Diaphragm pump or regular Rule Sump/bilge pump for shower?

[Enyar]

Taking over captain duties for my Dad and he currently has the main shower drain going to a diaphram pump. That pump isnt currently working (I think its a power source issue because the bilge right next to it is also not working) and if I can't get it to working I was thinking about rerouting the drain to a Rule shower sump that is currently only pumping AC condensate. Any reason not to do this?

[Turtle Blues]

Sounds like your solution would be the preferred thing to do. Eliminating a non working pump is a plus.

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by Enyar

That pump isnt currently working (I think its a power source issue because the bilge right next to it is also not working) and if I can't get it to working

I would think that sorting out the power issue and getting a working bilge pump is more important than a shower drain.

[Turtle Blues]

Absolutely.
To expand on the electrical part of the question, the 2 pumps should be on separate circuits. The bilge pump is a primary safety device. The sump is a secondary system.

[CSYChip]

If you actually use the shower as a shower you probably want a diaphragm pump. Rule pumps are great for clean water but gum up very quickly if there is anything like hair in what you are pumping. If you just use the shower for washing foulies this is not a problem.

[capt jgw]

Originally Posted by Turtle Blues

Absolutely.
To expand on the electrical part of the question, the 2 pumps should be on separate circuits. The bilge pump is a primary safety device. The sump is a secondary system.

To a point. My boat has two shower sumps that are open topped boxes with a large bilge pump and float switch inside. If the main bilge pumps can't keep up the water will flood into the sump boxes activating those pumps. I consider them as important as the main bilge pumps and never turn them off.

[Enyar]

There are 3 dedicated bilge pumps and only one is inop right now. I should note that the inop bilge pump is also a diaphram pump. The shower diaphram pump is right next to it and also inop. I suspect they were both connected to battery #3 which is no longer hooked up. Still investigating but the plan is to get all that fixed up next.

The 2 other bilges are Rule 2000 and 3300.

The AC condensate pump is brand new and I'd like to add some holes to the top so it could act as a bilge in a disaster situation.

Assuming the diaphram pump can start working again I guess I will just keep using that for a shower pump since we do occasionally use it as a shower.

[Patrick of M]

FWIW bypassing the boat's wiring and using a known good source of 12v (+ and -) is a quick way of discovering if something works. Personally I have an extension cord with alligator clips on both ends , one end on the a good battery, other on the unit, it works or it doesn't)

[wrwakefield]

If you like to routinely muck out a slimy, putrid, miniature cess pool full of hair, switch to a shower sump with a float switch (which will need replacing every couple of years- a bonus.)

Otherwise, stick with the diaphragm pump. If your current pump is toast, evaluate the Whale IC pumps with time delays on start and stop. Those are what we replaced our two shower sumps with... Excellent servce full time for 5+ years now.

FWIW

Cheers, Bill

PS: Either of the above approaches is much preferred over dumping shower waste water directly into the bilge...

[Enyar]

Originally Posted by Patrick of M

FWIW bypassing the boat's wiring and using a known good source of 12v (+ and -) is a quick way of discovering if something works. Personally I have an extension cord with alligator clips on both ends , one end on the a good battery, other on the unit, it works or it doesn't)

Yes! I actually keep a little 12v battery from a little verizon UPS thing for this purpose. I will add it to my list to pack for the next time I get to the boat to trouble shoot.

[Enyar]

Originally Posted by wrwakefield

If you like to routinely muck out a slimy, putrid, miniature cess pool full of hair, switch to a shower sump with a float switch (which will need replacing every couple of years- a bonus.)

Otherwise, stick with the diaphragm pump. If your current pump is toast, evaluate the Whale IC pumps with time delays on start and stop. Those are what we replaced our two shower sumps with... Excellent servce full time for 5+ years now.

FWIW

Cheers, Bill

PS: Either of the above approaches is much preferred over dumping shower waste water directly into the bilge...

Diaphagm pump it is! I'll take a look. I wouldn't dump is straight to the bilde just reroute the hose to the AC condensate pump. That being said I have no idea where the forward shower dumps to, I wonder if that's going to the bilge. I'm assuming we frown on that idea because we dont wan't hair and soap mucking up our primary bilges?

[Patrick of M]

Btw I have been wrenching for over 50 years, started on bikes and have worked on almost everything with a motor(no planes)
Nowadays my go to for understanding systems/mechanical/electric etc, is the internet (forums and YouTube mostly) it is very fast , cross referencing information, looking for disassembly tricks etc.When I started out it was manuals, libraries and helpful older mechanics. Back in the day taking on a boat would have been quite daunting, nowadays, between online manuals and other resources you can get the 101 in most boat stuff. Sounds like you have a great project, definitely consult specialist when required, but consulting a specialist before you understand a system is expensive, once you understand the system and want clever solutions is when you get good value.