marline pooki oki aunu

Ok so I am having an issue with my bilge, and it seems that the wire to the float switch has gone bad put in the new float switch and it would not kick on the front worked fine. So I guess I need to test that wire to see what voltage it is? But that is just a switch so I wouldn’t think it would need much power to send a signal to turn the pump on. The switch at the helm works like a champ. Any other suggestions so I can come down to the boat with everything I may need. To fix this issue but I’m stumped there is one blue which I assume it it the hot to the float switch one white wire which gets the other end of the switch and I assume the hot for the pump and one black that I assume is the negative.

Itteldoo

That's easy enough to confirm, if you have a hand-held volt-/ohm-meter.


HUH?!?

That sentence makes absolutely no sense.


It doesn't "send a signal" It just passes power to the pump via an alternate route. Here is a simplified diagram of typical bilge pump wiring:



Note that a breach in EITHER wire leading to the float switch could cause your symptom.


You need to approach it methodically, and trace through the circuit one step at a time.


Do NOT assume!

The only one of those three guesses which would meet the standard ABYC color code would be Black for the Negative/Return line. For example, the power feed to your pump should be Brown. See http://www.clrmarine.com/538.html.

Check the instructions that came with your pump and/or float switch, AND actually trace the already-installed wires to confirm their functions BEFORE connecting anything, or you might very well cause still more damage.

If any of this seems even slightly confusing or difficult to understand, STOP. Get someone who knows what they're doing to fix it for you, and pay what that costs if necessary. Your bilge pump is too critical a device to screw around with a half-assed "guess at it" approach.