Do I need an auto bilge?

[fishNtails]

Looking to put my boat in a marina for the 1st time. My bilge pimp is jus wired into a dash on/off switch. Do I need to install a float switch or auto bilge?

Thanks

[wakina]

That would be a good idea. If your switch does not light up when you turn on the pump manually then I would replace it with one that does.

When you install a float switch it will feed power back to the outlet side of the dash switch and light up the light on your dash when it powers up from water in the bilge. It will give you a warning something is amiss in your bilge.

[The Baron]

I would highly recommend an auto bilge. Last year was my first time at keeping my boat docked and i learned the hard way very early in the season. I had no auto bilge and when i showed up after a couple weeks snow and rain had got into my boat and completely submerged my one battery and both 2 cycle oil reservoirs. Needless to say i had quite mess. I ordered a sahara 750 auto bilge and wired it directly to the battery. I ran it through one of the manual pump hoses with a 3 way y pipe and now have 3 bilges . Problem solved but not after having to deal with a big mess.

[M.A.D. Eyes]

FishNtails I too am in the same situation as yourself. I am leaning towards docking perfectly this season rather than towing back and forth. Not sure exactly which marina yet bit that's beyond the point. As far as a float on your bilge pump I believe that it would be in your best interest to install one. I'm going to have to do the same. When at dock we need the security of knowing the pump will kick in when the water level rises from heavy rain from storms. I live 2 hours south of the lake and would want that added insurance. I will probably be adding an extra battery as well. We always hope that our dock mate will be there to keep a watchful eye or someone in the marina bit why take a chance. I just purchased a new boat last spring, what a dumb move, should have got the float system installed originally. Live and learn. Lol.

[fishNtails]

Thanks for the input everybody. My next question is should I just install a float switch or put it in an auto bilge?

[branhamautomotive]

Either one works. The float might be easier to install seeing your just piggybacking the electrical and can be installed basicly anywhere in the bildge you can get to. With the float it's 1 wire from the battery 1 wire tied into the existing power wire, now it will work from float or switch, but might not feedback to a light on the switch if you even have it. The benifit to installing an all in one pump is if you t into in the hose rather than replace your existing pump, you will have 2 pumps incase on water and 1 fails. But it might be hard to access the hose to t into

[wakina]

Please compare switch types, a float switch will have a tendency to stick over time from the crud that some how always seems to find its way into the bilge resulting in a dead battery as they always seem to stick in the run position. There are sensor switches with no moving parts to stick that will only power up the pump when it senses water and will not power up with petroleum products (gas or oil). There is a simple test to determine if the switch will power a light on the dash with the power out wire on the switch. But I don't think the bilge switch and pump circuit has a relay in it as most pumps use so little power that there is no need for it. Note~~ If you decide to add the light if not already there then you would also have to ground the newly installed light, should be plenty of places in the dash to do that.

The whole installation sounds a lot worse than it really is. The hardest part is most often bilge access to perform any work that you might want to do.

[Figment]

Looking to put my boat in a marina for the 1st time. My bilge pimp is jus wired into a dash on/off switch. Do I need to install a float switch or auto bilge?

Thanks

In my opinion, having a float switch installed on your bilge pump is well worth the effort and little money involved doing so. Two of the the three pumps that we have are set up with floats and switches that can overide the floats . There are a lot of choices when it comes to float switches. Like anything else , Quality & style varies widely with float switches. Simple to install . Nan Sea Lee

[Figment]

FishNtails , I pulled the paperwork on what we are using for bilge float switches. We have Attwood electronic switches . West Marine # 10964153 . (Attwood # attwo#4801-7) these switches are electronic and have no moving parts. Cannot get jammed up with any debris and stick.

[fishNtails]

Thanks for the info!