Tim Allen and the shower sump

[slowgoesit]

I will be using a Gulper 320 for the aft grey water tank, on demand, no float switch, but I'm thinking that is kind of large capacity for the fwd shower, which will be plumbed direct overboard, no float switch, but with a on/off switch just outside the shower enclosure. I'm tentatively looking at the Gulper 220, 12v, which has a max capacity of 3.5 gpm. Any thoughts?

 

[Comodave]

3.5 gpm should handle a shower. If your shower runs faster than that you are wasting a lot of water.

 

[rslifkin]

My aft shower has a gulper 220 in the drain line. Works fine and has never had trouble keeping up.

 

[slowgoesit]

Awesome, thanks guys. I know the pump is rated for 3.5 gpm, but you know what ratings are like . . ..

 

[CharlieO.]

Following this thread because my two showers just drain to the bilge and I thought about adding the sump with pump but now I'm think I'm leaning more toward the inline gulper. We haven't used the showers on the boat yet.

 

[Mainecoast]

Those sump things $uck! Shower drain pump with a small strainer in front of it is the way to go.

 

[DDW]

With a diaphragm type pump you don't need the strainer in front of it. It will pump anything your body sheds without choking. I've had a diaphragm pump on the sailboat for 13 years and on the trawler for 3, no screens or strainers, never anything to clean. Prior to that on the trawler, a sump with screen and centrifugal pump, had to clean the screen once a week and the whole sump once a month or so.

Note that Whale uses the same pump for holding tank pumpout.

 

[Mghalpin]

Try the checkvalve

I had a similar issue in that the sump pump would run, but could not empty the sump basin. Downstream there is a check valve to prevent gray water from flowing back into the sump. It had ‘frozen’ and would not let water pass. In my case I bypassed the check valve with anew line and bingo!

My boat is an OA as well…..

 

[ksanders]

I changed my OEM sump which was basically a bilge pump and float switch in a couple gallon sump, to the whale sump system.

On the outside of this tank mounts a Whale gulper diaphram pump.

I used this because it provided a place for the several different pipes to connect to from two different heads.

 

[Xfirepop]

Cheapo pump

I'm just getting started on cruising and can't afford all the top end stuff after the usual post survey failures. I got rid of the circa 1985 pounding diaphragm monsters and went to Amazon for a couple of sump systems. They're working great so far and they fit right in where the banging diaphragms came out. If they fail I'll just get upgraded sump pumps. At this price, the plastic case alone is worth it!

https://www.amazon.com/DasMarine12V...ywords=boat+shower+sump&qid=1668215274&sr=8-9

 

[JRO]

That is “homemade” sump. It could be anything.
Assuming it was marine grade original setup that was correctly designed and installed… That is an insanely huge shower sump pump… And unnecessary. If you fill the shower sump with the top off so you can see it operate you’d see that the switch is not working or the pump is clogged at it’s bottom inlet grating or the hose to the hull is clogged.
With that new big pump you may have solve the “clogged” hose issue by blowing the crap out with the increased pressure. The hose to the hull is huge, therefore, holds a lot more water weight that needs to be pushed up and out.
If you are sure the switch works (unlikely) then when you pulled out the properly sized sump pump you would have easily seen the crap stopping it from pumping.
Unfortunately shower sump pumps need continuous maintenance.
Tell your buddy to make sure he keeps his shower and sink grates on to stop big stuff from draining into the sump… And remodeling on a boat should never include drywall.

 

[Darlin]

Recommend he add a hair screen to the shower drain, Saves a lot of grief.

 

[tiltrider1]

All the shower sumps on all my boats have been made by the manufacture and all used big pumps. I liveaboard and I never had any issues with hair or anything.

Now my neighbor, does not liveaboard. Uses his boat about a month a year and it came with one of those Rule sumps. It worked for one year. He replaced it and the second one worked for one year. They both came with hair screens.

After looking at my system he decided to make his own duplication. On my boat the aft sump is shared by the shower and the washer. The manufacture installed a Rule 2000. My forward sump is shared by the shower and the sink. It uses a Rule 1500. He decided to go with the Rule 2000. It is over kill but he will never have a problem again.

I inspected the shower sump that my neighbor pulled out. I couldn't find anything wrong with it. My first thought was the check valve was frozen. After talking some more to him I discovered that the sump is pumping 3' vertical to get above the water line. I suspect that he suffers more from a design issue and now with the bigger pump he has overcome the poor design.

 

[SIBERNUT]

Ok, got the sump outta the Phelps. Maybe 10 gallons . Cleaned it out & here's this 1" bored (not cracked, done pn purpose) hole in the bottom side.
WTF? Box had pump, float switch, discharge etc. Why would anybody do that? May even be oem.
Do Tiawanese shower in the bilge or what? Im gonna plug it. Cripes, in a Big 2 sub, we never showered anyway.

 

[Comodave]

Ok, got the sump outta the Phelps. Maybe 10 gallons . Cleaned it out & here's this 1" bored (not cracked, done pn purpose) hole in the bottom side.
WTF? Box had pump, float switch, discharge etc. Why would anybody do that? May even be oem.
Do Tiawanese shower in the bilge or what? Im gonna plug it. Cripes, in a Big 2 sub, we never showered anyway.

Maybe the drilled a drain hole because the pump wasn’t working?

 

[SIBERNUT]

Really? What rectum would do that instead of buying a new pump? And that big?

 

[Comodave]

No telling what people think will work…

 

[AlaskaProf]

No telling what people think will work…

Only has to work long enough to find a buyer.

 

[Comodave]

Only has to work long enough to find a buyer.

How true…

 

[DennisB1]

I have two rule 500 pumps currently in the boat. I installed bronze insect screen on the pump sump which helps a little. The problem with the rule pumps is long hair. I cut one of the rule pumps apart on my band saw and found long hair wrapped around the motor shaft which prevented the motor achieving full RPM resulting in a full sump. It only took one shower to accomplish the lack of pumping capability. A Whale gulped 220 is on my list thinks to do or everybody on board needs a crew cut hair to use the Rule pump.

 

[Comodave]

I built a new sump when we got our Formula. Formula runs just about all the drains into that sump. The plastic welds had broken so all the drains were just going into the bilge. I put a Whale Gulper IC in the sump and it has been great. On the pickup there are sensors for turning on the pump. It also has a test spot that activates the pump if you touch it for a few seconds.

 

[SIBERNUT]

The whale pumps are beyond my budget. Which if any of the Rule knock offs is any good? Probably want a 2000 & a 1000 or 1500

 

[Comodave]

For a sump pump they usually use about a 500 GPH or so.