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Bilge Blower Switch/Relay

Walter Pearson

Member III
I probably have the original blower and blower switch on my '76 E27 and all works well except the switch is located down below and often I wish I had that control in the cockpit. Is there a reason I can't have the best of both worlds and put in a relay? A solid state device should be reliable and intrinsically safe - at least as safe as the O-ring seal on the existing switch.
 

tenders

Innocent Bystander
I probably have the original blower and blower switch on my '76 E27 and all works well except the switch is located down below and often I wish I had that control in the cockpit. Is there a reason I can't have the best of both worlds and put in a relay? A solid state device should be reliable and intrinsically safe - at least as safe as the O-ring seal on the existing switch.

A relay seems like the hard way to go about this. Why not just reroute the wiring from the switch down below to the "accessory" terminal on a four-position ignition switch (the four positions being off/accessory on/ignition on/start)?

My boat originally had a fused blower switch in the DC panel and a switch in series near the key. It worked, but the lack of convenience of always having to flip two switches was not worth the intellectual satisfaction of having the blower fuse right next to all the other DC fuses.
 

Walter Pearson

Member III
You're right - the relay is not a necessity and may not be the best way to go, but I do want to operate the blower from both locations. I have the old, on-off ignition switch without any accessory position, so I would have to add another switch anyway. I thought perhaps I could steal enough juice at the engine panel to operate a relay, but I'm not so sure I wouldn't have to run some more wires to handle the full blower load. A complete rewire wasn't high on my list, but I may have to move it up.
 
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