overnight docking / charging with bilge pump on

[Blue Hawaiian]

Will towing my 195 3 hours away to northern part for three days on water, but wondering how long is too long for the battery last, with bilge pump on ( as i know bilge pump on while boat on water), i have a prosport 6 installed, but wondering if i have it on all night ( say 12 hours ), will it run out of battery power ?

i know it will be safer to plug in (if there is possibility to find marina) while bilge pump is on whole night, but is it safe for battery, prosport 6 or, even boat ?

 

[Coffeecan]

I have left my boat overnight in our cove with the bilge pump on and don’t have an issue starting in the morning. Just make sure you get a lithium battery powered jumper just in case.

 

[swatski]

Will towing my 195 3 hours away to northern part for three days on water, but wondering how long is too long for the battery last, with bilge pump on ( as i know bilge pump on while boat on water), i have a prosport 6 installed, but wondering if i have it on all night ( say 12 hours ), will it run out of battery power ?

i know it will be safer to plug in (if there is possibility to find marina) while bilge pump is on whole night, but is it safe for battery, prosport 6 or, even boat ?

If your battery(ies) is fresh and fully charged it would take WEEKS for the bilge pump to drain it.
No concerns, unless you are blasting a huge stereo system in a cove and no shore power for a recharge! Otherwise - you will be completely fine for a few days.

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[Matts18]

I agree with swatski. Your bilge pump should only run when the water level is high enough in your engine bilge to trigger it to pump. There is no reason this should happen unless there is a lot of rain and the boat is uncovered. I keep a noco GB40 on board at all times just in case of a dead battery. I have actually used it several times but never on my own boat (current or previous). It jumped a 150 hp 4 stroke yamaha OB after sitting all winter in the garage without being charged--I was pretty impressed.

 

[Blue Hawaiian]

thanks guys, every time i turned on bilge pump just feels it keep draining the power out fast by listening its sound , that helps me calm a lot !

 

[swatski]

The bilge pumps Yamaha uses cycle every 4(?) min to detect water, but current draw is very small. They will drain a battery even if the boat is completely dry, but it takes weeks.

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[Julian]

Yup...the stock bilge pump takes 2.5 weeks to drain a standard battery.

That said, if your boat is leaking, and the pump is running often, your results will vary! What I would do at the end of the day when I boated in WI where I had no power was to sit on the boat at the end of the day and have a quiet beer. If the bilge pump runs and pumps water more than twice in non-trivial amounts, then I investigate why (never happened), but that was my routine.

 

[Blue Hawaiian]

nice, i will make sure to get a dozen beer first, and let you guys know what happen after, thanks lot!

 

[MBrown]

Not sure when this was changed by Yamaha, hut with the switch OFF, the bilge pump in my 2018 SX195 automatically comes on when water is sensed by the bilge pump. When the switch is ON it will run without stopping until the battery is drained. On my 2018 it does not cycle on and off. There is a test button on the bilge pump to test this, and I personally removed my pump and placed it in a bowl of water and watched it turn on automatically with the dash bilge switch in OFF position.

 

[Ronnie]

If you are boating at all over those three days I think you will be fine in that the battery will be recharged at least a little while the boat is running (this assumes you are not also draining the battery not quickly by running a high powered sound system). Plus as others have probably stated already your bilge pump should only come on to check for water every few minutes and wont stay on unless there is water in the bilge to pump out.

 

[swatski]

Not sure when this was changed by Yamaha, hut with the switch OFF, the bilge pump in my 2018 SX195 automatically comes on when water is sensed by the bilge pump. When the switch is ON it will run without stopping until the battery is drained. On my 2018 it does not cycle on and off. There is a test button on the bilge pump to test this, and I personally removed my pump and placed it in a bowl of water and watched it turn on automatically with the dash bilge switch in OFF position.

I believe that's the case with Connext boats as well, @Julian looked into this and posted that as long as the battery switch is on, the bilge pump will work when sensing water. Everything else and the system being OFF.

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[the MfM]

Three days is nothing to worry about.

But a second bilge pump with a float switch wired directly to a battery is nice for longer periods. That way you can turn off the main battery switch and the second bilge pump will still work when needed.

 

[Matts18]

Not sure when this was changed by Yamaha, hut with the switch OFF, the bilge pump in my 2018 SX195 automatically comes on when water is sensed by the bilge pump. When the switch is ON it will run without stopping until the battery is drained. On my 2018 it does not cycle on and off. There is a test button on the bilge pump to test this, and I personally removed my pump and placed it in a bowl of water and watched it turn on automatically with the dash bilge switch in OFF position.

This is how mine is as well. The pump will only work when it senses water so unless you have a leaky boat the pump shouldn’t drain the battery at all. Right??

 

[MBrown]

That is correct. I’m editing this post, after doing some testing, the battery does not have to be ON for the bilge pumps on 2018 models to work automatically.

 

[the MfM]

This is how mine is as well. The pump will only work when it senses water so unless you have a leaky boat the pump shouldn’t drain the battery at all. Right??

Right, but how much energy does an auto sensing pumps use when they are trying to sense if water is present? With a float switch the pump only uses power when water needs to be pumped.

Plus, with a second direct to battery pump (inline fuse) you can turn the main switch off so you can be sure nothing else is drawing power.

Not an issue for three days, but I leave my boat on a mooring all summer so that gives me peace of mind. (Along with a solar charger)

 

[MBrown]

It doesn’t use any battery power when not water activated. There is an internal float switch that will activate if the water level comes up high enough to trigger the pump to turn on.

The newer Yamaha’s no longer have the type of bilge pump that cycles on every 2 minutes to try and sense water with a higher pump resistance.

 

[Jameson Clark]

It doesn’t use any battery power when not water activated. There is an internal float switch that will activate if the water level comes up high enough to trigger the pump to turn on.

The newer Yamaha’s no longer have the type of bilge pump that cycles on every 2 minutes to try and sense water with a higher pump resistance.

My 2017 still has the pump that cycles to check for water. I have thought that was a very strange design since day 1. My other boats have always had the float style activation.

 

[GoVols01]

My 2017 still has the pump that cycles to check for water. I have thought that was a very strange design since day 1. My other boats have always had the float style activation.

Float vs auto bilge pump is the same type of argument of Ford vs Chevy. I've read stories about float switches getting stuck and never turning on when needed - functions much the same fashion as a house toilet's float mechanism. I've also heard stories about auto pumps running batteries dead too. I think I prefer the auto bilge now though because the float actuator getting stuck makes perfect sense to me, considering all the garbage that's typically in a bilge.

 

[the MfM]

Anything can fail, easy Answer... just add another float switch and pump a little higher up.

 

[Blue Hawaiian]

Not sure when this was changed by Yamaha, hut with the switch OFF, the bilge pump in my 2018 SX195 automatically comes on when water is sensed by the bilge pump. When the switch is ON it will run without stopping until the battery is drained. On my 2018 it does not cycle on and off. There is a test button on the bilge pump to test this, and I personally removed my pump and placed it in a bowl of water and watched it turn on automatically with the dash bilge switch in OFF position.

that was strange , as everytime i turned on main switch, then turn on the bilge pump, i can heard a noise (guess its sound from bilge pump) all the time till i turn the bilge pump off then became quiet.