Auto Bilge

[newbote]

Hi - have the boat in the water this week on vacation and just noticed the auto bilge is not working. It was working before I left. The house battery is on and I confirmed it is charged. We had a lot of rain over night and I turned on the bilge manually and it ran for probably close to a minute so the actual pump is working. Has anyone had this happen and is there a way to fix it? 2016 242 is the boat.

 

[Big Shasta]

What do you mean "Turned it on manually"? Is there more than one switch on the newer boats? I thought you had to leave the switch on all the time to get the auto to work.

 

[seadude]

Gotta be in auto mode in connext. (highlighted in blue?)

 

[Julian]

If it is set to Auto on the connect screen, then perhaps your pump auto mode is broken....are you sure it was set to the blue color? I do wish Yamaha would label those VS just having it a color. I'm not color blind, but the current solution wouldn't work for someone that is.

 

[Matt Phillips]

Agree with the above, While reading my manual this weekend, I was surprised they changed the pump set-up on the Connect boats:
Bilge highlighted in Green, it's on. Bilge highlighted in blue, it's in Auto mode (same with the blowers).

The other thought I had was to check your manual for the fuse box location as it may be a fuse issue.

One other thing to check is the wiring to the pump itself. I was surprised on my 242x that the wires are just kind of dangling down to the pump. Maybe one is loose?

 

[Neutron]

When mine is on automode it doesnt go on with water in the bilge. It just cycles every so often. I tested it last night and filled the bilge with a hose and it didnt stay on. It just cycled

 

[Mainah]

The bilge pumps on connext boats by themselves are very simple manually operated two pole dc motors. Auto bilge mode on the connext boats is a function of the spu. As long as the house battery is on and the mode is set to auto there is a timer running in the spu and it trips a relay to supply power to the bilge and measures current draw or voltage drop (not sure which) to determine if it needs to stay on. This design bugs me. Dumb float bilge pumps work great so why over complicate it? Why have a whole board full of electronics consuming power just for a bilge to operate?

Same goes for the blowers by the way minus the load check. Simple two pole dc motors being controlled by the spu.

Hope this helps.

 

[newbote]

If it is set to Auto on the connect screen, then perhaps your pump auto mode is broken....are you sure it was set to the blue color? I do wish Yamaha would label those VS just having it a color. I'm not color blind, but the current solution wouldn't work for someone that is.

I checked several times and it was on with the blue color. Yesterday it started working again so no idea why it didn't come on over night. I at first thought I turned off the wrong battery but the house battery was on and the starting battery off. I will have to keep an eye on it this week.

 

[Seadeals]

Glad to hear it. By the way, have fun this week! Burning lots of gas makes for many smiles and charged batteries.

 

[Julian]

I checked several times and it was on with the blue color. Yesterday it started working again so no idea why it didn't come on over night. I at first thought I turned off the wrong battery but the house battery was on and the starting battery off. I will have to keep an eye on it this week.

I leave both batteries turned on when the boat is in the water. You might want to double check that the bilge isn't wired to the starter battery. Just turn both on and sit for 3 minutes with the engine hatch open (radio off to reduce noise) and listen for a quick buzz when the bilge runs. Then turn off the starter battery and wait another 3 minutes.

 

[haknslash]

It's times like these I'd rather just have simple rocker switches for things like blower, bilge, nav lights, etc. All this color coded rubix cube, hold your tongue to the right, stand on one foot, pat your head and rub your belly stuff just seems so unnecessary for something so simple like operating a bilge or blower.

 

[Hellacool]

This is why I just installed a auto bilge. Simple two wire hook up and separate plumbing. Now I have a 500gph and a 750gph and can shut down both batteries and not worry about draining them.

 

[mraz72]

Just to add to a previous comment. The current method for determining if your auto bilge is on with Connext is NOT A GOOD SOLUTION. It is confusing AND for such an important component, it should;t be, I forget which color means what, but you have to make sure you bilge is on while your boat is on the water.

I've been checking daily just to make sure she stays dry, but I am not 100% certain my auto bilge is working. I map spray a little water in there and hang out and see if it is working...

 

[Mainah]

We should not have to install a back up bilge on a new boat. That said it is not a bad idea for something so important and one of the first things I did. Float type bilge direct wired to hot side of battery switch so always connected. Don't forget to periodically check that it functions.

 

[Julian]

We should not have to install a back up bilge on a new boat. That said it is not a bad idea for something so important and one of the first things I did. Float type bilge direct wired to hot side of battery switch so always connected. Don't forget to periodically check that it functions.

Yeah....make cleaning the screen on your bilge part of your annual spring prep!

 

[swatski]

The bilge pumps on connext boats by themselves are very simple manually operated two pole dc motors. Auto bilge mode on the connext boats is a function of the spu. As long as the house battery is on and the mode is set to auto there is a timer running in the spu and it trips a relay to supply power to the bilge and measures current draw or voltage drop (not sure which) to determine if it needs to stay on. This design bugs me. Dumb float bilge pumps work great so why over complicate it? Why have a whole board full of electronics consuming power just for a bilge to operate?

Same goes for the blowers by the way minus the load check. Simple two pole dc motors being controlled by the spu.

Hope this helps.

Very well said!
What bothers me even more in that setup is I believe the fuel pumps are being primed.

--

 

[newbote]

This is why I just installed a auto bilge. Simple two wire hook up and separate plumbing. Now I have a 500gph and a 750gph and can shut down both batteries and not worry about draining them.

When folks install a second pump do you want install a switch somewhere so you can turn it from on, off, to auto? If so where did you install th

 

[Mainah]

I installed a float model with no switch. The float is the original automatic switch for a bilge pump. When the float rises to the top the leads connect and the bilge is able to draw power. No power is being consumed otherwise. You could install a switch in between but then you are inviting possible human error into the mix. I did use an in line waterproof fuze holder so if for some off chance I needed it not to run for some reason then I could just pull the fuse.

 

[Hellacool]

When folks install a second pump do you want install a switch somewhere so you can turn it from on, off, to auto? If so where did you install th

I did not install a switch yet but I made sure my wiring is accessible if i decide to. I left my stock bilge in place. I figured if i need to turn a bilge on manually ill use it and if i need both the other will come on.

 

[djetok]

I did not install a switch yet but I made sure my wiring is accessible if i decide to. I left my stock bilge in place. I figured if i need to turn a bilge on manually ill use it and if i need both the other will come on.

Curious ?
When you install a second bilge are you using the same drain hose or adding another. If both bilges are working there is only so much volume that the hose can handle.