Shower Sump On 1985 H31

Mar 17, 2016
10
Hunter 31 Punta Gorda Florida
My 1985 Hunter 31 has a shower sump that starts in the sole inside of the head and extends to the sole just in front of the head door. It has a grate over it, as shown in the attached top-down photo. As you would expect, the sump is designed to drain into the main bilge area. Just under the grate in the photo is a black plastic, threaded "tube" or pipe that is coming up from the sump floor (one side of it can barely be seen in the photo in the middle horizontal grate support). The vertical pipe has a "nut" of sorts screwed down its threads. Anyone have any idea what this plastic pipe is and why it is there? Does it allow access to the area between the liner and the hull? Thanks.
 

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Nov 6, 2006
9,885
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
Jack, on the 34, the depth sounder is placed there often.. is it a transducer? Pull the grate and attach a picture.. some other H-31 guys will help.
 

HMT2

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Mar 20, 2014
899
Hunter 31 828 Shoreacres, TX
Jack, on the 34, the depth sounder is placed there often.. is it a transducer? Pull the grate and attach a picture.. some other H-31 guys will help.
I have an '83 H31. Post a picture, but I don't have a pipe in that area like you describe. Although I do have a capped off transducer in that general area. I'll take a closer look next time I'm by the boat.
 
Mar 20, 2011
623
Hunter 31_83-87 New Orleans
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I have an 83 hull also. the tube i think you are referring to drains into the bilge. my thru hull transducer is in the v berth area just inside the access door to the head holding tank.
 

SFS

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Aug 18, 2015
2,066
Currently Boatless Okinawa
It is very likely a thru hull for a transducer (in my case a speedometer). Below are pics from my 1983 H31, from shortly after I bought it. In the first picture, the transducer itself is out of the thruhull. It is the wired item in the upper left hand corner of the picture. The thruhull itself has the "plug" in it. My transducer is inoperative, which is why it is out, and the plug is in.

I included the second picture to show the hole in the lower corner, where liquid drains into the space between the liner and the hull. This is a bad setup. I assume there used to be a hose there (see the picture in post #3 above), connecting to the main bilge, but it is gone.

There have been H31 owners that have installed a dedicated shower sump pump. Use the search function to find a thread on that. Also, there has been lots of discussion about how to deal with the water that accumulates between the liner and the hull. The "bilge" in our boats is not the actual bilge, but a false bilge design to collect water only from certain sources.

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Dec 2, 1997
8,710
- - LIttle Rock
Shower water is full of soap scum, hair and bacteria that turn it into a "primordial soup" that can make a whole boat smell like a swamp or even sewer...so what's the point of having a shower sump if it drains into the bilge? Install a sump pump that sends the water overboard via an above-waterline thru-hull....and reroute any icebox/fridge drain into the sump too, 'cuz it's another source of bilge odor.
 
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Bradv

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Jul 30, 2016
20
Hunter 31 Lewis and Clark Lake
This whole sump/bilge/false bilge thing has been a sore topic with me since we bought our 1985 H31 last year. I know it's an older boat but the odor from the bilge has been really frustrating. I don't use the icebox drain, don't use the shower drain and I'm plugging the drain from the inboard compartment that allows lubrication water to drip in that compartment to try to keep the bilge dry. I've used clorox, dish soap, 409, you name it but simply cannot seem to get all the moisture and smell out of the bilge. I regularly wet-vac the areas I can access and have even used a straw with the wet vac to get into deep areas to get the water out. We are having new cushions made this winter as the old ones held the odor in them and I'm afraid that the new ones will be ruined soon also. This summer I'm installing an exhaust fan in the hatch that will run during the week at dock and hopefully move enough fresh air through the cabin to keep things clear. Any help or other ideas are greatly appreciated!
 
Dec 2, 1997
8,710
- - LIttle Rock
You cannot eliminate any odor unless you first eliminate the SOURCE of the odor, so if you can't get rid it, it means you haven't yet been able to completely eliminate the source(s). I'm gonna save myself a bunch of typing here by indulging in a little shameless promotion: The chapter my book "Boat Odors Are Not All In Your Head" explains in detail how to completely eliminate bilge odors...it CAN be done (and your cushions can be salvaged too). You can get the book from the sbo.com online store..see link in my signature.
 
Mar 17, 2016
10
Hunter 31 Punta Gorda Florida
Jack, on the 34, the depth sounder is placed there often.. is it a transducer? Pull the grate and attach a picture.. some other H-31 guys will help.
You are most probably right, Kloudie1. I've attached a picture showing the plastic fitting - see what you think. I've also attached a photo of my two sensors in the bilge area. I'm pretty sure one is the depth sounder and the other is the speed paddlewheel - not sure which is which without tracing the lines. I use GPS for speed so have never bothered the paddlewheel. Thanks.
 

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Jan 22, 2008
1,654
Hunter 34 Alameda CA
Any help or other ideas are greatly appreciated!
Unless you cut the bottom out of your sump pan and access the bottom of the boat directly you will continue to face the odor problems. Once I removed mine, I have never had to go the route of cleansers, disinfectants, etc. to eliminate smells. That is because the bilge can be kept dry. Right now you are experiencing the trapped primordial soup that is rotting the piece of plywood under the cabin liner. Every once in a while I do stick a hose or high pressure washer in any opening I can find between the liner and the hull for a thorough cleaning. But its not to combat smells, its just general house keeping I do. The fan is a good idea. I have one that runs all the time while the boat is at the dock. Its basically a 12 volt computer fan that blows into a piece of flexible dryer duct and exhausts out one of the ports. I have another one up inside the dorade vents on top powered by a small solar panel. Those keep the mustiness down but the real solution was to remove the bottom of the cabin liner. I have followed what is in Peggie's books in regards to the choice of head hoses. I also switched to a dripless shaft system. Follow the link that Capt-Jack has provided and you can see what other folks have said (in addition to my post).

Good luck.
 

Bradv

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Jul 30, 2016
20
Hunter 31 Lewis and Clark Lake
THANK YOU Captain Jack and Allan 12210!!! This is the information I was looking for as I KNOW there is water trapped that I'm not getting to. I will use a dremel with a rotating blade to cut a rectangular opening in the sump to investigate what is below. Will leave the edges of the bottom of the sump just in case I ever want to glass the bottom back in place for any reason. Now I'm excited to get to work as the boat is on the hard at the moment and if I get the work done now it will have a good chance to dry well before going back to the dock.
The exhaust fan I'm going to install will move a ton of air so I'm certain that will make a huge difference also.
 
Mar 20, 2011
623
Hunter 31_83-87 New Orleans
Please send pics if you can on in process work. I believe the H31 is a bit different from the H34 in this area. Thanks.