"Bedhead" Bedhead3663 #:-) @yahoo.com wrote in message
om...
Hey all....

Brand new (pre-owned) boat owner here. The bilge pump on my 2000
Chaparral worked fine when I first got the boat June. Now it won't turn
on... makes no noise / indication it's running at all. I'll take it in
for service but thought I'd ask here if there's anything *simple* I can
check as to why it's not working.

Your bilge pump is activated in two different ways. First there is a float
switch in the bilge that should activate it when water rises to a certain
level in the bilge. Second, there is a switch at the helm that will allow
you to manually activate the pump. Since you didn't specify, I would have
you find out if the pump is non-functional from just one of those activation
methods or both. In other words, if you can activate the pump with the helm
switch, but not by the float switch, then the float switch is suspect. If
the pump won't activate from either method, then either the pump is fried,
or power is not getting to the pump. If you reasonably handy with either a
12V test light or a volt meter, it's not hard to check for power at the
pump. If power is getting to the pump, and the pump is non-functional, then
the problem lies with the pump. If there's no power getting to the pump,
then you have a wiring/fuse/circuit breaker issue. You'll have to trace the
power from the source to the pump to find the interruption. This should be
a fairly easy issue to resolve without having to take the boat in for
service, even replacing the pump or float switch is fairly straightforward
and inexpensive if you have a rudimentary understanding of 12VDC wiring.



Also.... the coolers and the under-deck storage compartment have never
really drained properly / completely since the first day, even when the
bilge pump was working fine. Do these typically drain straight out of the
boat or go to an area that the bilge is supposed to pump out? I've read
through the ownership manual but didn't find any information about this.


The intelligently designed ones drain overboard via a thru-hull fitting.
The cheesey ones drain into the bilge.