Replacing Cockpit Bilge on 2005 CDory 25 Cruiser.

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cplantijn

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Hey all, I’m a very happy new owner of my C-Dory. The previous owner suggested I replace the bilge pumps since they’re the original 20-year-old ones. I’ve only used the cockpit bilge pump so far, and it’s worked fine, but I’d like to replace both and get ahead of any potential issues that might come from running a pump that old.

The switch on the helm for the bilge is a simple ON/OFF switch. According to the C-Dory Owners Operating Manual, the switch should be kept in the ON position when on the water, and the pump will automatically activate when the internal float triggers it. That seems to work fine. I’m replacing it with a Whale Orca Auto 1300 12V Automatic Bilge Pump. It can run constantly, stay off, or operate in auto mode, and it has three wire leads like the existing pump. I like the idea of a manual override mode to get as much water out as possible after a day on the water.

With the current setup, the pump just receives ON or OFF power from the switch. I’d like to replace the helm switch with a three-way switch so I can manually override and run the Orca pump when needed. The issue is, I’m not sure how to trace the third lead from the original bilge pump back to the helm. The wiring is tightly bundled and runs behind panels and bulkheads, and I’d rather not go on a wild goose chase trying to find the third lead for the AUTO connection.

So my question is — is there an easy way to find that third lead? Has anyone replaced their factory bilge with one that includes an explicit ON (manual override) mode? I plan to do the same upgrade for the cabin bilge/drain pump as well.

Attached are photos of the current bilge in the cockpit access hatch and the back side of the bilge switch, where no third lead is visible.

PXL_20251013_155817210.jpgPXL_20251013_155848312.jpg
 
There is a pretty good chance that the original wiring was only two wires to the helm. I would hook up the wiring as you have it to one side of the 3 way switch. Then run a new wire from the manual wire on the pump. You will wire tie these new wires to the current bundle. Always leave a pulling cord in the wire races. Your current set up, puts the pump in "Auto" mode which some boats wire directly to the battery. The other mode is manually "on" for the pump and bypasses the float switch.
 
On my 2005 25' Cruiser I have the same pump and switch. It gave me trouble getting it sorted after I got it this summer. There was a stone in the impeller so the bilge pump didn't work at all. The circuit breaker in the dash was tripped and the float side didn't power at all. I cleared the stone and the manual function from the dash was fine (after resetting the breaker) but still no float action. I can't remember which was which wire, brown or brown with white stripe. They were very hard to trace for sure. I FINALLY found the blown fuse for the float activation side in the battery compartment. It is just a rubber capped fuse attached to the battery before the battery switch so it always has power to keep the boat safe (there were 3 fuses zip tied together there, one of the others was for the cabin bilge pump). I imagine yours WAS wired the same, 20 years in it's hard to know if someone modified it. I also bought a Whale pump to replace my Rule, for the lower draw/dryer bilge, but have not figured how to configure the plumbing yet since it's a very different shape (winter project).
 
@thataway Very interesting idea on seeing if the AUTO can be directly connected to the battery and have the ON/OFF switch at the helm being the manual override. I think I like that idea, especially if it saves hours of tracing wires and pulling cords through the entire boat.

@RodWestVT thanks for letting me know about your experience. I'll use my multimeter and play around with those wires to see if one ends up being one of the wires in the accessory wire bundles near the battery :-).

Thanks guys.
 
If you connect the "auto" to the battery, it has to be properly fused, and I prefer some type of "on/off" switch. Usually on the C Dory all three wires for each bilge pump to to the switch at the console.

I wonder why people insist on calling a "Bilge Pump" "the bilge"? It is a very common mistake. The bilge is a space, the pump pumps water out of the boat if above a certain level or on demand.
 
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