Bilge Pump Quit Working????
 

I just had my boat worked on and when I brought the boat back home I noticed the bilge pump made no noise and did not pump any water. I looked at my fuse box and noticed a blew a fuse, so I replaced it. I went to turn the bilge back on and nothing. I went looking around and I see I have a float at the bottom of the engine bay and a black tube that runs to the transom/gunnel (sp?) corner which is hooked up to a Jabsco "water puppy" impeller pump, see attached photo. I never detected a "bilge" pump?? Anyway, this "water puppy" was working....even though very quite, it was spinning the impeller. I took the cover off and took a look at the impeller to see if it might have dried out......nope, it was moist and looked good. The motor for this "water puppy" was extremely hot, so I pulled it out of the boat and had it tested to make sure it was pulling the right amount of amps and working properly, sure enough, it tested fine. Can anyone tell me what is the problem here?? Could the float have something to do with not pumping the water??? Should I have a "bilge pump" somewhere in the engine bay as well as having this "water puppy" water pump??? Could a blown fuse have something to do with reseting something???

Thanks, WHITE-DIAMONDS

Spence, I think you need a bilge pump with internal auto float switch. You can pick 1 up at boaters world or west marine. Get one that pumps as much gpm as possilble. You may have to expoxy it to the low spot in the bilge and just wire it to a switch that is hot. Then the pump will kick on if water comes in or you can flip the switch and turn the pump on automatically.

Finman

I've seen this arrangement before as a bilge pump, and in some cases it works as well as any. But I prefer to use a conventional bilge pump, along with a good float switch. It's up to you as to whether you prefer a pump with an internal switch or a remote, such as the Rule switches. Buy the highest capacity pump you can afford.

It has always worked great in the past.....NOW, can anyone tell me why it is not working????

Is there a check valve in line some were you might need to keep some head in the pump for it to work and keep suction. (Remember where talking about pumps here only)