‘03 360 SS Bilge Help

[Jskhome62]

Still relatively new on my ownership journey and while getting things figured out, need some help with this one.

I’ve gotten into the habit of checking the bilge pumps and high water alarms for blockages and function before I leave the boat. I have a hwa/pump in the forward/shower sump and an aft hwa/pump in the cockpit sump along the rear bulkhead. I have yet to find the midship pump - we’ll get back to that in a minute.

Was on board last weekend and all functional when I left. Was back on board yesterday after a week of heavy rain and found the cockpit and engine room pretty full of water. Was actually up to the high water float switch alarm - which was not going off and obviously the pump was not running. No appreciable water in the forward sump but no high water alarm either when I tested the float. The floats on both in the rear were free and activated. So I turned the pumps on from the bridge and they came on immediately and cleared the sumps.

After a little digging I found a wire had come loose from the aft pump, reterminated that and tested the float and all seems functional again. Can’t yet find anything loose or broken on the hw alarm.

So now the questions:
1. Easy one first. The 06 manual I found (on this forum btw so thanks for that and seems to correlate to my 03) shows the midship bilge is against the forward engine room bulkhead on the keel line. But there are fore/aft stingers there, as well as the black water tank between them. There doesn’t seem to be any access hatches either and this is the only bilge that doesn’t turn on from the bridge switch. So I’m not sure if it’s there and broken or if it doesn’t exist. Any ideas where to look for this pump?
2. Is it common for a wire to just ‘fall off’ while the boat is sitting at the dock? I suppose its more likely the bilge came on at some point and the wire cut loose then as the power lead from the boat harness seemed pretty thin (from corrosion?). Any good way to check for this sort of thing or is it all find and fix when failed?
3. There is a breaker panel on the engine room forward bulkhead that has breakers for the bilges, hw alarm, head pump, etc. (photo attached). I thought maybe the breaker had tripped but when I tried to toggle it, the rocker switch doesn’t seem to be movable at all even though it has a ‘on/off’ label. Is there a trick to moving these? Basically the left 2/3 of this panel appears to be like that - switches that look like rockers but don’t appear to move.
4. Any idea where the hw siren might be located? I suppose that could be the problem - maybe it was going off at some point and has failed? Seems like I need to get to the siren as part of the troubleshooting.
5. Anything I should be particularly concerned about or need to check since the water got to the high water alarm threshold?

Thanks in advance. Boat ownership has certainly been an adventure so far.

[km1125]

Some breakers are designed so you can't manually shut them off, but they will trip and then you can reset them. This is for critical circuits like fire alarms, smoke detectors and some automatic bilge pump systems. Not sure if this applies specifically to your vessel, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case on the breakers you refer to.

Post some pics of that center bilge area and it might jog the memory on some folks and lead to suggestions.

You also want to find out how that rain water (if indeed it was rainwater) made it's way to the bilge. That really shouldn't happen.

[bud37]

Source of the post There is a breaker panel on the engine room forward bulkhead that has breakers for the bilges, hw alarm, head pump, etc. (photo attached). I thought maybe the breaker had tripped but when I tried to toggle it, the rocker switch doesn’t seem to be movable at all even though it has a ‘on/off’ label. Is there a trick to moving these? Basically the left 2/3 of this panel appears to be like that - switches that look like rockers but don’t appear to move.

Does this breaker have a small slot, maybe red or white ....if so you can insert a small electronic screwdriver or something small and thin, press and you can turn that circuit off....it is a safety device as KM suggested.

Sorry I can't tell from the pic, maybe a closeup.

A tip...clean and flush all your deck plate scuppers/drains and check the plate edge seals as well.

[buster53]

Source of the post

Source of the post There is a breaker panel on the engine room forward bulkhead that has breakers for the bilges, hw alarm, head pump, etc. (photo attached). I thought maybe the breaker had tripped but when I tried to toggle it, the rocker switch doesn’t seem to be movable at all even though it has a ‘on/off’ label. Is there a trick to moving these? Basically the left 2/3 of this panel appears to be like that - switches that look like rockers but don’t appear to move.

Does this breaker have a small slot, maybe red or white ....if so you can insert a small electronic screwdriver or something small and thin, press and you can turn that circuit off....it is a safety device as KM suggested.

Sorry I can't tell from the pic, maybe a closeup.

A tip...clean and flush all your deck plate scuppers/drains and check the plate edge seals as well.

A better picture would really be helpful. My critical breakers (bilge, sump, CO) have a separate panel underneath a companionway step and cannot be easily turned off.

[Viper]

Source of the post
Does this breaker have a small slot, maybe red or white ....if so you can insert a small electronic screwdriver or something small and thin, press and you can turn that circuit off....it is a safety device as KM suggested.....

Pretty sure that's the type he has bud. I don't recall if you can actually turn the circuit off though, I know you can reset. I'd have to take another look at one, it's been a while.

[bud37]

I couldn't tell from the pic, just assuming based on his boat year as I had those style breakers in about the same year boat. You need to be able to isolate the circuit to work on it without shutting down the entire boat...IMO.

see this for breaker info.....viewtopic.php?f=12&t=4935&hilit=bilge+pump+breakers

[Jskhome62]

Thanks all. I’ll check/send a better pic but I’m assuming since nothing seems to move I don’t have a tripped breaker that is keeping the hwa from sounding and I need to look elsewhere.

It’s been several days from when I found the water and drained it and I am back to ‘normal’ water levels in the bilge so I can only assume it was from all the rain. Or since the bilge seems functional again, maybe it’s keeping up with whatever leak may be there. I dont think that’s the case though as I dont see any wet spots inside. I do know I have a slow drip on one of the drip less seals but not enough flow to put that much water in the bottom.

Would still appreciate any thoughts on if/where that midship pump may be. Happy thanksgiving all.

[km1125]

Even if it was from all the rain, you should still understand how it's getting into the bilge because an "alarming amount" would not be normal.

[pepmyster]

Please check my posts of water getting into the bilge during rain. The mid-ship pump is located beside the shower sump under the rear bed of the second room.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4805

[Alanna Mo Cree]

So now the questions:
1. Easy one first. The 06 manual I found (on this forum btw so thanks for that and seems to correlate to my 03) shows the midship bilge is against the forward engine room bulkhead on the keel line. But there are fore/aft stingers there, as well as the black water tank between them. There doesn’t seem to be any access hatches either and this is the only bilge that doesn’t turn on from the bridge switch. So I’m not sure if it’s there and broken or if it doesn’t exist. Any ideas where to look for this pump?

There is a bilge pump under the berth as pepmyster mentioned, one forward engine room against the forward bulkhead, and one all the way aft under the cockpit. On my 360, the one at the forward engine room is below a removable wooden platform forward of the platform the holding tank is under. Once you drop down into the engine room, remove the carpet on the centerline from the forward section and you should see a cut across the wood. Lift the area forward of that cut and you should see the bilge pump in there. I'm not at the boat or I would take pictures.

2. Is it common for a wire to just ‘fall off’ while the boat is sitting at the dock? I suppose its more likely the bilge came on at some point and the wire cut loose then as the power lead from the boat harness seemed pretty thin (from corrosion?). Any good way to check for this sort of thing or is it all find and fix when failed?

This doesn't seem common to me, but I have seen where a wire wasn't properly tightened/crimped/attached and came loose. I had to replace the aft float switch a year ago and my first crimp didn't take the way I would have liked.

3. There is a breaker panel on the engine room forward bulkhead that has breakers for the bilges, hw alarm, head pump, etc. (photo attached). I thought maybe the breaker had tripped but when I tried to toggle it, the rocker switch doesn’t seem to be movable at all even though it has a ‘on/off’ label. Is there a trick to moving these? Basically the left 2/3 of this panel appears to be like that - switches that look like rockers but don’t appear to move.

The "Safety Breaker Panel" has guards over the switches from CO Detector to the left. You have to use a small screw driver or paper clip or something to push those off. I figured this out when changing that aft float switch.

4. Any idea where the hw siren might be located? I suppose that could be the problem - maybe it was going off at some point and has failed? Seems like I need to get to the siren as part of the troubleshooting.

Not sure exactly, but judging by the complaints I get from the crew in the salon when I test it I'm going to bet it is inside somewhere rather than up at the helm. It is certainly loud enough to be heard anywhere on board. Now I'm going to have to go find it next time I'm at the boat.

5. Anything I should be particularly concerned about or need to check since the water got to the high water alarm threshold?

If the water was just in the center section then probably nothing to worry about other than determining the source of the water. I can't remember getting any appreciable amount of water in the bilge, including during hurricane Ian last year. I'm assuming yours is similar to mine with the pump centerline, pump float switch immediately aft of the pump (under the step in this pic), and the alarm switch to port (right side in this pic). Clearly I needed to clean that bilge when I took this picture.

PXL_20220226_150147708.jpg