Blaster bilge pump blowing fuse

Location
Orlando
I was in some rough surf today so I decided to let the bilge run while I was out there. I noticed it stopped working after a few minutes of constant use. It is wired to a rotary switch then to both terminals of the battery. I was blowing 5.0 Amp fuses. When I got home I switched to 7.5 Amp fuses and those kept blowing too.

Am I running the wrong fuse in this thing for a 500 gph Rule pump?
 
Location
Orlando
Not yet. It just happened today. The pump has been installed for only a few months, but I've only used it a few times. Each time only for a short while, maybe two minutes or so until it stopped spewing water.

I will tear it all down this week and rewire it to see if maybe there's a bad ground or something. I was told a 5.0 Amp fuse would suffice, but I am curious as to how large of a fuse can I go and what others are using.
 

Proformance1

Liquid Insanity
Site Supporter
Vendor Account
Location
New York Crew
USE A FUSE! It's not worth setting you ski on fire. 3 amp is fine, 5 will work,7.5 is way to large. You have other issues, grounding out somewhere, maybe pump is hitting drive shaft etc. Check the wiring with a tester.
 

BruceSki

Formerly Motoman25
Location
Long Island
I have had a wire get stuck on the ebox brackets and ground out before. It will get pinched once in a while. I didn't run a fuse on that setup though. I melted some wires instead.
 
Location
Orlando
Fixed it. Apparently the ground wire slipped out of the connector. I replaced it with a new one. I also found the hot lead was also on it's way out, it was cracked where it looped around the post, so I replaced it as well too.

Works like a champ with a 5 amp fuse.
 
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