Looking for some assistance troubleshooting here late on Friday (of course) before a day on the water tomorrow. Right now all batteries are 100%, main breaker is working fine meaning when off I cannot activate the inline rocker master power switch below the shifter without the main breaker in the batt box being “on” and when it is “on” I can, and everything seems to work fine in the boat other than my not being able to turn the bilge on manually and my lights in the battery, rod, and other boxes are not coming on? Horn not working either. Nav lights are operational, ACC light is good (lighted rails), recirc works, aerator works, fuel sender works.
Read up on the boards here and did the unplug the touch pad deal harness and no change.
**Update** After fooling with this thing for an hour I had an idea to see if it was the bilge or wiring on it that was causing the problem as the touch pad will not illuminate on the bilge feature in manual or auto so I ran a hose in to the bilge area for a few minutes to see if the auto float would work and kick on (it did not) but the pad illuminated dimly then got brighter and I was able to get a “beep” out of it for the first time and as the float started to “bob” up and down I could switch back and forth with no problem and also get the horn to sound.
So now it seems that everything is working other than the “auto” feature on the bilge which could be a bad pump but the manual feature works from the touch pad so I am ruling the pump out as the culprit. The led’s on the touch pad for the bilge feature are dimmer than the others so I am wondering if this touch pad has gone out or is beginning to fail as it went from zero operation to intermittent to working (minus the auto bilge ).
**Update 2** (this just gets weirder). Added water via a garden hose again (same amount; covered the pump completely) to see if the auto float would work and now it does…and the touchpad led’s are burning bright as are the others, compartment lights are working, and the horn remains 100% operational. Troubleshooting the connection at the bilge pump I’m looking for corrosion (none), loose wires (no),and it all seems very solid. I am not sure what else to gather other than this touch pad may be flaking out??
Auto bilges don’t normally empty the bilge completely so after it kicked off I then switched to manual and it picked up and cleaned her out as it should.
So after all of that, now the whole rig is 100% operational but leaves me scratching my head as to what the issue is; the bilge pump (not thinking so), the connection to the bilge pump (seems solid in appearance and feel), or the touchpad?
My money is on the touch pad as the horn was not working either but if the ground on the pump is tied in to the same ground the horn circuit uses that would knock it offline too Id’ think. Either way, it’s all working now and I can’t say why other than getting the pump to fire up seemed to do what was called for and I’m going fishing in the morning which is what matters until Monday when I turn my attention back to the “why and what” that caused this ordeal.
Going to give BCB a call on Monday to run through this whole ordeal with tech support and see if they have any advice or suggest replacing the touch pad, pump, or both? I think it’s all under warranty so if I need parts I’m sure they’ll take care of me as I’ve heard so much about their service or at least sell me what I need if it’s not.
-Chuck Daymude 2011 Basscat Puma FTD
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