Head deck drains
- Thread starter kimelmore
- Start date
If there is no grate with a sump for the shower in your head and instead you have only the drain in your post it may lead to the bilge where the bilge pump is serving as a shower sump pump, and the bilge as a soapy, hairy shower sump.
At any rate almost any hole inside the cabin is gonna lead to the bilge, eventually.
At any rate almost any hole inside the cabin is gonna lead to the bilge, eventually.
You should have a switch on your main panel called SUMP. You should also have a switch in your head compartment for the shower drain. You should also have a pump, most likely a diaphragm pump, with a check valve between the sump and the pump with a vented loop and a separate seacock which may, just may, be connected to the head inlet. That's the way Catalina has been doing it for decades.
Don't you have the manual for your boat?
You really need to poke around your boat some more.
http://www.catalina380.org/
Don't you have the manual for your boat?
You really need to poke around your boat some more.
http://www.catalina380.org/
Actually Stu, that is how I found the "drain", by poking around the boat. I have the manual and it makes no mention of a drain in the deck of the head. One of the first things I did on the boat was clean the shower sump in line filter which was clogged with a mixture of hair and such that was so bad that the pump was unable to empty the shower sump. But so far I haven't found a sump pump for the "head" anywhere. This boat is truly an adventure and I just thought maybe someone had some what I call "tribal" knowledge that would point me in the right direction.
First off, the drain is in the FLOOR of the head, not the deck. Nomenclature, lad. Put some water on the floor and operate every switch you have and see if one of them turns on a pump that sucks it out. You may have a 2-way valve the connects a pump to the head drain or the bilge of the boat. The B323 is that way. Maybe the shower drain gavity-feeds to the bilge/sump?
confusing... you said, " the pump was unable to empty the shower sump", then you said, " I haven't found a sump pump for the "head"(or did you mean toilet?)
confusing... you said, " the pump was unable to empty the shower sump", then you said, " I haven't found a sump pump for the "head"(or did you mean toilet?)
after 8 years in Uncle Sam's canoe club ...it's not a FLOOR its a DECK...and it's not a toilet it's a HEAD...and it looks like a drain but I'm not even sure that it is. I was just kind of curious but now I'm thinking that I should have just kept my mouth shut. I have also operated every switch in the boat and have yet to hear a pump switch on that is connected to a FLOOR or DECK drain.
Sorry, didn't mean to sound rude before, but do you have a manual? I still don't understand "sump pump for the head." Is it an electric toilet?
I have an electric toilet in the head. There is a sump pump for the shower. There is also what appears to be a drain in one corner of the molded "floorboard" that forms the deck of the "bathroom". It doesn't appear to have any way to drain to the bilge that I could find by unscrewing the various 'floorboards' in the cabin. My next plan is to push a piece of fairly stiff wire into one of the holes and try to discover where it leads.
I don'tbut a lot of my cruising buddies do so no bad mouthing but any way on
my main panel I have a sump pump switch and than on the side of my sink cabinet
I have a switch to turn on the pump.
I also don't have a shower sump box and just when the floor or deck of the shower
builds up with water I turn the pump that just pumps straight over board.
Is it possible the sump pump is autmatic when water from shower enters the sump it
auto turns on,just trying to help.
Nick
but a lot of my cruising buddies do so no bad mouthing but any way onmy main panel I have a sump pump switch and than on the side of my sink cabinet
I have a switch to turn on the pump.
I also don't have a shower sump box and just when the floor or deck of the shower
builds up with water I turn the pump that just pumps straight over board.
Is it possible the sump pump is autmatic when water from shower enters the sump it
auto turns on,just trying to help.
Nick
I don't understand the boat having a shower sump pump and a separate drain. Should be one or the other. Maybe something a PO did? One thing I learned shortly after getting into old boats is all PO's are complete morons, a view that is likely shared by those who've bought boats from me.
I earlier wrote:
Your deck round drain should go to the shower sump and then to the shower pump.
NONE of it goes to the bilge on my boat. They used to do that on older C30s, but started putting in shower sumps a long time ago. I simply don't understand why you think this should go to the bilge. Showers draining into the bilge create nasty conditions.
Why do you think it should go to the bilge?
Did you get a C380 boat manual? (3rd request)
I think y'all have gotten tangled up in terminology....the "head" in this context is the compartment where the toilet (aka the "head," which may be what's confusing you), sink and shower are. There is no separate shower stall on your boat...the head compartment doubles as one (make sure the toilet paper and anything else that needs to stay dry are stowed away in a cabinet before you take one). That grate in the head SOLE (the correct name for the floor in a boat cabin..."decks" are on the outside of the boat) is the shower drain...and you've found the shower sump, so we know the boat DOES have one. It's the only sump in the head 'cuz the shower is the only thing that needs one. So I THINK the only thing that may be left to figure out is which switch does what, and how your toilet/head works.
Btw...there's a very easy way to keep the shower sump clean without the need for any future manual labor. Raritan "C.P. Cleans Potties" is a bio-enzymatic cleaner that Raritan only markets as a toilet bowl cleaner, but it's also the best sump and drain cleaner on the planet, 'cuz it not only destroys odor on contact, but the enzymes in it "eat" hair, soap scum, body oils, galley grease etc. A couple of ounces down the shower drain into a sump about 1/3 full of water once a week when it can stand at least overnight--'cuz the enzymes need time to work--will leave the shower drain and pump clean and sweet smelling. Close the sink drain thru-hull, put an ounce or two in it and fill the drain with water when it can stand at least overnight will keep sink drains clear and sweet smelling. It can remain in the sump or drain indefinitely without harm, btw...so you can use it last thing before leaving the boat and not have to worry if you don't get back for a while.
Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein
Thank you Peggie. That makes total sense. (c'ept for the fact my Company Commander in boot camp told me that anything you walk on is a "DECK"...LOL*) It makes sense that the molded drain in the Head (my boat has a separate shower stall) drains into the shower sump. I will go to the boat tomorrow and add CP enzyme cleaner to the shower sump. I'm pretty sure that is where the odor is coming from. Thanks again to everyone for helping out. Note to Stu Jackson: YES I have a 380 manual but it makes no mention of the drain molded in the sole of the head being part of the shower sump.
In case anyone cares; I will be replacing the cracked toilet base that is a result of an obvious attempt to solve a seeping gasket by over tightening the bolts. I've seen it on poorly maintained aircraft several times. It's a result of lazy folks who think that tight is good... tighter is better... and if I just crank down on this nut it will make it stop leaking. REPLACE THE DAMN GASKET FOLKS....that's what stops it from leaking.
In case anyone cares; I will be replacing the cracked toilet base that is a result of an obvious attempt to solve a seeping gasket by over tightening the bolts. I've seen it on poorly maintained aircraft several times. It's a result of lazy folks who think that tight is good... tighter is better... and if I just crank down on this nut it will make it stop leaking. REPLACE THE DAMN GASKET FOLKS....that's what stops it from leaking.
Glad to hear. Sorry it doesn't mention that. My manual is very clear.
Have you asked on the C380 forum? They should know YOUR boat better than we do.
I just looked at the C380 brochure on the CY website, and the only "hole" they show in the head compartment is the one in the separate shower area. You have yet a second one?
It could be a dumbass PO mod.
Good luck.
I respectfully disagree-- I don't think the drain is a "p.o." mod -- my 2000 C380 also has the exact same small drain grate molded into the fiberglass "sole/deck/floor/pan" in the forward port corner of the main head compartment. While I have not (yet) traced its path and ultimate destination, it appears to exist simply to catch and dispose of any water that might end up on that section of "floor" from folks using the adjoining separately-drained shower compartment and then dripping as they exit to towel off, and/or splashing, ambitiously brushing teeth, washing hands, pumping/cleaning head, etc., in the main head compartment. In other words, I believe it's really just a built-in design feature intended as a "housekeeping" amenity to try and keep the otherwise-water-tight molded-in fiberglass pan/floor a little bit drier from day to day. Without it, you would potentially have an "above-floor bilge"/cesspool.
And I very much like Peggie's tip about using C.P. to clean/deodorize it--I'm going to do it on my boat the next time I am there. Given my description above, my guess is that it may be a source/culprit for persistent lingering, mystery boat odors.
Cheers.
And I very much like Peggie's tip about using C.P. to clean/deodorize it--I'm going to do it on my boat the next time I am there. Given my description above, my guess is that it may be a source/culprit for persistent lingering, mystery boat odors.
Cheers.
Any thing you walk on in the US Navy/Marine is called a DECK. The deck that gets sunshine, rain and/or waves is call the WEATHER DECK.
Common terms used in Navy...
Attention on Deck
Hit the Deck
Swab the Deck
The Navy HEAD is the toilet. A Navy Shower is called SHOWER.
The Navy shower is often part of the HEAD enclosure or BulkHEAD. Not to be confused the the shower sprayer called ShowerHEAD. Or what my Marine Drill Instructor called me...BoneHEAD. Perhaps @Peggie Hall HEADMistress is an expert in HEAD maintenance.
A SUMP is a below DECK container or hole to collect liquids. Normally there is a SUMP pump to remove the liquid from the SUMP.
Jim...