Bilge pumps ain't working

[edw]

'83 3607 aft cabin "Damn Boat". Neither pump is getting power, but I have power to the switches. Since the bilge sniffer doesn't work either, I suspect my problem lies in the cabling from the lower helm to the units. Doe anyone happen to know how the cable is routed from the lower helm? I just don't want to disassemble more than I have to to check the connectors.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

An Old Goat
With An
Old Boat

[km1125]

Do the bilge pumps work when you raise the float switches and just not the helm switches, or neither case?

There are two separate circuits that feed the bilge pumps. One originates at the upper right DC main panel on the FWD BILGE and AFT BILGE circuit breakers and goes to switches at both helms (or the bridge, if you just have a single helm), then routes down to the pumps. These are fed AFTER the battery switch and AFTER the DC panel main breakers, so all those have to be on and working to get power. This is only for the MANUAL activation of the pumps.

The second circuits originate on the INPUT of the battery switch (I think on the "1" side) and go to the breakers on the THIRD ROW DOWN on the DC main panel, labelled "Auto Bilge Pump" and sub-labelled 'Aft' and 'Fwd'. The output of THESE breakers goes to the individual float switches for each pump, and allowed for automated operation regardless of the position of the battery switch or the main DC panel circuit breakers or the helm switches.

From the lower helm, the wires go straight down into the engine compartment to the engine room bilge pump and then also through the bulkhead and to the fwd bilge pump.

The sniffer will be completely separate, as it was also likely an aftermarket add-on (maybe a dealer-installed item though)


Funny side story... about your boat name... when I was a kid, my dad bought a boat and nicknamed it "The Damn Thing". When I grew up, I had a 3607.

[paulr]

My 396 has some pockets of water in the aft under the shower sump and in the foward satae room under the floor.
The funny thing is i cant even locate where the bildge are. Can avyone answer this question?

[bud37]

What makes you think they aren't working.....even good pumps will not empty the bilge completely ....they always leave some water behind, it is the way they are designed.

Sorry can't help with the locations on that boat.

[paulr]

I mean to say where are the pumps located. I cant put my eye balls on them.
I see the diagram in the manual, I climbed around in the bildge in front on and behind the generator.
I wish I could see a picture.
The surver in December 2022couldnt find them either.

[km1125]

Hopefully someone with that same model will weigh in on some tips.

The nice thing about bilge pumps is they're pretty much always on the centerline of the boat somewhere, sot it's just a matter of tracking down all the hatches or openings that you can until you can see the whole centerline of the boat, even if you have to use a mirror or stick a camera (perhaps the one on your phone) down in there and take some pics. Builders have ways of hiding even the most obvious hatches or access points (like, flipping up the stairs for access), so sometimes it's a challenge to figure it out.

Locate the overboard discharges and that might give some clues too, as to where along that centerline to look. It could be several feet either direction from the overboard discharge, but might get you in the general locations.