Bilge pump installed

I have finished installing the bilge pump, wiring, and drain hose.

Here, you can see the wiring from the bilge pump to the switch, as well as the drain hose.

Best practice is actually to use a smooth hose, rather than a corrugated hose like this one. However, I just bought this one in a kit, simply because it was easy and convenient.

The kit came with a through-hull fitting. However, with a low-cut transom on a boat this small, I did not want to drill a hole in the hull. I simply routed the hose over the top of the transom, and secured it with two plastic 3/4" plumbing clamps from Lowe's.

Another view of the pump and switch arrangement.

I routed the wires with self-adhesive Kwik-Klips from Ace Hardware. I hated drilling holes through the frames to route the wire!

This is a Rule bilge pump switch, style #41. It has a fuse holder for the 3-amp fuse that protects the Rule-Mate 500 bilge pump. The red wire goes to the positive terminal on the battery. The brown and brown/white wires attach to the "Auto" and "Manual" terminals on the back of the switch. Ground wires from both the pump and the switch are connected to a common ground wire, (black), that connects to the battery's negative terminal. The switch's red light comes on when the switch is held in the "Manual" position, but not on "Auto." I assume the light only indicates when the pump is actually running.

Wiring to the battery.

Next step is to epoxy-coat the inner diameter of these holes I drilled.

Another view of the pump & wiring arrangement. I wish the wires were less visible, but I don't know how you could easily hide them in an open boat this small.