Master switch question

[Radnine]

Hi Guys and Gals,

Hey, I’ve got the new boat home and by a long shot it is the nicest thing in the driveway.

I have a question though. All of the switches are live to the battery and I am worried that I could hit a switch by accident (say, while cleaning it) and the bilge pump would be running for days by the time I found it.

Should I think about wiring in a master switch? Do other boats come with a master?

Has anyone done this, or am I being paranoid?

Thanks,

Jim

[2 tone z71]

I would for the very reason you mentioned,when im done with my boat the switch is always turned off ,NOW on my house Batt theres a a bilge pump directly to it ,the other pump runs off the start batt when switch is on ,there cheap piece of mind forsure

[cranks bait]

Had this problem back in the fall. We had a snowfall, then a warm spell. Just enough to make the snow melt into slush. My auto bilge kicked on and stayed on. I have no idea for how long. Went out in the boat a few days later and noticed I was not pumping out water. Checked the pump, it had a huge hole melted in it from running dry for so long. I now have a manual pump to prevent this from happening again. Although the auto was nice because you didn't have to think about it.

[aplumma]

If your boat does not overnight in the water then you can put a master cut off switch by the battery that feed the switches. Remember to pull the drainplug when it is on the trailer so it can drain rain or snowmelt out. If your boat overnights in the water make sure that your bilge pump is in automatic and is hot even when the master switch is off. The bilge pump is the only thing that will save the boat if you get rain or a waves come over the transom from wind or another boats wake.

 

Art