Noticed Some Water

A

agreico

New Member
Jul 8, 2009
57
Hopewll Junction, New York
Boat Info
280 Sundancer
Engines
Twin 5.0 Bravo III Drives
I noticed a bit of water around the bilge under the cabin step in my 280DA. Is this normal? Can't remember if it was there last season (my first season of ownership).
 
I correct myself. The water is around the sump box (under the step in cabin). This sump box has air conditioner condensation hose, discharge hose and shower drain hose connnected to it. Should there be water around it??? TG
 
I can't say if its normal but I have never had water in that area. We keep our extra trash liners under that trash can and I see it every time we're on the boat -- it has always been dry.
 
No, not around it. In it perhaps (a bit). Remove the cover and see if the sump pump is working. Sounds like it is not...and it's overflowing.
 
By the way, I assume this water exits the boat. I don't have a gray water pump out. Does the discharge go into the holding tank??? TG
 
It is pumped out of the boat when the float switch is activated. Any leak (hose or other) foward of the helm ends up in this area. You will finds lots of posts, some recent.
 
Do you shower on the boat? We have had water in this sump from shower water that has leaked out the bathroom door, on to the carpet, then in to the sump. This happens when the person taking a shower has not closed the shower curtain in front of the door.
 
My wife showered in the boat last season. The water around the sump looks rather old. The carpet in front of the bathroom door has always been dry. I can't say that I noticed any water around the sump last season. i am going to check to be sure the sump pump is working and then dry the area. Thanks, TG
 
same problem here! I can't figure out how to openly access this area to work on it. The sump box got in there some how?
 
Checked the connections and found none leaking. Verified that the bilge inside the sump box is working. I think the box may be leaking a bit. How in the world do you fix that? TG
 
Agreico -

I haven't had your problem (yet), but if it is a cracked shower sump, West Marine has them:

8247140.jpg
10204204.jpg


Just search on their site for "shower sump"...
 
I had a similar problem last week. It was a bad sump switch on my 2007 280da. The switches only last a couple years.

I put in a new non-mechanical one with a 5 year warranty. It is the: "Attwood's S3 electronic bilge switch" from WM.

And we thought we were chasing a leak from above for the last 3 months.
 
Last edited:
carterchapman said:
Agreico -

I haven't had your problem (yet), but if it is a cracked shower sump, West Marine has them:

8247140.jpg
10204204.jpg


Just search on their site for "shower sump"...
Click to expand...

I have a Sea Ray 38. Last night I was on deck and heard an alarm and light go off. My wife was in the shower. Went down and took up the floor panel for the shower sump and found the shower sump box was overflowing. Obviously something is no longer working in there. Do you replace the switch and the pump? How do you know which one went bad?
 
Hans -

When mine didn't work when the boat was new, MM replaced them both. They didn't bother troubleshooting.

Troubleshooting is easy however. Three things I would check:

1. Remove the four screws from the top of the shower sump box. The float switch has a small knob on the side which you can twist to lift the float. The pump should then come on.

2. If the pump did not come on, pop the two clips loose on the sides of the bilge pump and see if the impeller is not jammed by FOD. If it was, clean it out and try step one again.

3. If it's still not working, now it's time for the voltmeter to see if you have power to the float switch. Then do step one and see if you have power to the pump. Then you can isolate the bad component...

If both are working, it could be the line is clogged.

How often are you cleaning your shower sump out? They can get pretty dirty...
 
Last edited:
I checked the hoses and found no leaks. The pump is working. I dried the area as best I could. Water seems to be seeping (very lightly) from the bottom of the box were it meets the hull. How would that be repaired??? TG
 
agreico said:
I checked the hoses and found no leaks. The pump is working. I dried the area as best I could. Water seems to be seeping (very lightly) from the bottom of the box were it meets the hull. How would that be repaired??? TG
Click to expand...

I think just buy a new sump box from West Marine.
 
carterchapman said:
Hans -

When mine didn't work when the boat was new, MM replaced them both. They didn't bother troubleshooting.

Troubleshooting is easy however. Three things I would check:

1. Remove the four screws from the top of the shower sump box. The float switch has a small knob on the side which you can twist to lift the float. The pump should then come on.

2. If the pump did not come on, pop the two clips loose on the sides of the bilge pump and see if the impeller is not jammed by FOD. If it was, clean it out and try step one again.

3. If it's still not working, now it's time for the voltmeter to see if you have power to the float switch. Then do step one and see if you have power to the pump. Then you can isolate the bad component...

If both are working, it could be the line is clogged.

How often are you cleaning your shower sump out? They can get pretty dirty...
Click to expand...

R E S O L U T I O N **********************

Thanks for all your input. Turns out the circuit breaker was popped down in the ER (engine room). After thinking about it, something had to cause the circuit to pop, so I just decided to replace the entire sump unit. Replacing the entire sump unit, turned out to be less of a problem than replacing each component. Purchased new sump at WM for $119.00. Very easy job.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,218
Messages
1,428,821
Members
61,115
Latest member
Gardnersf
Back
Top