bilge pump stays on all the time

[todd2009]

2007 180 challenger pump works but had to unplug the 3 wire connevtor from pump and johnson bilge sensor . is the johnson bad ?

 

[scooper77515]

Is there a little water in there but not enough to suck out through the pump?

If so, you need to bend the sensor so that it shuts off before the water gets below the level of the bottom of the pump. Otherwise, it still senses water and keeps the pump running, when the water level is below the suction area of the pump.

Mine was like this, and killed my battery one rainy night. Bent it just a quarter inch and now it turns off before killing the battery, but leaves just a little water in the hull just at the surface of the suction level of the bilge pump.

 

[gcha1727]

Im not sure exactly how that system works in your boat. from an automotive point of view its prob a switch turning on the pump. Test the wires going to the pump to see if the switch is actually sending power and/or ground signal to your pump. and to see if it doesnt send that signal when you flip the switch. Most likely there will be one wire coming from your switch that sends 12v to your pump telling it to turn on.

 

[voodoo]

The older boats have a override switch and the pump kills the battery - lift out the pump enough to clean away any coffee straws or rope fragments that mess with the switch movement.