I need help with a "hairy" problem

Rich Stidger

Rich Stidger

.
Feb 10, 2004
4,041
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
Sorry for the title pun. Or not sorry.
I have struggled with the situation where my shower sump either pumps very slowly or almost not at all. I believe that the discharge line from the pump to the thru-hull is partly or almost completely plugged with soap scum and hair. This is likely an accumulation over 26 years of use.
I have tried blowing out the discharge line and also running a plastic snake through it. All attempts have failed. Because the discharge hose is the corrugated type, I think the snake gets hung up on the ripples in the hose and/or the twists and bends. I think blowing through the hose fails because the blockages are stuck very well to the walls of the hose.

So I'm looking for advice-
First, how do I clear the existing clogs? My next thought is to pour a drain cleaner into the thru-hull and let it dissolve the contents of the hose. Or perhaps put a check valve at the pump and let the pump push drain cleaner into the hose until it comes out of the thru-hull.
Maybe someone has a better and tried-and-true solution?

Then the next task is to stop this condition from reoccurring. Ideas?
 
sailcapt340

sailcapt340

.
Sep 26, 2008
606
Hunter 340 0 Wickford, RI
Rich,
A few years back, when I replaced all the potable water lines, engine coolant and water heater lines I saw a glimpse the shower line. Now I only have a 340 not your size boat, but still it was a glimpse. I had all the flooring up and out of the way so I could route my new lines through. Using the old ones as messenger line where I could.
And that job was hard enough in itself.
My opinion is you aren’t going to be able to snake the line. The twists, bends, ripples in the line. It‘s the unseen parts You’ll rip through it before you ever snake it through . Even given that the bends are fairly gradual, they are next to impossible.
My feeling is, at best you may poke a hole through the clod but never clear it completely.
Drain cleaner may be way too harsh for the line and who knows what the heat-it generates will do when it sits in a bend.
I think you may have to replace and then generously flush the lines after each use to prevent it from happening again.
As a side note, I did try to snake the line from the toilet to the holding tank when the back pressure was so great nothing would move. I only got a hole in the white sludge coating the line, the width of the snake. And that line is far more substantial than the shower drain hose. And completely straight from the head to the holding tank.
Just my experience but I think you may have to replace.
 
Sailor Sue

Sailor Sue

.
Nov 12, 2009
254
J/ 32 NCYC, Western Lake Erie
How long is the hose run, and can you disconnect both ends?
Were you able to run a snake the whole length of the hose?
If you can disconnect both ends, and if you can run your snake out the other end of the hose, I would try using the snake as a messenger to try to pull bigger lines through the hose. If that works you can try adding rags or flexible disks to the line to try to snag the blockage. With a second person you can pull the line back and forth to try to remove the blockage.

I've used this method to clean tree hair roots out of a sump pump drain in the yard.
 
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danooxnard

.
Oct 13, 2020
152
catalina C-22 4980 channel islands CA
I would not use any caustic chemicals!! If it does not clear the problem, it is then stuck in the line and you now have to deal with a nasty stinky hose and one that is leaking caustic liquid all over the inside of your boat. Not a good idea in my opinion.. Dano
 
Rich Stidger

Rich Stidger

.
Feb 10, 2004
4,041
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
I believe that the shower hoses are routed behind areas that are very hard to access. I will look again to refresh my memory, but I was really hoping for a solution that did not involve hose replacement.
Snaking seems impossible- I've tried it with no success a couple times. I would expect that drain cleaner would not harm the plastic hoses in the time it would take to dissolve the soap scum and hair. But I don't know that for a fact.
If I can actually replace the hoses, I will use a smooth bore hose for sure.
I was hoping that someone would have a relatively easy solution to this issue.
 
dLj

dLj

.
Mar 23, 2017
3,637
Belliure 41 Sailing back to the Chesapeake
@Rich Stidger Have you tried snaking from the outside - in? I assume in RI you are taking your boat out in the winter?

dj
 
sailcapt340

sailcapt340

.
Sep 26, 2008
606
Hunter 340 0 Wickford, RI
Rich Stidger said:
Snaking seems impossible- I've tried it with no success a couple times.
I was hoping that someone would have a relatively easy solution to this issue.
Click to expand
Not surprising to me at all.
Relatively easy solution……
IMG_1495.jpeg

This will stop most, if not “all” from going down the drain.
But it is the easy solution going forward…..after the new line is installed.
It’s the soap scum you’re battling. Acts just like concrete.
Sorry.
 
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Rich Stidger

Rich Stidger

.
Feb 10, 2004
4,041
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
sailcapt340 said:
Not surprising to me at all.
Relatively easy solution……
View attachment 227265
This will stop most, if not “all” from going down the drain.
But it is the easy solution going forward…..after the new line is installed.
It’s the soap scum you’re battling. Acts just like concrete.
Sorry.
Click to expand
This filter won't work for me. My showers use a covered sump where the water enters the sump around the cover's edge. In the sump is the centrifugal pump.
 
Rick Webb

Rick Webb

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Jun 2, 2004
3,429
Hunter 23.5 Fort Walton Yacht Club, Florida
Shop Vac, alternating between sucking and blowing

A snake may damage the hose leaving you no option but to replace. There are plastic barbed hair grabbers out there designed to clear hair out of drains that may be worth trying.

If several iterations of the shop vac do not clear the obstruction a drain cleaner may be the best option short of replacement.

Drain cleaning solutions are not James Bond villain acids that will melt your face just by looking at them. You don't want to pour it in your eyes or drink. When used appropriately they are safe. With this caveat. They are not acids; most are basically lye and as such not good for your thru hull if it is not plastic.
 
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