Shower drain plumbing thoughts

[MV Wanderlust]

We’ve owned our boat a little over a year. One of the previous owners had the floor of each shower redone in a sort of grainy, non-slip surface. I like the surface; it’s nice.

When they redid it, they apparently dropped some sort of insert into the drain that is attached to a 3/4” hose that runs through the old drain hose and to an aftermarket suction pump that discharges directly overboard. When showering, you have to flip on the switch for the suction pump and you can hear it slurping and gurgling through the drain.

In this photo of the drain, you can barely see the 3/4” hose insert under the cover plate.


The underside of the shower drain is not directly accessible. However, a few inches away, it exits through a stringer and comes out here:


The original drain hose passes through another stringer:


When it comes out on the other side of the stringer, you can see it has been cut off and the 3/4” insert hose is coming out of the original hose.


It passes through a strainer and into a noisy, non-factory Whale Gulper pump before being discharged overboard through a Y fitting, bypassing the sump pan entirely.


The sump currently only collects the gray water from the sink and the a/c condensate.


Both showers have been modified to work this way.

It works but it’s noisy and unnecessarily complicated.

I’ve spoken with other Jefferson owners and with a couple of mechanics who maintain Jeffersons. All of them say their showers drain directly to the sump, connecting through a Y fitting that also comes from the sink. No external, aftermarket pump.

Has anyone seen this modification before? Can you tell me more about the insert in the shower drain? (I have not yet taken it apart) Is there a compelling reason to leave it as is?

Any information would be helpful.

Thanks.

John

[dougweibel]

I have no info on your particular make/model of boat but I'll give you a couple of thoughts from looking at your pictures.

First on the drain insert at the shower - I'd guess there was some problem a previous owner was trying to solve. Probably a leak. With the limited access to the underside of the drain I would be inclined to leave it alone unless it is leaking.

As far as the general setup of having the shower drain pumped overboard versus dumped into a sump this is fairly common and IMO desirable. I have had both setups and I'll gladly take the noise over a sump that gets nasty and needs cleaned frequently. Soap and shampoo residue will make the sump box a slimy mess in a surprisingly short amount of time.

Lastly, your setup seems crazy in having a strainer prior to the pump. With my hair the strainer is fine, but with my wife's long hair I'd be having to clean that thing all the time. There are pumps specifically made for this application that deal well with hair, etc., like the Whale Gulper 320. Yes, they make a strange noise, but they work.

[Sailmonkey]

I’ll echo the previous post. There no way I’d revert back to the large box full of hair!

If anything I’d also remove the strainer before the gulper pump let it pass everything it sucks.

[dougweibel]

Thanks Sailmonkey for saying that directly. Removing the strainer was what I was getting at.

[Pete7]

There are way to many connections in these hoses and the clips on the short clear hose are the wrong size. I would rip the lot out and replace the hoses with two length from drain to pump and pump to seacock. You might be able to turn the pump through 90 deg and get a better line to the seacock rather than that great big loop.

You really don't want a leak in any of this, so worth taking some time and doing it properly.

We have two pumps like that, one for the bilge and one for the shower, yes a little noisy but can be easily stripped down and cleaned out if necessary.

[onestepcsy37]

first, put a hair strainer in the drain in the shower. stop the hair right there before it gets in to the rest of the system. it will always be visible so you can clean it out whenever it needs it.


we went right into the main sump. every evening i would pump out the sump with a whale titan 10 hand pump located in the cockpit next to the helm. probably too much but it i get a bit anal about stuff like that...

[captstu]

I got rid of the box, old hose, and jink. Installed this pimp and a switch well below the shower, tan it high to reduce risk of siphon, then overboard. No grief or smell for 10 years and 2 Boats.



(Y) Rule iL280PG 280GPH Inline Submersible Water Pump 4.5A 12vdc 1080LPH 14 PSI

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by onestepcsy37

first, put a hair strainer in the drain in the shower. stop the hair right there before it gets in to the rest of the system. it will always be visible so you can clean it out whenever it needs it.

+1 for the hair screen in the drain.

[Bassman3]

As I looked at the photos I was amazed how much the gear (stringer conduits, pump, hoses, running gear backing plates, bonding) reminded of my 48 Rivanna. Then I note your boat is a 52 Rivanna so almost the same boat! And, mine has almost the same modification it seems which makes me wonder if there is any way this was a factory modification. Huh? Seems very unlikely. I also believe my shower drain used to go into the shower sump under the floor of the aft cabin and this is a work-around.
I also do not have the modification at the drain grate in the shower. I think somewhere along the line people have had trouble with the shower drain setup and perhaps Jefferson gave some tips on how to improve things and maybe even supplied the ideas and the pump.I like my setup in spite of the gurgling drain hole when the pump runs dry (or I forget to turn the pump on momentarily). I agree with the other comments that pumping directly overboard is a MUCH better solution than into a shower sump.
I have a strainer prior to the pump that catches hair and soap scum and needs to be cleaned every so often.
As far as replacing hoses, that is a predictive maintenance issue. Do so at your discretion (time, money, aggravation) or as needed like most other upgrades occur.

[stormalong]

My boat was built with the shower draining into the bilge. I tried all kinds of things to catch the shower water and pump it directly overboard but in the end I went back to draining it into the bilge. I had a gulper for a while but is seized up so it got thrown away.

The hair buildup is not too bad and it clumps together, it can be scooped up for disposal. When I was in a marina I would repeatedly hose out the bilge to clean away the soap scum.

[SV__Grace]

Our boat had the shower drain directly to the bilge, which is nasty and dangerous (risk of clogging bilge pump) so I installed a Jabsco shower pump 2 years ago and it works like a champ. Your photo looks similar to what we have. A diaphragm pump can run dry and is not prone to clogging. It pumps directly overboard using a dedicated thru hull installed next to the bilge pump thru hull.

I don't understand the issue that some have with these pumps. We flip a waterproof switch in our shower to turn it on and off, and it makes some noise, no big deal, and so far, trouble free.

If given a choice between a sump and thru hulls/seacocks for sink drains, I prefer seacocks and thru hulls.

And definitely get rid of that strainer, a diaphragm pump doesn't need it.