Bilge pump wiring help question.

Hi, I'm wiring an Attwood 750gph auto bilge pump and I am electrically clueless.

What I want is to be able to put the pump down in the bilge area at night because my boat is going to be docked at a slip. I want to put it down there and hook the wires straight to the battery terminals, which will also be hooked to a trickle charger. The pump says it needs a 5 amp fuse, so I bought fuses and wire piece that will be spliced onto the wires, but will this work if I am hooking the pump straight up to the battery?

My next question has to do with the three wire combination. I have no problem with the negative but I have no use for the positive for the manual wire as I need it to only be automatic. Can I just splice the end of the manual wire?

Oh, and does the wire gauge matter? I have 14 and 18 gauge.

Any other tips and advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Does your pump incorporate some sort of float switch? If not you need to wire a float switch in series with the auto wire on the pump. Yes you can just splice the manual cable, as for the cable size I’m clueless we work in millimeters and I have no idea what 14 & 18 gauge relate to.

I would assume that if the pump has two separate leads for power because it is a AUTOMATIC pump,
If it is indeed a AUTOMATIC pump just run the ground and the AUTOMATIC wires to the battery with the fuse inline. Then just cap off the manual lead if not needed.

Most newer boats already have one installed, but I have seen older ones sitting deep after a nights rain.

Like Dan said on which wires. I would recommend using the 14 AWG wire.

It sounds like you are "jury rigging" this bilge pump, which is better than nothing but I highly recommend that you do a proper installation. The pump should be secured well. If it is just loose it can fall over and the the float switch can turn on and the pump run dry forever.