Constant Power to Bilge Pumps with Perko Switch

[rgardjr1]

I noticed something today when I was messing around in my boat. I've got a dual battery setup with a Perko Off, 1, 2, Both switch. In the Off position I have no power to my bilge pumps. I have been leaving the switch in the Off position to recharge the batteries while floating in my slip-no boat lift. I think I would like to change this. Do the bilge pumps run off a relay like the ballast pumps? Is it as simple running constant power to the switch on the dash? My boat is a 2006 Maristar 200.
Thanks-
Rick

[CruisinGA]

Why not just leave one battery on for the bilge pumps? - This is what I do.

If you have chargers hooked up, then there's not much to worry about regarding draining a battery.

[TayMC190]

I would suggest leaving a battery on. You can also run the bilge direct. I suggest leaving a battery on. You have a float switch that kicks on when it detects enough water. Also if the switch sticks it could create a problem. Thankfully it won't kill your battery if you catch it within a day or so but it will probably burn the pump up. I let my boat set in the lake for 2 months last winter while I refurbished the trailer and I didn't acquire enough water to even kick on the bilge. So honestly leaving one battery on should hurt anything. I don't leave mine unattended in the water anymore so I don't have to worry about it. Also you could have a set in pump and switch that you run from you dock for that purpose. when you park it over night just open you hatch and set it in with a hose running out into the water.. Just suggestions but don't feel you have a major problem.

[rgardjr1]

Leaving a battery on sounds reasonable and will save me some work to boot. I guess I was just surprised that I had been turning off the bilge pumps inadvertently all last summer. I started looking at the breakers and switches after I posted and I certainly was not looking forward to trying to figure out how the bilges are wired.

[TayMC190]

Also might want to run the constant wire for your stereo head unit to a battery, it sucks losing all the memory when you kill the switches...

[rgardjr1]

Originally Posted by TayMC190

Also might want to run the constant wire for your stereo head unit to a battery, it sucks losing all the memory when you kill the switches...

That's on the list. Easy enough that I shouldn't have to ask for help.

[TallRedRider]

I have brought this up before. I know of at least one other manufacturer that wires the bilge pump right to the battery. In theory, the bilge pump will not draw anything unless it gets kicked on somehow.

I think it is poor design on MC's part. I brought it up when a well known member here had his boat sink at the dock during a heavy rainstorm. There were likely waves involved too, so a functioning bilge pump may not have helped. But I can guarantee that once there was an extra 1500 pounds of rain water in the boat, it didn't stand a chance against the waves.

So I wired one of my bilge pumps right to the battery. The bilge pumps that came on my X-45 have 2 power leads, one for the switch and one for the float switch. I still have perfect control on the switch and the automatic bilge will come on when the perko switch is off.

Sorry about the long post, but I feel pretty strong about this, and it still surprises me that others don't feel the same way.

Or just leave the switch on. In theory, the electrical draw is so small it should take quite a while to drain a battery. the problem being that boats are famous for something accidentally being left on. Many guys have the batteries on for very long times without problems, but some boats just seem to have an invisible gremlin somewhere that sucks more power than it should, and tracking it down can be very hard.

[rgardjr1]

Originally Posted by TallRedRider

So I wired one of my bilge pumps right to the battery. The bilge pumps that came on my X-45 have 2 power leads, one for the switch and one for the float switch. I still have perfect control on the switch and the automatic bilge will come on when the perko switch is off.

When you wired yours did you just run a wire from the battery to the float power lead on the pump? I never thought about doing it that way-I was going to run power to the switch on the dash and/or to the relay (if there was one involved). I'll take a look tomorrow at my bilge pump and see what's involved.
Thanks-
Rick

[Shaun315]

Don't the newer boats with the blue seas dual battery setup have the bilge and radio memory on the 24-hour always on circuits?

[rgardjr1]

Originally Posted by Shaun315

Don't the newer boats with the blue seas dual battery setup have the bilge and radio memory on the 24-hour always on circuits?

I think they should. When I figured out that my bilge pumps didn't have constant power run to them I was remembering seeing venetrex's post about relocating the batteries to the rear lockers and he was using blue seas setup like the new boats receive:

http://mastercraft.com/teamtalk/show...55&postcount=3