Auto Bilge on 1800 Pro V???

[Kelly]

I have a 2001 1800 Pro V Lund SE. It seemed as though my auto bilge wasn't working so I checked it out and there are 3 wires coming out of it. The black wire appears to be grounded on a connector inside the hull along with other black wires from various other things. The other 2 wires one of which is brown and the other is brown w/white stripe are not connected anywhere. The brown wire has a male connector and the brown w/white stripe has a battery type connector w/a 2 amp in line fuse. The other bilge pump only has 2 wires out of it and all works fine on it as obviously it is connected. Can anyone tell me how the auto bilge works and how I need to connect the wires as the manual is basically useless for this and it would be hard to talk with the right person at the factory or wherever. I believe it should have some sort of a float switch to activate it but I don't know. Either way something was not connected. Thank you very much for any help regarding this!

[Brian_MN]

The wire with the inline fuse goes to the positive post on your battery. The other end of this wire should go to your float switch. The black wire sounds like it's ok, it goes to a common ground block under there along with the other pump. What you should end up with is a wire from your battery to the float switch, and then a wire from your switch to the pump. The float switch sits right along side the pump, actually attached to the side of it.

[Kelly]

Thanks a million Brian, I'll check that out. Could you please keep checking this post if you don't mind as I'll let you know how I make out as I'm just a bit unclear about the brown wire and it's proper location. The brown w/white stripe is an easy one as I can go directly to the battery. I'll check it out and let you know a bit later today. Thanks so much again I really appreciate it. Pardon my ignorance but also how does that auto bilge work and when does it usually activate. I don't need to have the switch on the console on as it is tied in directly to the battery???

[Brian_MN]

Right, it's tied directly to the battery on it's own competely isolated circuit, so, even if your fuse panel shorts out completely, the auto bilge will work as long as your cranking battery is intact. The float activates the pump when you get more than 2 inches or so of water in the bilge. E-mail me for my phone number if you'd like. I have the same boat, and I could stick my head in there while you're working on yours and walk you through it.

[tj]

this is why i love this site,i bet you two never met keep up the good work people

[Walizz]

Kelly- Here's something I learned from experience. In very rough water it's possible for the cover on a bilge pump to pop off. Plastic and boats don't mix very well. After everything is hooked up, take a wire tie and wrap it around your bilge pump from bottom to top. That will keep it on and give you some peace of mind, it did for me. Good luck.
Dale #251

[miksup]

One more thing to add. These guys are right on about the float switch if it is an Attwood auto-bilge pump. However, If it is a Rule, there is the possibility that you will not have a mechanical float switch. The top of the line Rule doesn't have any moving parts at all. It SENSES the presense of water and when it's there, it turns on and pumps it out. Great unit if you ever want to replace an Attwood.

[Brian_MN]

The 2001's use Mayfairs, with a mechanical float switch on the auto bilge. It's got a little lever on the side that lets you manually trip it for testing purposes.

[Dave]

Kelly you might also note that on some auto bilge pumps
(like those from Rule) the float switch is inside the pump
housing itself and you wont be able to see it.

[Kelly]

Hi again all. Thanks again for all the help so far. I just stuck my fat head into the back of the boat again. This is the set-up right now. The auto bilge pump is an Atwood(500).
1.The black wire is plugged into a board along with several other black wires so I assume that is a ground and that is O.K.
2.The plain brown wire is connected via a plug-in type connection to a red wire w/an in-line fuse and that has a battery type connector on it. That wire was lying loosely in the boat and has been from day one so I connected that wire to the + post on my cranking battery, however in the manual under wiring color code page 39 it says the brown wire with white stripe should be from Float switch to battery. The brown wire w/white stripe comes out of the auto bilge and was not connected to anything nor is there a place that I can see anywhere in there where it should be connected. Now I don't know for sure but something is definitely haywire here. I'm thinking that the brown wire w/white stripe should be connected to the red wire and in turn to the battery(if it's long enough), at least that's how I interpret the manual. But if so then where the H### does the remaining brown wire connect to. What a pain! Please help.

[Brian_MN]

I'll take a look at mine when I get home and shoot you a description of how it's wired.

[Dave in Mpls]

Kelly-

That pump should be an Attwood Guardian 500. As you describe, there are three wires - black, brown, and brown/white. Sounds like the black (ground) is connected. That particular pump can be used as a stand-alone auto bilge (as in your case) or as an auto/primary bilge pump, if it is the only pump in the boat. If it is used as a auto/primary pump, one of the brown wires would run to your "Bilge" switch, and the other would run directly to the battery, via a fuse. I don't recall which wire (brown or brown/white) is for the auto mode, but it should be easy enough to find out. Take a jumper wire and hook it to each wire (brown and brown/white), then touch the wire to your + battery post. When one of the wires is hooked to the battery, the pump will turn on immediately. That is NOT the wire you are interested in. That wire would be wired to the "Bilge" switch. The other wire is for the "auto" feature, and will not activate the pump, assuming there is not water in your bilge at this time! That is the wire you want to hook to the battery, via the fuse.
Hope that makes sence.

P.S. I would recommend replacing that 2 amp fuse with a 5 amp.

Regards

[Kelly]

Thanks Dave I appreciate your input. That makes sense to me I'll try it and keep you posted. That means then that one of the 2 brown wires is left unhooked unless it is used via the switch on the console as also the primary pump???

[Dave in Mpls]

You are correct - one of the brown wires will remain unhooked. Simply tie strap it to some out-of-the-way place (is that even a sentence?!?)

Regards

[Kelly]

Thank you all very much for the help, I got it figoured out and it now works fine. The wire w/the in-line fuse was not hooked up to the battery. Hopefully I can return the favor to you people someday. Take care for now!!