bilge blowing fuses

General Boats and Motors
21

Bahahaha…

2007 Scout 221 150 Yamaha 4 stroke

22

Definitely do not fuse the automatic side of the bilge pump wiring, run it straight from battery with the one wire connection being at the pump and use a good 3m adhesive lined heat shrink butt connector to make the connection.
A sunken boat can ruin your whole day.

Russ B.
www.joinrfa.org
God is great, Beer is good, People are crazy

23
quote:
Originally posted by Cracker Larry
quote:
Aw heck why not do away with the fuse and just straight wire it!

That is the way my boat is wired. The automatic pump is the only circuit on the boat that is not fused and cannot be shut off with the master switch. Many boats are lost due to sinking, mostly at the dock, from faulty pump wiring. None are lost to bilge pump wiring fires.</font id=“red”> The pump is the most important thing on the boat when you need it. You don’t want a little one, you don’t want a cheap one and you’ve got to know it will work when it has to.

A fused connection induces at least 5 possible points of failure. Each end of the fuse holder has a wire connection that must be tight and clean. Internally the fuse holder itself has a spring connection on each end with contact points and solder joints. Any of these can fail with a little time and salt water. Then the fuse itself can get tired and blow prematurely. If you aren’t on board, or you don’t have a spare fuse, then you are screwed. My opinion is to wire the main pump straight to the battery. I’d rather melt the wires than have the boat sink.

Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Small craft surveying and repair

Now you are making me want to argue…

http://port.boatus.com/blogs/portal/blog_view.asp?BID=2758

Some quotes from said link.

Causes of Fires Started Aboard:

  1.     AC and DC wiring/appliance  55% 

     DC shorts/wiring                        30%

and

The number one cause of fires on boats are DC wiring faults. Many fires are started by battery cables, <font color=

24
quote:
Originally posted by RussB

Definitely do not fuse the automatic side of the bilge pump wiring, run it straight from battery with the one wire connection being at the pump and use a good 3m adhesive lined heat shrink butt connector to make the connection.
A sunken boat can ruin your whole day.

Russ B.
www.joinrfa.org
God is great, Beer is good, People are crazy

Only issue with that is the ABYC standards require overcurrent protection. Not saying that I agree - but one should check with the insurance company first.

25

Didn’t mean to stick my nose in this discussion, just my cheap 2 cents…better to put in spare bilge pump or two and fuse all of them. I’d rather be swamped with a foam filled boat than swimming away from a burning boat.

26
quote:
Originally posted by striperskiff

It might be worth lifting up the bildge and seeing it you have any debris/mud…etc in there and clean it out. If there is anything clogging it up and keeping the motor from spinning freely it will draw excessive current and blow the fuse.

'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
FS90 Suzuki

Yep, that's the first thing to check. Bilge pumps pick up whatever is in the bilge and these things can clog the pump or hoses or block the impeller from turning. Keep an electric motor from turning and it will blow the fuse or trip the breaker if it's properly protected. This is by design.

Ron
2000 Camano Troll
North Charleston, SC