Auto Switch For Bilge Pump

[scj]

Ha! You guys crack me up. I'm the last guy to move into the artsy fartsy neighborhood.
I bought 25 acres 45 minutes east of Nashville out in what they call the Cumberland Plateau area. It's the most scenic area you could want. Rivers, lakes, winding roads through the beautiful hills of Tennessee!

[AllyFishing]

Hey, Lee started it!!!

sounds like a cool area....I'll have to map it. River and lakes to boat on?

[scj]

Hey, Lee started it!!!

sounds like a cool area....I'll have to map it. River and lakes to boat on?

I live really close to the Cumberland River, in between two lakes it runs through and on the other side of the freeway is Center Hill Lake where all the rich cats hang out; where you would fit in Craig Percy Priest is about 40 minutes away also, another high society area for you.........
I'm about an hour from Dale Hollow and an hour and forty minutes to Watts Bar. We feel blessed to be in this area of the country and the community here is full of genuine good salt of the earth people, exactly where we belong!

Bill is sending another bilge pump out today so we'll be ready to enjoy all the exciting fishing this area has to offer soon. Come on down and visit when you can. I've got plenty of garage space for your boat if you decide to hit Broadway one night............

[hooken203]

Sounds pretty nice Steve. I know somebody from here that just moved to the same area.

[scj]

We had to settle for a smaller house than we wanted but everything else is perfect.

[skewby]

steve their just jealous that they don't live in gods country. it took you a few years but you finally got smart. lol i'm a lucky one that is born and raised here.

[AllyFishing]

steve the area sounds real nice. maybe jenn and I will check it our after all

[scj]

steve their just jealous that they don't live in gods country. it took you a few years but you finally got smart. lol i'm a lucky one that is born and raised here.

I used to drive through Tennessee for years traveling for work and I always told my employer I would jump at the chance to work/live in Tennessee. The stars aligned thankfully and we're here! The growth rate here is astounding which makes for a congested drive now and then but I'll take that part of it as the positives far outweigh the negatives.

And for those that do not know Skewby, he's one of those good people I mentioned earlier!

[scj]

Back on topic; Rule bilge pump was not the issue. I edited the first post to acknowledge that up front.
I changed the battery in my meter and zero'd it last night before I tested the new pump. Perfect! I grabbed the old pump to double check myself and it tested out fine too?????? I zero'd the meter ten more times and checked both pumps and I could not get the reading I was getting the other night. Both pumps checked out the same testing both open and closed circuits.

The battery that tested 10.7 volts the other night tested 5.8 volts which seems correct as it would not even turn on the radio. Again, I hate dealing with electrical issues!
Totally guessing here but I figure the new battery took a dump when we were out which blew the 5 amp fuse. We never stayed out long enough for it to run down low enough to not start the engine. We'll see what Battery Mart has to say when I return it.

[hooken203]

You have been had by the old saying. "New means new but new does not mean good." I wish I had all the hours back that I spent chasing a problem only to find out that new part was a problem. I dont think it would be possible for a failed battery to cause a blown fuse. I would replace the 5 and if it blows again in the future I would move up to a 7.5 amp fuse maybe a 10 but I wouldnt go higher than that. You may want to measure the amp draw on that circuit with the GPS units turned on.

[fishnfireman]

Have to agree with hooken203 about the blown 5 amp !

My first thought based on the op was the bilge or something ran the battery down to a point it would not take a charge.
If that was not the case then my second thought is a bad battery or it's not getting charged...99 % of the time one of those 3 things is the culprit.

[OldTimer57]

I called Bill today and he asked me to check and see if I have the new bilge with integrated auto-switch or if I have the old setup. They changed systems about it the time my boat was built...
I have to pull the center mounted trolling battery to get at it tonight.
Whether it's the new or old, the pump will get replaced.

I bought the battery back in September last year from BatteryMart. It's a $300 + AGM but not sure why it's their responsibility to replace something another device ruined.

You electrical wizards probably know more about this but it was showing 1.008 ohms going to ground. I'm not sure if this is enoung to damage cells in a battery but I thought it should have blown the 10 amp fuse that's on the positive side of the auto-bilge switch?????

Something else I found odd last time out; when I turned my front graph on, it blew the 5 amp fuse that supplies power to both units....is there a possibility the battery went bad and shorted the auto-bilge as it's the only thing directly wired to the battery when the switch is off?

amps = volts / resistance. In your case about 12 amps. A 10 amp fuse might not blow, they have a tolerance as well as most everything made. But that will certainly flatten a 12v battery in a half a day (12 hours or so).

As far as the graph issue, 5 amps seems a bit on the small side if you are running two (or more graphs). I measured the current draw on a friend's 12" new 'birds, and they were pulling close to 5 amps each when initially turned on. Those with 2 up front and 2 at the console might need a 500 pound battery if they ever try the new 15" 'birds.

[fishnfireman]

Still curious as to how this ended!

Was it the battery ?

[scj]

I sent the battery and the Lowrance out last week. It looks as if both were separate issues happening on the same outing. Just my luck!
I'm still waiting to hear back from both companies.

[scj]

Mail man dropped off new replacement Lowrance tonight.......................

[fishnfireman]

[scj]

I put the boat back together with new battery and new Lowrance. Everything works fine.

All the testing trying to find an issue within the boat and it was nothing more than parts failure.....

[scj]

Well, BatteryMart blows! They told me I shouldn't leave the battery set unattended for such periods of time that it drains down to 5.1 volts..... I clearly told them it was on a battery tender (Stealth Charger) ever since I bought it. I reminded them it was at 10.7 volts while it was on the charger and as soon as I removed it from the charger, it continually dropped until it reached 5 volts. This was after I followed their procedures to resurrect it when it was still at 10+ volts. In their opinion; my neglect is not their problem so I will not get a refund! "F" them!
I'll never spend a penny with them again and if I knew this is how they treat their customers, I definitely would not have purchased the replacement from them ahead of their bullshit findings.

[AllyFishing]

that sucks!!

[scj]

Of course I sent a response to their response......They replied, I should contact Odyssey; I did and explained the situation with them and I received a phone call from a fellow named Bruce. After a few minute conversation, he could see the failure was not due to negligence. They are authorizing full replacement compensation.

Good on Odyssey but it's a shame I had to hear it was due to negligence repeatedly until I kept insisting it was not and explaining it three times.