In my opinion, bilge pumps should wired to a house battery. A dedicated wire should run from the battery or its connection on the back of the battery switch to a purpose made bilge pump “on-off-auto” switch with self contained fuse.
Dennis C. Sent from my iPhone > On Mar 14, 2020, at 11:35 AM, Charlie Nelson via CnC-List > <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > > My charger outputs go only to the batteries, which power the relay panel > switches/breakers, one of which is the bilge pump. Should I use a fuse on the > battery positive terminal in addition to the circuit breakers on the breaker > panel? > (I don't recall whether the bilge pump circuit breaker was 'thrown' or not in > the tale below). > > I now also have an electronic switch--unfortunately it gets dirty often from > the bilge and doesn't work until its cleaned off by hand. I think it is a > Water Witch 200 (?). > > Charlie > > -----Original Message----- > From: ALAN BERGEN via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > To: C&C <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > Cc: ALAN BERGEN <trya...@alumni.usc.edu> > Sent: Sat, Mar 14, 2020 12:03 pm > Subject: Re: Stus-List Float switch fail tale (formerly stuffing box leak > rates) > > After two float switch failures, I switched to an electronic switch. No more > failures. Besides having a circuit breaker on the AC side of your charger, > you should have fuses in the DC side, > > Alan Bergen > 35 Mk III Thirsty > Rose City YC > Portland, OR > > On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 8:24 AM Charlie Nelson via CnC-List > <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > Thanks all for your replies--I might need to tighten the packing gland or > replace the packing material. > > My fear about leaving the auto bilge pump on is a result of a failed float > switch many moons ago: > > I was away from the boat between weekends (at least) and it may have been > several weeks and left both the bilge pump and battery charger on as I always > did. > > When I did get back to the boat, the bilge pump switch was on but it was not > running--so I initially thought it probably failed. I try to start the engine > and no joy--the battery was dead. > I check the charger, see that the AC power was on but the power converter > breaker on the instrument panel was off. Thus I start to check out the > Xantrex battery charger. > > As I open the lazarette to have a look, I get a distinct 'smoky' order. I > then notice that there is soot and a black 'spot' on the charger cover, near > one of the ventilation 'slots' of the charger. Apparently (?) the charger was > running continuously trying to keep the battery charged while something was > continuously discharging it. (Ultimately, I noticed that the float switch was > stuck in the high water position which led to these conclusions.) > > With the soot/spot on the cover, things got pretty hot within and near the > charger before the breaker went off. I figure I was pretty close to having a > fire start in the charger and the boat burning to the water line with no one > around. > > My thoughts may change but this episode put the fear of fire much higher on > my discomfort zone than a sinking. Further, I don't believe any of the small > bilge pumps that would 'fit' in my shallow bilge could keep up with any leaks > of a serious nature--shaft seal leaks and water down the mast excluded. > > Also, if it goes to the bottom I still have a boat, not a boat 'carcass' > burned to the water line! > > There are probably better methods of bilge pump/float switch installs that > might prevent a recurrence of the scenario above. Any lister suggestions > would be welcome. > > Ultimately the boat WAS protected by the AC circuit breaker in the charger > circuit, but not before something in the charger got hot enough to 'smoke'. > > For now, I have almost been 'burned' once and prefer to never get almost > 'burned' again! > > Charlie Nelson > 1995 C&C 36 XL/kcb > Water Phantom > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and > every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use > PayPal to send contribution -- > https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.paypal.me/stumurray__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!_Rlw9n7rYam_VHk2rb9ap5Kaxyxo-HM6qTbwk9kGolAYiCwpiADr587n7FZQKWbUlS8$ > > > _______________________________________________ > > Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and > every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use > PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > > _______________________________________________ > > Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and > every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use > PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray >
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