1987 42 Bertram Bilge Alarm Can not shut off.

Are your feet wet?

Could be a short in the pump, experienced that issue once in a belt driven jabsco
Pump.

Well if it s a high water alarm, there should be no pump in the circuit,

If the switch is ok and out of the picture then something is closing the look between the alarm panel and the switch. Check for a short in the wiring, especially at connection, terminal blocks etc.

Do you have your wiring diagrams? It's possible that those bilge high water alarms take a trip through the alarm circuit boards (I believe part of the Fire Alarm board). On my Bertram 54, those are located behind the steps that go from the salon down to the staterooms.

On my boat, the bilge alarms now bypass the circuit board and give me a light only at the helm. I installed a separate USS Safety Switch audible bilge alarm up on the helm for engine room high water.

These circuit boards can be serviced. The guy who designed the boards can service them. He can be reached at ... Enrique - enrique@yacht-elec.com 786-295-0673.

Do all of your engine alarms (light and audible) work? If not, it will be a similar process of understanding the circuit boards and looking at the wiring schematic. One of my boards had to be rebuilt by Enrique. There are little resistors on the board that fail ... are cheap (in cost) and available from Danny at High Tide Marine.

View attachment 59195 Isn't it behind the step that goes down to the staterooms? There should be 3 boards .. Port Engine Alarm Board, Starboard Engine Alarm Board and Fire/Bilge Alarm Board. You can start by seeing if anything is burnt or fuses burnt out ... If the board is burnt it needs service. You can pull those little resistors and trade them with what is NOT working to see if its the resistor. They should all be the same type of resistor.

Hi,

It is possible that you system uses normally closed switches and this one has failed by cutting the wires as you posted earlier you have just repeated the opening of the circuit as the switch would and your alarm keeps ringing.

Have you tried joining the wires together where you cut them - the ends that go to the boat not the switch?

OK - The photo is helpful. There should still be a "relay box" somewhere so trace where those wires go and look for the relay box. That box should have a few fuses and a relay/resistor for each of the lights. The block you have shown pictured also exists on my boat but that block on my boat is located on the ceiling of the engine room.

So, there is no box located behind the steps on the way down to the staterooms?

I'm not sure what Bertram used. But many times I've seen a flat pancake looking thing, that is 4-6" across 3/4-1" thick and usually red, and usually mounted to the engine room ceiling.

Bilge Alarm

You have two high water switches. Rear and forward. Try removing each of the two switch wires at the alarm box, as shown above and which ever one stops the alarm trace that wire. Bertram writes a wire number on each of the circuits. Or cut each wire one at a time at each of the high water alarm switches. It going to be something simple, eg like a switch failed closed.

Bilge Alarm

In the alarm control box, as shown above, are a few diodes check to see if any one of them have failed or come in contact with another junction.