Bilge Pump replacement for a 1997 2300sc

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I hope I am asking this question in the right place. I have searched for an answer everywhere I could think of, but found this site a few minutes ago. We are going out of town for a few days and are leaving our boat in the water for the first time. We do not have an automatic bilge, but I was looking to replace the current pump with one. I do not know the output pipe size and I was hoping someone here might be able to help. I am just learning as I go here and any info of how to find out this information would also be greatly appreciated. We have owned her for 2 years now and only this year we really started to be on the water a lot. Once again i appreciate any info! Now I am off to check another thread I saw for replacement cover I saw.

[mmwjr]

Welcome aboard

You can keep the existing pump and add a float. The float should be located near the pump and be wired to the battery through a fuse sized for the pump. The other wire from the float connects to the positive connection on the pump where the helm switch connects. You connect both so the pump can be activated by either the float or the helm switch.

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Thank you i will look into this idea.

[shrew]

Your discharge hose size will more than likely be 3/4". That is the size from 500GPH to around 1100 GPH, which would be the typical size up to the mid 30' range.

Look at your bilge pump now and determine if there are 1 or 2 positive leads to the pump. If there are two, then you would connect 1 to the helm switch and the 'hot' lead to the switch. If there is only one positive, then the float switch goes in between, however this requires the dash switch to always be ON for it to work.

If you buy a new pump with an internal switch, make sure it is not the kind that has to power on to sense water. Personally, I prefer a passive switch that doesn't draw power unless actuated.