Bilge pump not engaging

[waterboy2010]

What all do I need to check for. I will check the fuse but that is all I know to check. What else can I do to make sure I don't have a bad pump before I go out and buy another?

[cadunkle]

Use a multimeter to verify you have 12 volts at the pump when the switch it on. If not, check the +12v at the pump to a known good ground (battery post, clean metal on engine, etc.) If not, just keep tracing it back to where you find it defective. Check at switch, before switch, etc. until you find it, then clean connection or replace wiring as needed.

You cna also jump the pump +12v and ground straight to the battery to test the pump.

[smoothfootn]

might try tapping on it. If it has corroded over the winter this could help to free it up. Then do as stated above and start tracing!

[jmpotter]

Check to see if any junk is clogging up the impeller. Mine sucked up some hair and things so the motor got locked up. Once it was cleared up, it was intermittent so I just replaced it.

[waterboy2010]

Alright I will get out there tomorrow and see what I can find out.

[Sunsport87]

Pull it out and make sure it's clean of debris and the impeller spins by hand with no binding or excessive play. Then keep it out and hook up power and see what it does. As soon as pwer hits it you should feel the motor try to engage. if its spinning your good to go but if it just hums you better get a new pump.

[waterboy2010]

Updating this thread also. The bilge pump was clean and it would run for about 5 seconds and trip the breaker every time i turned it on manually. I finally unhooked it from the hose and turned it on and it stayed on. The part that the hose attaches to had cracked and some of the pieces went up into the hose. Also the hose clamp was so tight that it almost completely closed the route for the water to leave the pump. So every time I turned the pump on it was pulling extra amps because it was working so hard to remove the water from the bilge that the breaker would trip. I just replaced the pump and now everything works perfectly. I never even knew that the pump had an auto switch so I guess my old one never worked to start with.

[wotan2525]

Pull it out and make sure it's clean of debris and the impeller spins by hand with no binding or excessive play. Then keep it out and hook up power and see what it does. As soon as pwer hits it you should feel the motor try to engage. if its spinning your good to go but if it just hums you better get a new pump.

I always thought that this was accurate advice, but I've actually had two Atwood Sahara pumps go out in as many years. They would turn on, spin, run, they just wouldn't pump hard enough to push water out of the boat. Both times I took them apart, cleaned them, blew out the lines and put them back in. They would just spin and spin and spin and accomplish nothing. The first one was a warranty replacement, the second one went in the trash.