One of my three bilge pumps (keel pump) is a fully automatic pump (Rule LP900). I have it wired directly to a 12v fuse (brown wire) so it is in fully automatic mode. It has an additional brown/white wire should I choose to also have a manual switch option. I have this capped as I don’t need this. Does anyone know if there is a way to monitor this pump? The automatic switching function is built into the pump so I can’t access any wire to sense a change in voltage from 0v to 12v, unless the brown/white wire will provide that.
I believe that the brown/white can be used for this as 12v is present when the pump is running and not when it’s off. I have one of these pumps and I had meant to see if I could wire it to a panel light. It may be that it doesn’t go to 12v unless the pump is actually moving water. Mine comes on for a few seconds every 10 seconds and if it senses water it stays on.
Thank you for the reply. I think I’ll give that a try and dump a bucket of water into my keel while testing that wire with my voltmeter. I did a bit of research on panel switches as well and it looks like most switches with lights utilize that wire to sense when the pump is running. So, I think I answered my own question and you confirmed my theory. Thanks for the help!
Checking with a multi-meter (as you mentioned) is highly recommended. You just want to find the wire or point of contact that shows positive voltage while the pump is running and no voltage when it is off.