170CC Bilge Pump Replacement

[pamarine]

Bob,

Absolutley. I have em falling off the shelves in my shop. I love the stupid things and seem to not be able to get enough of them. I'll have to lookup the 101, as I normally install the 2-sensor models. Drop me a line at pamarine@cox.net or 757-403-2134 and I'll be happy to help you out.

[BobW]

I'm back from another two weeks in soggy Vermont. I received the Waterwitch switch from the manufacturer a day before we left NC for VT. When I attempted to install the switch I discovered there never was a float switch or any other auto shutoff for the bilge pump. Perhaps a former owner removed them or it was not in the original equipment. All fuses & breakers were working properly. The new switch has a three wire set up - brown, black & red wires. The boat only has a brown/black wiring harness for the pump. So where would I get the power for the red wire? After much headscratching (I'm befuddled beyond very simple electrical work) trying to configure the installation, my son-in-law said something like "Hey, our guest, Scott, was a Navy Electrician. Maybe he can look at it." So Scott looked at it & the install instructions & in minutes had the installation complete & properly wired. Fortunately I had a good selection of connectors & hardward on hand. The switch works great. Thank you USNavy for Scott's training! Thank you PAMarine for the advice.

I also bought a full cover from iBoats.com & installed snaps in the cover hem & boat hull. Works great as well.

Thanks, all, for the good advice.

BobW

[pamarine]

Bob,

Glad to hear you are back up and running. I am curious about your cover, how is the fit? I have had a problem finding covers that are the right size for the 170. Either they are too wide or don't have enough height to go over the cc. Is the cover you bought a trailering cover or a mooring cover?

[BobW]

Frank,
The cover fits nicely. I ordered the custom fit, no rails, Outdura material. It is trailerable & has loops sewn in to secure to the trailer with rope. I installed the snaps because, in my experience, a draw chord will not hold a cover on the boat properly when it's at mooring. The bow fits properly, there is the correct room for the CC, the aft corners are right where they ought to be and the sewn-in motor cover is correctly sized. There is sufficient room for the folded-down bimini on the custom supports I installed. I left before the most recent heavy rains but my son reports that the cover has not puddled. I ordered two cover support poles but so far have not needed them. To date I am a happy costomer. I neglected to photograph the covered boat but I'll snap a few pics next time & post them. Probably after Sep 1.

Hope this helps.
BobW

[pamarine]

Bob,

Do you think there is enough material to go over a bow rail? I have one on my 170 and it has been causing additional headaches with cover fit. I hate having my nice triumph getting pine needles and sap all in it.

[BobW]

Frank,
You should be able to order it for your configuration. Caveat: It is a custom fit order and they are quite certain to remind you that custom orders are not returnable. Give them a call & discuss. If your boat is a factory configuration, they most likely have specs for the cover - bow rails and all.

HTH. Gnite,
BobW

[wschapinjr]

I sat back real smug thinking my pump worked ok...NOT! Got back to the boat a couple of days ago and found a few hundred gallons of rainwater in the bilge. I turned the pump on mannually and then switched over to automatic. The pump worked great and shut off when the bilge was dry. My cousin just got a 170 sc and her boat did the same thing. Wonder what is going on. Guess I'll have to pull the pump and take it back to my dealer and see if he'll replace it. Even though the boat is in salt water the bilge has just been fresh water.
Anyone have any suggestions as the fuse by the battery is ok and the switch on the dash works great.......

[BobW]

wschapinjr,

It's nice to know that our boats float fully watered down!

Sounds like my problem. My boat did not have an automatic pump (three wires going to it), nor a float switch. Frank (pamarine) helped diagnose the problem & recommended the Waterwitch 101 pump switch. First I would check to see if the pump is an automatic (it should have three wires going to it & should be labled indicating it is auto). If it is & it's not working, replace it with an exact copy. If not auto, check for a faulty float switch by following the wires. It should be in the transom area of your boat. If there's a bad (or non-existant, in my case) float switch, replace it. I installed a Waterwitch 101 (website: Anything Bilge- Bilge Switch, High Water, Float Switch Replacements). It's electronic & uses sensors to detect water rather than relying on a mechanical float. It works great. Installing the three wire device into a two wire harness was a bit tricky but straight forward when I saw it complete. I simply leave the bilge pump switch on all the time. The switch uses almost no juice in standby mode. I also elected to put a full mooring cover on the boat to shed the rainwater.

Hope this helps.
BobW

Update: Looking at standard equip for '08 170DC, there should be a float switch. To test it, I'd leave the pump switch on auto with the ignition key in my pocket & dump 10 to 15 gallons of water into the bilges. The pump should come on without any coaxing. If it doesn't come on, I'd check the float switch for blockage and/or the dash switch for proper installation.

[wschapinjr]

yup they do float with 300 gallons in the bilge. The water was almost to the top of the battery! I rowed out to it and reached in and started the pump and then the outboard. It took about 45 minutes to empty the bilge.
I have an 08 and it does have the three wires to the pump. all of the wires are in place for the dash switch as well. All of the fuses are ok .
Oh well, if I don't get it fixed this summer it will be a winter project.

Thanks for the info.

[pamarine]

If your pump is the factory standard aut o bilge pump, then it is a Rule Automatic Bilge Pump. These pumps have a electronic circuit that is supposed to cut the pump on every 2 minutes, check for resistance against the impeller (it does this by sensing the current required to turn the motor, water would require a higher current than no water) and if finding water will leave the pump on until the sensor detects no more water (see above). It is not usual for these sensing circuits to go bad within the 3 year warranty, but it is also not unheard of. Unfortunately, there is no manual test for these pumps like there is for the external floats and electronic sensors. If your boat is warrantied, the dealer should replace it FOC. Otherwise, West Marine seels the same pump for a reasonable price, just make sure to get the Rule Automatic Pump and not the Rule-Mate automatic, as the latter has a reallly crappy magnetic reed switch for the auto mode.