Hopefully a silly question...the sump pump always cycles on my '94 3100. A second or so very minute say. I guess its supposed to do that. How do I turn it off for the winter. I thought I stopped hearing it with the battery switches off, etc. of course the day I went down to have it shrink wrapped I heard it cycling. Would it be wired straight to the batteries?
I have a Vacuflush system on my 36' and have the same problem. Everyone I know with a Vacuflush system has the problem. As soon as the unit ages it gets a minor vacuum leak and triggers the switch and cycles on. It's the poorest switch design you could imagine and expensive to fix. I solved the problem by running a # 12 AWG line from the Vacuflush breaker to a new switch in the head and then back to the breaker. This in effect puts the switch in series with the breaker which I leave on. Then to use the Vacuflush you just turn on the switch in the head and turn it off when finished. Works like a charm. Over the last 10 years I have talked to many reps in the Vacuflush booth at the boat shows and they don't think they have a problem. The Vacuflush system should be on one breaker on your DC power panel. It should not be connected directly to the batteries. Only your bilge pumps and smoke / CO detectors should be connected to the batteries when the main disconnect switch is off. For odor control I use that West Marine green stuff. Works great. No complaints from the wife with a super sensitive nose. Just never flush with salt water or it will really stink. Capt. George
By sump pump I am assuming that you are speaking about the bilge pump. A lot of Tiaras are fitted with rule electronic bilge pumps. These pumps do not have a float switch instead cycle themselves every 2.5 minutes to check for water. If they find water they will continue running until they are dry.
This sound puzzled me when we bought our Tiara as well.
Hi maxwell, it's me, changed username to persistence lol. Yes it's a bilge pump under the companionway steps. I'm not sure how to turn it off for the winter. It's a strange design I guess. Sort of noisy when you're sleeping.
I added one of the Rule electronic bilge pumps to my 31' Open and ran the power through a switch on the dash so I could turn it off when sleeping aboard. In your case there must be a fuse somwhere in the line, most likely very close to the battery. Just pull the fuse or remove the battery ground cables. If you don't, come spring time your battery will be dead.
Capt. George
I added one of the Rule electronic bilge pumps to my 31' Open and ran the power through a switch on the dash so I could turn it off when sleeping aboard.
Capt. George
I'm not sure that I'd ever want a bilge pump (something that is supposed to help keep me safe) hooked up to a hard switch on the dash. If anything you could put a float switch in line so that if the boat does start taking on water it would still engage once the float switch turns on.
As far as winter storage goes, I just turn my switches off. My bilge pump breaker switches are on a panel under my companion seat (3900 Sovran). They do have a fail safe switch that make it difficult to accidentally turn off.
Let me clarify my design. The small electronic bilge pump on a switch is along side the main large pump that does not completely drain the bilge water. The main pump is connected directly, via a fuse, to the battery. It also has a manual override swich in case the float switch fails. You are correct, never put the main pump on a manual switch. Sorry for the confusion. Capt. George
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