Cleaned my shower sump pump

So I've hated my shower for two years! Anything more than a "boat shower" and she overflows. I shower with a plunger to force the water down from time to time.

This morning I bit the bullet and pulled the sump cover off. Turns out there is a screen in there! Hosed five years of crap out of there, scrubbed 30 varieties of undiscovered slimey life forms out of the sump and she drains like a dream. Shower flowing full blast and the water never gets close to over flowing.

Total time invested: 18 minutes. Total cost: one kitchen scrubbie sponge.

Who would have thought it would be so easy! And the best part about it was that completing this task did not reveal 5 new tasks or require a professional to complete my work!

Bag, do you have a screen at the top of the drain?

There is a screen but some PO had drilled part of it out. What surprised me was the hose, it was clean. I figured the hose would be totally restricted.

How many pictures of that boat do you have Mark?

We lived aboard for 10 years and based on our experience I'd suggest you clean it once a month. Jus' sayin'

Baggiolini said:

And the best part about it was that completing this task did not reveal 5 new tasks or require a professional to complete my work!

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Isn't that the truth! I can't believe how many simple tasks turn into projects. Now, FYI, I have had this boat for 6 1/2 years and thought I had gazed into every nook and cranny the boat has to offer.

Last week, I returned to the boat and was loading 1-gallon drinking water jugs after depleting them all on a previous trip. As I opened the cabinet to load the water, I noticed in the back of the cabinet that there were 2 wires joined together with WIRE NUTS! I thought I already found all the wire nuts on this boat...and there have been quite a few!

So before I could even unload the car, I had a new project on my hands with wire strippers, butt connectors, shrink wrap and heat gun. Ahhh, the joys of owning a 35 year old trawler! (Yup...I really do love it! )

Baggiolini said:

How many pictures of that boat do you have Mark?

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Countless. Besides what we've taken, there are many, many scores of photos provided by the builder, most of which I haven't downloaded let alone displayed on TF. Potentially, it is almost without limit.

markpierce said:

Countless. Besides what we've taken, there are many, many scores of photos provided by the builder, most of which I haven't downloaded let alone displayed on TF. Potentially, it is almost without limit.

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You're gonna need a bigger hard drive

Seabag said:

We lived aboard for 10 years and based on our experience I'd suggest you clean it once a month. Jus' sayin'

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Not sure I can commit to that but I sure like the way it drains! It cracks me up, the things i procrastinate on usually only take a few minutes.....

Total cost: one kitchen scrubbie sponge.

You threw it out???


Must not be a recovering rag bager!

The wire nuts were good for 6 1/2 years...what made you think they needed to be removed?

FF said:

Total cost: one kitchen scrubbie sponge.

You threw it out???


Must not be a recovering rag bager!

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No FF, it would be an argument if I kept stealing the sponges....I crammed it next to the sump for next year

So interesting how boat designs vary. While originally looking over the boat, I had been pondering why Belladonna had no sump/pump. Until I realized that unlike every other boat I had looked at which used every square inch of hull space below decks, THIS boat was built like a commercial boat with a raised cabin....or a houseboat.......all the grey water just flows over the side because its above the waterline. Duh!

Which made me think about all that wasted space below the deck. Sigh. The upside is once I get down there on my hands and knees EVERYTHING is accessible without removing interior panels, etc. There is even a trolley on tracks for approximately 20 feet.

Baggiolini said:

No FF, it would be an argument if I kept stealing the sponges....I crammed it next to the sump for next year

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Speaking of sponge scrubbers. I keep mine handy with a piece of PVC.
One More Time Around: Sponge/Scrubber Holder

Shower sump,mmmmm. My shower drains into the forward bilge and the pump sends it overboard......

I use this for cleanup...(sorry couldn't resist)

If you don't use a sump is there much buildup of soap scum, etc? I know in my case if I had to make a choice between bilge and sump I'd choose sump...my bilge area midships is approx. 30 ft x 16 and the aluminum hull is coated with foam...could be a mess. Would be much easier to clean a sump. Heck, you can make a sump out of one of those plastic 55 gallon barrels they use to hold pickles, etc. I see them on craigslist all the time for $10-$20.

Always wondered if they could be used for freshwater on board instead of buying expensive freshwater tanks...I should ask what others think.

I replaced my sump pump with a red head bait tank pump. It's the type with the sealed bottom and hose barb. I installed an inline strainer before it and it's positive overboard pressure with no smell. I also clean it about once a month. It was a very inexpensive fix and it has lasted over 20 years.

A previous owner of our boat installed a rather unique pump for the shower. I've been told the name of it but forgotten--- it's like a blood pump in that there is an arm that rotates in a round chamber with a soft tube around the chamber wall. The arm has rollers on each end that compress the tube and move the contents through the tube and out. So the parts that are doing the pumping never come in contact with what's being pumped.

The company that made it makes big ones for the printing industry to move different colored inks around without contaminating the pumps. They made these small ones for awhile for the RV and boating industry. The thing will pump wet sand through it. We bought some spares of the parts that wear and when it gives up for good we'll replace it with a Whale Gulper diaphragm pump.

I've only been personally familiar with one boat that simply dumps the shower water into the bilge for the bilge pump to send overboard. But bilge pumps never get everything and this boat did have a perpetual odor issue with the water in the bilge.

Peristaltic pumps

Same type of pump used in IV equipment. Don't they use something similar to pump most liquid foods....like milk?

aronhk_md said:

If you don't use a sump is there much buildup of soap scum, etc? I know in my case if I had to make a choice between bilge and sump I'd choose sump...my bilge area midships is approx. 30 ft x 16 and the aluminum hull is coated with foam...could be a mess. Would be much easier to clean a sump. Heck, you can make a sump out of one of those plastic 55 gallon barrels they use to hold pickles, etc. I see them on craigslist all the time for $10-$20.

Always wondered if they could be used for freshwater on board instead of buying expensive freshwater tanks...I should ask what others think.

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Haven't had any issues yet, as I clean the bilge on a regular bases, easy access. I guess my reluctance to installing a shower sump is all the problems I hear and read about.

Water casks are very traditional on boats with no rating up to 64 guns!

Usually a yard would have a sling to bring it on deck, another to lower it into the hold.

Magellan would love plastic to those old leaky casks !

Sumps,"all the problems I hear and read about.

The problems are soap scum , hair and other wash offs plugging the pump, or leaving a stink.

Sure is easier to take the pump and sump up on deck for a scrub out than your bilge!

YRMV

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

Shower sump,mmmmm. My shower drains into the forward bilge and the pump sends it overboard......

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Mine would be like that, but they added a plastic box about 2 ft x 1 ft, about 8" high, open top. Both showers drain into that and there is a sump pump inside to pump it out.
It is right next to the fwd bilge pump, so if overflow, the bilge pump takes care of it.
Also, in case of bilge pump problem, shower sump will take of it.
nice redundancy adn keeps gray water separate.

RIchard

My Californian shower water is pumped overboard directly from the shower basin without a sump. Shower basin-hose-pump-hose-above water thru-hull. The pump is manually activated ON and OFF with a button in the shower stall shown below. No bilge water to empty, no sump clean, no float to fail.

I had to rebuild the pump recently with some help from my friends here on TF, but other than that, it's been hassle free. When I rebuilt the pump, it was clean as a whistle with no hair or scum. One of the rubber valves had failed.

If my shower emptied into the bilge, I'd consider modifying it to a sump-less system like this. Do sumps exist for any other reason than to support a float switch? If the right pump is used, it won't clog with hair and soap scum.

aronhk_md said:

Same type of pump used in IV equipment. Don't they use something similar to pump most liquid foods....like milk?

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We had a pump like that on the self serve milk where I worked (student union). We used 12 oz cups. I set the pump to deliver 7 oz when the button was pushed. It was interesting to see whether they pushed the button again (most did) and if they would take the cup out or let it overflow on the second try.

Marin said:

Snipped

I've only been personally familiar with one boat that simply dumps the shower water into the bilge for the bilge pump to send overboard. But bilge pumps never get everything and this boat did have a perpetual odor issue with the water in the bilge.

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Maybe they forgot to put a "Don't pee in the shower" sign in the stall.
I'm thinking back to the poop signs discussed not long ago

We had a sump box between the stringers in front of the engine with a rule pump and float switch, it always had odor.....cleaned, cleaned, cleaned and still had odor. I took the drain line from the shower/mini bathtub cut it and installed a small Whale Gulper pump inline to the overboard discharge line and wired a switch. Now it pumps out the tub directly overboard, no more odor, no sump box to clean. Been working great for 15 years.