3607 Shower Sump

[km1125]

Well, I finally took on a project to address the shower sumps. I have two, one for the fwd head and one for the aft. The original equipment was still working but it is loud and the fittings on the reservoir were starting to leak at the aft cabin so I decided to pull the unit out. Also figured I would service the pump, as it's been at least a decade since I last cleaned it out. I figured I might put new grommets on the mounting bolts, as the pump is pretty noisy and I thought it might help isolate better. All the equipment is original to the boat (1983) and until recently was running perfect.

Here's a pic of the fwd sump, but it's basically identical to the original aft sump before I pulled it out.

Shower_sump2.jpg

After getting it out and starting to price some parts (the reservoir needed new 'thru-hulls'), I decided just to replace the whole thing with an assembly. I can't believe how much some of the vendors are getting for these. I ended up buying a knock-off and putting it in. All the new ones have regular impeller-type pumps in them, so they all leave a level of water in the reservoir. My old pumps are diaphragm pumps and could suck the entire reservoir dry, but they did have a float so the float would shutoff before they were completely dry. I had debated for several years to add a push-button manual switch in parallel with the float, so you could run the pump for a few seconds to clear out that remaining water, but never did that.

Here is a pic of the install. Figured while I had it out I took out the mounting below the reservoir and cleaned and painted the whole compartment. After putting it in I realized it had to also replace the bolt that you use to pull the hatch, as it was too long and would hit the lid of the reservoir and not go flush to the floor. The old reservoir had no lid. The new pump is MUCH, MUCH quieter than the originals.

Aft_shower_sump.jpg

[tomschauer]

I dont know how you can go a decade without cleaning the dumps and by your pic it didn't look to bad.
I have to clean our aft sump at least twice a year and forward at least once.
And the aft is always pretty bad, as we use the shower often.

The new one looks good. Let us know if it lasts as long as the original.

[km1125]

Oh, I've cleaned them plenty. I just haven't had to do much with either of the pumps, or much else mechanical on them. I did replace the float switch on the aft one a while ago (maybe 8 years?).

[Midnightsun]

I am surprised also on never servicing. Taking 2 showers almost everyday we are on the boat plus the AC and sink drain that go into my rear unit it is an annual major clean up to not have issues. nice neat new install by the way, thanks for posting.

[Viper]

The price is right on those for sure. My concern with non conventional brands is performance, with pumps it's head pressure. How far does yours have to pump? Did you just leave the vent as is or did you divert with a hose to a different area of the bilge in case of overflow?

I like the shiny bilge BTW

[km1125]

I think the exit hose for the pump is about 7', with just a slight head (maybe 1-1.5 ft?). I did not run a hose from the vent. If any water comes out it will follow the path through the bilge to the bilge pump.

I popped the top off today and used some plastic polish on the inside of it. That stops a lot of the condensation inside and makes it easy to see what's going on inside.

For those folks that might have noticed the missing mounting screw... I had left my box of misc ss screws at home when I mounted it, so I didn't have the right size. That's been resolved now.

Thinking I might re-purpose the old pumps and make a "dry bilge" system with them. I could use one in the engine room and one in the forward compartment. They are diaphragm pumps so they could suck the bilge down to 1/16" and they are ignition-rated. I still have conventional shaft seals so I always get a drip in the engine room.

[Viper]

I repurposed a large one of those pumps for pumping out the bilge after I winterize. You end up with a lot of water from draining the blocks, water heater, etc. Got tired of using the wet vac to do it all and going up and down stairs to drain the vac every two minutes. With the pump, I stick a hose overboard through a window and get into all the tight spots of the bilge with the suction hose, then finish off what little is left with the vac. Works great, I keep it in my winterizing bin.