Hi Roger,

I purchased one of these and returned it.... the shocking thing
about it was that if the white part of the unit gets wet, it can cause
damage to the unit..... never had a bilge switch that said it could
not get wet. I went with the electronic switch.

-Lee

On Mon, 09 May 2005 00:50:37 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:

Well, I've decided to go even higher tech. For just ten bucks more
than the SansSwithc that West Marine had, I've ordered their See
Water
switch. This is a capacitive switch that is height adjustable so you
can fine tune the cut off level. The thing that sold me about it
though is that it doesn't sense oil or fuel. That way, if the fuel
tank springs a leak or a fuel line breaks, the bilge system won't
pump
the whole mess overboard. Even if you have a lot of fuel oil
floating
on top of the water, it will pump out the water and stop when it hits
the oil. Having seen the havoc of automatic bilge pumps emptying
fuel
tanks into the harbor, I think this ten bucks is good insurance.

That's the theory anyway. I'll let you know how it actually works
out

I'm really pondering Larry's suggestion to not have bilge pump cut
off switches and it seems to make sense. Turning off the bilge pumps
would be so rare that pulling the fuse wouldn't be a big deal and you
don't have to worry about someone turning everything off. I am going
with the two bilge pump system BTW. I'll probably wire one off of
each
battery at the selector switch input through a fuse block with lights
as he suggest. That will also free up a switch in my limited panel
for
something else.

The lights across the fuses is a great idea.

Subject

We are in the level measuring business.

We provide a 100% performance guarantee with every instrument.

To provide that kind of application guarantee requires about a $1,000
USD investment for a bilge switch in a boat.

SFWIW, anything less and you are kidding yourself.

Lew

Would you please clarify what you are saying here? I'm not sure what
you are replying to.

Are you warning me that this switch could not possibly work reliably
because it is so cheap?

The case appears to be well sealed and a solid block of epoxy but
there is a warning to be sure it is installed so that the pump starts
before the case is immersed or it will "Become contaminated". There
are also instructions to keep soap film off the case and clean it. I
assume this has something to do with changing the capacitance.

My concern at this point would be what would happen if the batteries
went dead and you returned to the boat to find water covering the
switches. Would the bilge pumps start when you restored power? The
switches do have a manual over ride connection which I will install to
cover this eventuality.

--

Roger Long



"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
k.net...
Subject

We are in the level measuring business.

We provide a 100% performance guarantee with every instrument.

To provide that kind of application guarantee requires about a
$1,000 USD investment for a bilge switch in a boat.

SFWIW, anything less and you are kidding yourself.

Lew

Roger Long wrote:


Are you warning me that this switch could not possibly work reliably
because it is so cheap?


Close enough for government work.

Lew