Shower Problem

[ancora]

A dockmate with a sailboat has a slow draining shower, with too many loops and turns to use a snake. Is there a liquid drain cleaner we can use that won't hurt the rubber hose?

 

[Xlantic]

An alternative might be to disconnect the drain hose at the other end, connect it to a water hose, turn on the fawcet and try to clear the obstruction with reverse pressure.

 

[backinblue]

I recently used this to clean out some slow deck drains with good results. I mainly chose it because it is eco friendly and would be flushing directly into the water. It worked really well. It's not expensive and should be fine for the hoses. I'd suggest giving it a try.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Green-Gobb...Clog-Dissolver-Dual-Chamber-Bottle/5001486121

 

[firehoser75]

Maybe he is already doing this, but after it working again, don't use bar soap. Only use liquid soap, and try to "catch" as much hair, etc. before it goes into the drain. In 5 years of use, and the previous owner for 7 before that, we never had any drainage issues. Our shower drain drained into a shower sump in the keel and was pumped overboard. I have heard of many people who have experienced issues when using bar soap in this type of drainage setup.
The other thing is, to look to changing the routing of hose to try to ensure that gravity works in your favour instead of allowing any areas where you are trying to "drain uphill" in the path to the sump from the shower.

 

[backinblue]

Maybe he is already doing this, but after it working again, don't use bar soap. Only use liquid soap, and try to "catch" as much hair, etc. before it goes into the drain. In 5 years of use, and the previous owner for 7 before that, we never had any drainage issues. Our shower drain drained into a shower sump in the keel and was pumped overboard. I have heard of many people who have experienced issues when using bar soap in this type of drainage setup.
The other thing is, to look to changing the routing of hose to try to ensure that gravity works in your favour instead of allowing any areas where you are trying to "drain uphill" in the path to the sump from the shower.

My shower is the same setup with a sump pump. I added a "screen" to the drain to catch hair. It turns out that a single cup coffee maker I bought came with a very fine screen filter that fit perfectly into the drain fitting in the shower floor. Didn't think I would really need it for the coffee maker.
Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good!

 

[janice142]

I'm certain you've tried one of the industrial strength plungers. A second line of defense is to purchase a giant syringe at the Dollar Tree. I've used it to clear leaves out of a cockpit supper run. Backflushing with a hose from outside is a good idea too. Be sure to put a bath towel in the sink so you don't soak the entire head.

Next, purchase Dawn detergent. I buy the platinum version which is 4x as strong. Pour 1/4 cup or so of Dawn into the drain. Now heat a teapot full of water until boiling. Pour it into the sink. Dawn soaking in, followed by boiling water has worked miracles.

As a side note, the vinegar followed by boiling water or baking soda experiments have bot worked for me. Good luck.

 

[Lepke]

I've used a Drain King that goes on a garden hose. The rubber expands to seal the drain and it build pressure in the line to whatever your water pressure is. It's always worked for hair and lint plugs. About $13 on Amazon and in most hardware stores.

 

[catalinajack]

Try all those solutions. Perhaps one may work. However, none of them worked on my galley sink drain that had been plaguing me for years. I was somewhat successful by accessing the hose from below the bathroom sink where it interfaces with the bathroom sink. I used hot water from the drain on my hot water heater. It made a mess with back pressure but I was able to clear the hose enough such that it drained well enough. It lasted about 18 months and then plugged up again beyond retribution.

I surrendered and disassembled the PVC arrangement underneath the bathroom sink from the hose from the galley sink and the drain hose. Inside the drain hose and the PVC where it is joined to the drain hose, I found a mass of a white, muddy substance I guess was a calcium buildup that had accumulated over many years. The drain was almost completely occluded. It was NOT greasy. Anyway, I cleared the blockage and as is well. The problem, though, on some boats access is difficult.

Before I determined to rip apart the plumbing, I had planned to try Liquid Plumber or CLR or something else but my thought was that, unless one can plug the exit hole below the water line, anything put in the drain will, well, just drain away. The expanding gizmo Lepke suggested will work as advertised, that is, create line pressure until the pressure forces the blockage out. However, if it is not successful, if the blockage is too stubborn, be prepared for a strong back flush into the boat, something I have experienced. Good luck.

 

[FF]

"It turns out that a single cup coffee maker I bought came with a very fine screen filter that fit perfectly into the drain fitting in the shower floor."

If someone needs a big piece of very fine SS screen the Ikea frying splatter shield is only a few bucks.

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/klockren-splatter-screen-40449168/

 

[rslifkin]

I'm general, I'm a strong proponent of no shower sumps. Just a diaphragm pump like a whale gulper. The gulper will feed hair just fine and no sump means less things to build up grossness. Basically, unless you clog a hose, it just works. Only downside is that it's louder, as you get a slurping noise at the drain.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

Don't use strong acids or heavy duty drain cleaners. You will regret it later. Try the reverse pressure or try enzymes.

pete

 

[dalemoses]

After a decade of cleaning hair/soap out of the filter, our shower sump pump stopped pumping. I tried backflushing and forward flushing but just filled buckets rather than getting the pump to empty the lines. Finally, I took the pump apart (hard to get at in the bilge) and sure enough, it was clogged badly. I cleaned it up and now it works fine. An article in Passagemaker (May/June 21 by Peter Fredericken) suggests dumping a bottle of hydrogen peroxide down the shower drain once/week in the season. Does anyone have any confirmation of doing that? I sure don't want to have to open that pump again!

 

[backinblue]

Get a screen fitted for your drain to catch hair and don't use anything other than liquid soap on the boat. See post 3 above. That worked great for me, and I don't see any downside to it.

 

[dalemoses]

In response to backinblue (above), yes we have a screen at the drain, and we clean out the filter downstream of the floor drain enroute the pump frequently. Hair and soap scum still make it to the sump pump although it builds up more slowly! I don't believe that the residue scum from liquid soap is much different than bar soap but we have tried that too. Something to clean the pump itself seems warranted - that's why I am interested in hydrogen peroxide periodically. Does Peggie Hall have an opinion on this?

 

[backinblue]

Thanks Dale. I hadn't heard about the Hydrogen peroxide trick before, but whatever you use would need to sit in the sump and in the pump for a while to work. When I used the "green" drain cleaner, I put 1 dose in and left overnight. Then added another dose and went boating for the afternoon, before flushing with fresh water. I'm assuming it spent some time in the sump and pump, not just the drain.