Help! Jabsco timer wiring...

[eblom]

I did a ballast upgrade using Jabsco timers & johnson pumps... Went to fill for the first time and all I get is 2 blinks... No fill... I must have wired sometging wrong? I have black from the bar by ballast fuse to black on timer... Red from ballast fuse to red on timer... Blue to pump black...orange to pump red... Switches light up & work... Any ideas?

[eblom]

This one has still has me and Wakemakers stumped... So far have tried grounding to the battery... switching to Jabsco pumps... charging the battery and leaving the charger connected while testing (Jabsco tech suggested that one) still the pumps dont run and all I get is 2 blinks on the switch Leds... Spencer just sent out 4 new Jabsco timers. I am hoping thats it...

[Jon]

I would suggest running a large gauge wire direct from the battery with a breaker/fuse back to where your pumps are located. You need to allow 20 amps per pump to determine breaker/fuse size. From there you can connect to a buss bar and split to each timer. You may want to install a 20 amp fuse between each pump and its timer as well. I am not real familiar with Wakemakers timers but 2 blinks on the original Moomba system means that there was a high amperage draw from the pump.

[eblom]

Thank you for your reply... Right now I am running everything off of the original ballast fuse panel with 12 gauge marine wire going to the timers which are mounted in the engine compartment... The Jabsco timers are supposedly the same ones used in the current boats and 2 blinks does mean high amp draw according to the timer manual... Do you think my current setup would cause this high amp draw? How large gauge wire do you suggest I use? Thanks again!

[Jon]

We no longer use the individual control boxes. We now use a pdm to control the pumps. When we did use the 3 boxes, we used 6 ga wire from the battery to a bus bar at the pumps, then 12 gauge from buss bar to box. I would try to bypass the old fuse box if at all possible.

[eblom]

Thanks for the tip... I wired it up this way and it worked! If anyone is considering a ballast upgrade using the timers here is what I have learned...

1. The Johnson pumps draw a higher initial amp at startup and the Jabsco timers will not tolerate it...
2. Using the old fuse box and running 12 ga wire to the engine compartment causes an amperage loss and the Jabsco timers will not tolerate it... All you will get in either case is 2 blinks out of the switch LED and the timer will not activate the pump...

I ran 6 ga wire using the battery cable tunnel under the port side seats to bus bars mounted in the engine compartment as Jon suggested. Then hooked the timers to the bus bars with some of the large amount of useless (to me) 12 ga wire Wakemakers sold me...

[KSmith]

We no longer use the individual control boxes. We now use a pdm to control the pumps. When we did use the 3 boxes, we used 6 ga wire from the battery to a bus bar at the pumps, then 12 gauge from buss bar to box. I would try to bypass the old fuse box if at all possible.

Jon, Could you clarify what the pdm is and is it possible for those of us with the 3 timers on our GIII to migrate to a similar system?

[Jon]

The PDM is a Power Distribution Module. This module always has power (+) running to it. When the switch is turned on for the pump, it basically sends a ground (-) signal to complete the circuit. The PDM essentially does the same as what the 3 timer boxes did, just now all in one box. The PDM also controls the wakeplate now, rather than having a separate wakeplate controller like in the 3 box system. I guess one could convert but it would be costly and I don't see an advantage of one over the other.

[KSmith]

Thanks Jon, much appreciated!

[jikemones]

Jon,

Just pulled the boat out of storage and my ballast pumps are not running. Both batteries are fully charged, all wires are connected, checked and reset the ballast breaker in the engine compartment, ballast switch lights come on when flipped to fill and drain (pumps don't run). Everything worked when it was put into storage any thoughts on what I could check?

Thanks