Shower Sump Pump

[bschnur]

The shower sump pump intake on my boat is plumbed directly to the
shower drains, thus the pump has to run coninuously while
showering. This system is unpopular on my boat because it's
noisy and wastes considerable battery power as it does it's job,
so it's a natural candidate for improvement.
I noticed a semi-isolated bilge area -- maybe a cubic foot of
volume, directly under the sole below the head sink. Water that
somehow gets into this area currently drains via a 7/16" hole
into and through the fiberglass box holdng the mast step. If the
drain hole into the mast box were plugged, a small sump would be
created upstream of the hole. This little isolated area of bilge
would seem to be an ideal place for a quiet Rule bilge/sump pump
that could automatically cycle on/off with a float switch.
Since the factory installation is more costly and seems less
effective than what I'm considering doing, I feel like I must
have missed something. Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[ashapiro]

Jim,
I don't think that I would convert any unused portion of bilge into a shower sump as after a period of use they tend to get gummed up with hair, soap, and will tend to smell. On the other hand, I understand completely, your dislike of the constantly running noisey vibrating Par diaphram pump that powers my shower drain system. Being tired of the noise and vibration of my old system, I changed pumps a few years back and installed a new Flojet shower drain pump. Flojet pumps are somewhat difficult to find, but were highly recommended by Practical Sailor a few years back. I have converted all on board pumps (ie. shower drain, pressure water, and washdown pumps) to the Flojet models and I have never had a bit of trouble. They were originally touted in Practical Sailor as the "quietest" of all pumps tested, but also they were the most powerful in gals/min., would draw the greatest head, drew the least power, and were the least expensive of any of the 8-10 models they tested. Their only drawback, according to PS was that parts weren't readily available. The PS solution seemed logical to me...just carry a spare pump. At the time the Par noisey diaphram pump as originally installed was about $150 to purchase. My new Flojet pressure water system pump (with built-in pressure switch and dampening system making an accumulator tank uneccessary) cost $56. They are now up to the mid sixties, but what the heck, I can keep a spare onboard in case it goes bad!
I know I haven't solved your loss of power issue, but you can easily solve the noise and vibration problems with a Flojet!
Good Luck,
Mick

 

[don]

A previous owner of my boat did what you're thinking of doing. That little sump area now has an Atwood Guardian 500 bilge pump installed in it. This pump doesn't need a separate float switch--has a built-in automatic switch. Seems to work okay, though we haven't used that shower (only ran enough water to check the pump), so I don't know how much crud build-up you'd get in the sump.

 

[bbeach]

Hey! I would like to throw out that the sump in question is linked to the sump from the anchor chain locker.