shower sump box

Ethan's Tank

Ethan's Tank

Member
Jun 1, 2014
425
aquia creek.potomac river United States
Boat Info
2009 Searay sundancer 350DA with twin 496 seacores
2000 wellcraft 2600 martinique [old]
Engines
Mercruiser 350 5.7 EFI
my shower sump box is so ineffective. unless i manual trigger the float in the sahara, it just overflows the sump box and the 2nd emergency pump pumps it overboard. This is the 2nd pump I've installed.

Does anyone have this issue or have they swapped out the whole assembly for something else?

Any recommendation is appreciated. My boat engine isn't running, so it a good time to do maintenance around the boat
 
So... The pump works when manually activated and the water exits the box as expected when doing so? Meaning, other than the float switch part, everything else in the system is working as designed? Did you replace the pump because the first one was doing the same thing, or was it for another reason?
 
Lazy Daze said:
So... The pump works when manually activated and the water exits the box as expected when doing so? Meaning, other than the float switch part, everything else in the system is working as designed? Did you replace the pump because the first one was doing the same thing, or was it for another reason?
Click to expand...

The first one was replaced because I thought it didn't push the full 750gph, I just heard it run every min or so. Either it would burn out or it would keep running till my batteries die while anchored out somewhere. Turns out there is a rubber flap as part of the box outlet, that the flap broke off, so the original pump would pump water to a certain height and the water wouldn't make it past the apex and backflow back to the box.
I didn't learn about the flap till after I install the 2nd pump till I was at some boat show in the spring when I was de-winterizing and that was the same season I installed the pump. So I didn't fully test the new pump with old rubber flap. I hadn't installed the old pump back in cause they are all soldered on wire with no quick disconnect
 
I had a pump with built in float switch in my old boat and hated it.
Separate float switch is much better and easier to isolate problems.
Anyway, the float switches have sensors that get screwed up if they get gummed up. They are much more sensitive to gunk than the old mercury type were.
It's very important to keep the sump clean. The soap and shampoo film screws the float switch up. I've found that the pink antifreeze screws them up too.
I've got two sumps on my current boat and was just able to solve a problem with one of them. The float was constantly turning the pump on at the higher level and off before draining the sump which resulted in constant cycling.
I cleaned the sump, pump, and switch and it's now working properly.
Cleaning the sumps is now a more frequent maintenance item.
 
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OK, that start to makes more sense, then. In essence, this is then an entirely new issue and not related to the old pump. Because based on your first post, the only thing I could think of causing the issue (because it happened with two pumps) was you were using some kind of new-age, all organic, mineral-free water that didn't cause the float to float! :)

It sounds like there's simply an issue with the new pump, or rather the float. Possibly scummed up, possibly a physical issue. The box, itself, is used in thousands of boats with, generally, no issue. So it "should" work as designed. I would pull the pump back out and check the float's condition. If you really wanted to, you could install a separate float switch. There should be room as I believe your box is the same dimensions as older designs where a separate float switch was used.

Just be glad you're dealing with "this" box, and not the one that holds the black water!
 
Get a "water witch" float switch... it solved all my problems with the never ending overflowing sump box ... if you search for it on here, you will see a few threads about it
 
After struggling with sump box issues for a while, a couple of years ago I installed a Rule-Mate bilge pump with an onboard, solid-state (vice mechanical) sensor. I was a little worried about whether it would work well given the muck but it has worked fine. I have the two-level sump that had the original float switch mounted on the higher level so would never completely empty the sump but this pump eliminates that problem as well.
 
I just purchased a 290 and after cleaning out the box in question I'm going to drop some AC pan tablets in my AC condensate pan a few times a month to help keep the sump box clean of slime. When I opened this box for the 1st time it was a carpet of green velvet. yuck.

2017062422_49_19-vi.jpg
 
so I'm going to do a separate float...
here is something i noticed last night.
My wife was showering and when she came out, she was in a puddle of water, I guess the amount of water backed up in the sump box wasn't pushing fast enough for the drain to come through, so I pulled the floor cover up and manually activated the pump. It started to pump out, and water started to flow again into the sump box, but it was slow still. After a few mins, I got fed up and grabbed the shop-vac, thinking there was hair or something blocking it in the drain. The shop vac sucked it up,...everything, I hooked the suction up the shower drain hole in the sump box and sucked it all out. Took 3 trips to dump out all the nasty water, including the area in the emergency pump bilge.
So that everything was empty, thinking the shop-vac sucked up any blockage, the shower drain would be normally....NOPE. Slow ass draining from the gecko, I mean so slow that I was standing in a puddle of water in a matter of mins. I eventually hear the 2nd pump go off from the loud alarm, but I'm also wondering about the slow drainage.
 
Have you checked the outlet hose for blockage somewhere? Maybe put the shop vac on the through hull or remove the hose at the box and suck back from there.
 
It's a little hard to follow what you did/are saying, but it sounds like you have a clog in the output hose from the sump box if the pump isn't keeping up - unless there's something wrong with the new pump you just put in (broken parts/clog).

Does the shower ALSO drain slowly? With sump box clear (or just remove hose from sump box), pour water down drain.

You could have an issue with the pump (again), but another good explanation is that you you've got soap scum and hair buildup throughout the system.
 
Lazy Daze said:
It's a little hard to follow what you did/are saying, but it sounds like you have a clog in the output hose from the sump box if the pump isn't keeping up - unless there's something wrong with the new pump you just put in (broken parts/clog).

Does the shower ALSO drain slowly? With sump box clear (or just remove hose from sump box), pour water down drain.

You could have an issue with the pump (again), but another good explanation is that you you've got soap scum and hair buildup throughout the system.
Click to expand...

Shower drains slow even when sump box has been emptied with a shopvac
 
OK, then there's a good chance that the only issue here is clogs - on both sides of the box. Meaning, the shower drain hose and the output hose. At this point, I'd probably just go ahead and disassemble the system, fully cleaning out both sides. It's sort of like electrical systems - it's no use trying to diagnose an issue if there's corroded wires - fix the corrosion, then move on. Your system might use a check valve on the output, fyi.

Side note... these need to be cleaned on a regular basis. Much more so than at home since you're dealing with smaller diameter hoses. Especially if the shower is being used a lot.
 
Ethan's Tank said:
Shower drains slow even when sump box has been emptied with a shopvac
Click to expand...

On my boat the main shower drained slow too. I cleaned the dumped and still no good. I was able to access the fitting under the shower from a hatch and replaced the 90 degree fitting and the drain itself which fixed the problem. My boat has 2 sumps so I replaced them both and added a crossover hose so if the main doesn't pump, it flows to the secondary sump which pumps it out rather then dumping into the bilge.
 
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