Why is my bilge switch tripping the breaker?

[jlcj7]

I noticed my bilge pump not cycling recently so I checked the breaker switch next to it and sure enough it was tripped. I thought that was it but today I noticed whenever I reset the breaker it immediately trips again when I turn the bilge switch on. I took a video. Any ideas????

 

[jlcj7]

Video won't upload. I will try when I get home.

 

[biglar155]

Something is shorted out downstream. Easiest place to start is to unplug the bilge pump at the pump (assuming there is a way to do that) and turn the switch on again. If the breaker trips again then it's the wiring, if it doesn't it's probably the pump (check to see if something is caught in the impeller).

It COULD be that the breaker went bad but that seems less likely.

 

[2nazt]

Something caught in the pump, or most likely swollen and broken. Mine got stuck and from swelling probably from old age and a piece of the impeller broke off, causing pump to overheat and fail. Easy to replace though so not to bad.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Sounds like your pump motor rusted to shit and now shorts to ground. Easy fix!

 

[itsdgm]

Yep sounds like either a bad pump or breaker. Might be able to swap wires with a breaker right next to the original and see if that one pops out too. Otherwise as stated above, try removing the pump and see if it will spin freely.

 

[Just1more]

If you do buy a new bilge, make sure to take the model # off the old one. I just googled Yamaha bilge and the one I ended up with was the same bilge, but the wire connector was different. Had to cut the connectors and reword. Not a big deal but could have been avoided.

 

[Beachbummer]

My breaker was busted when this happened to me. You could trouble shoot with another breaker from the panel so you don't have to buy to identify the problem.

If it's not the breaker, as others said, it's either a short on the wiring (unlikely) or bilge pump is Broke ( more likely)

Multimeter will help you troubleshoot if you get to that point.

 

[Julian]

Its really easy to pull the pump off the base to check to see if the impeller is spinning on the pump....two tabs on each side that you squeeze together, then lift off the base.

 

[jlcj7]

Just to close the loop on this thread it ended up being the pump. I replaced it and breaker no longer trips.