If your emergency bilge pump is controlled by a mechanical float switch, then it should not be drawing current. If the control is electronic then the spark you see may be from the charging of a power smoothing capacitor. The capacitor once charged should not draw significant current, but you can check it easily with a multimeter.
Do you have any electronics with an internal clock, that is maintained by the battery and bypasses the battery switch? A lot of car sterios are like that. I would track down whatever it is in any case. It might be ok, but I would want to know. Steve Thomas -----Original Message----- From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com]On Behalf Of David Knecht Sent: Friday, July 12, 2013 11:34 PM To: CnC CnC discussion list Subject: Re: Stus-List Starting a Universal I wanted to report back to the list on what is hopefully the resolution of my engine starting problems. To recap, I was having intermittent problems where pressing the start switch led to nothing until last week when I could not get it to turn over at all. Following various list suggestions, I started with the engine panel and found that the start switch seemed to be working fine and the contacts looked clean. I looked at the starter and solenoid and it was so hard to get to the contacts that I passed on that possibility for the time being. I then had a discussion with the mechanic at the broker where I bought the boat and he said that in his experience 9/10 times the problem was the engine ground connection. So I went back to the boat and took that apart and cleaned the cable ends. When I tried the starter again, the engine turned over immediately and started up. So I think the problem is solved. It was a PITA job as usual with engines, since the placement of the ground connection forced me to rest sideways with my head supporting my upper body while my hips and legs rested on the rear mattress. I am beginning the think that if I have a next boat, engine access will become my primary concern over sailing characteristics. One unresolved issue I would like advice on. When I took the ground wires (3) off the engine I got a significant spark as they were pulled away from the block. The same thing happened when I tried to reconnect them. I resorted to disconnecting the batteries until I had the ground back in place. This was with the battery switch off, so nothing should have been powered except the emergency bilge pump. The mechanic seemed unconcerned when I reported back to him, but I wonder if anyone has an idea what the presence of this apparently live circuit means. Thanks for all the help from the list resolving this issue. Dave On Jul 6, 2013, at 8:20 PM, Chuck S <cscheaf...@comcast.net> wrote:
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