Bilge pump died today!

scousefreddy · 14 September 2006, 00:03

A couple of seconds after switching on my bilge pump today it stopped working. All the other electrics seem to be working ok and the battery is fine. Could anyone offer a couple of fault finding suggestions?

Limey Linda · 14 September 2006, 00:14

What type of pump is it? diaphram or impeller? Possible faults: bad electrical connection, jammed or stripped out impeller, bad diaphram, burnt out motor. If you have got 12 V on the pump supply and it still does not work then dump it and buy a new one. They are cheap.

neb · 14 September 2006, 17:06

Give it a good smack!

usually works for me!

Stormchild · 14 September 2006, 20:01

Mine died the other weekend. Mines a Rule 360 GPH submersible bilge pump with float switch. Its died previously, but only on the auto setting - ie when the bilge fills enough to activate the float switch. This time it wont work on auto or manual.
I've had a play about with it and got no joy, and my neighbour is an auto electrician, but working in bridlington, they do a fair bit on boats too, - he's had a look and recons its had it and I need a new one. I plan on getting the 500 GPH unit with a bit more poke......
Are Rule pumps the best or is there an 'Icom' standar of bilge pump thats better ?

aligator · 14 September 2006, 20:05

have you checked for in line fuses, my fuse was well hidden behind the battery.

Nos4r2 · 14 September 2006, 21:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stormchild

Are Rule pumps the best or is there an 'Icom' standar of bilge pump thats better ?

Is there such a thing as best in something like this as long as it works reliably and does what it says on the tin?

I've got one of these:-

Cheapy Ebay Bilge Pump and it's more than adequate.

scousefreddy · 18 September 2006, 21:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by neb

Give it a good smack!

usually works for me!

Amazingly it worked for me also! A smack followed by a fiddle with a screwdriver unearthed two small stones which had slipped in through the filter slots and were jamming the pump, it's working fine now! Many thanks for the suggestion!

BogMonster · 19 September 2006, 02:40

I thought mine was getting a bit weak and possibly on the way out till I took it out on the weekend and discovered the inlet was full of small bits of kelp!

Stormchild · 01 October 2006, 14:38

I took mine off, washed it, cleaned it, made sure it was free spinning, no need to chck fuses cos mine runs into a circuit breaker, so checked these were all reset......... and it was still fubar. Got a new one now and went for the 800 GPH unit, which should keep me a tad bit drier.