is preventing it from moving up and down freely and its now stuck in the full up/on position. Could be as simple as cleaning the float switch as this is a common issue.

 

[Pineapple Express]

We've had 2 float switches fail such that the pump runs continuously. Maybe it was a cleaning issue as @searun is suggesting but I've just replaced with new and carried on.