Shower sump pump

May 2, 2020
30
Catalina 36 MkII 1778 Venice, FL
Oday 28: previous owner removed this pump. Is it basically a bilge pump? Electric wiring still there and switch is marked on panel. I'll need to look closer for tubing. Not seeing anything that looks like a sump. Could it be a T to the bilge pump which is only 3 feet away? Seems this shower water flows in the bilge. Is there a need for both pumps (other than redundancy)?
 
Last edited:
Aug 11, 2011
857
O'day 30 313 Georgetown MD
I inquired about the same topic in a previous post. The few or only response I received was that its better to have it there rather than letting the body hair clog your main bilge should you be wanting to use the on board shower. Now hair, especially when mixed with scummy soapy water, will clog your main electronic bilge. Bad if you will need to pump out mega amounts of water in a critical time. Secondly, pending your age, heritage and life style, you will loose hair, especially from your head. Ha ha.
So, as so often said, your choice, your boat.
I myself have removed the pump, leaving the hose accessible for the future, should I find some free cash to spend on a new pump. I will eventually build up the wall that separates the shower bilge, from the middle and the main bilges. I have disconnected the other end from the thru hull and eliminated that part of the T connector. The wires have been rolled up and tucked away. The switch at the main DC panel has been marked as "do not use". I'm not sure if the wall switch in the head actually works as it looks pretty cruddy.

How ever, I have put in a check valve for my "Head Sink" drain hose. I connected my electronic bilge hose, with a large loop to avoid back flow, to a T connector. Sink and electronic bilge now use the same T connector. Now I don"t have to drill another hole in the boats hull. The check valve in the sink line will stop the water from the bilge pump from backing up into the sink.

When the time comes to add the shower bilge hose, I will put in another inline check valve for the same reason.

Does all this make sense?
 
May 2, 2020
30
Catalina 36 MkII 1778 Venice, FL
Definitely following you Robert. I'm inclined to install a second bilge pump in the shower drain area and T with a check valve to the current bilge discharge tube. I don't think I'll add a manual switch since it drains into the main bilge. One or other (or both) pumps should kick on automatically as needed. I'll do some kind of screen over the shower drain as the wife's hair can be an issue. However, since I'm primarily a day sailor (as was the prior owner), I don't see this as a high priority.
 
May 17, 2004
5,031
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
On our 28 the shower had a hose to a dedicated sump pump under the front of the starboard setee, just aft of the bulkhead. The pump was a diaphragm type, different from some non-displacement type bilge pumps that won’t self-prime. There was a filter before the pump. Cleaning the filter was no fun, but way less unpleasant than cleaning that crud out of the bilge would probably be. The pump outlet ran to a thru hull next to the sink drain.
 
May 2, 2020
30
Catalina 36 MkII 1778 Venice, FL
Thanks David, I'll check it out, but don't recall seeing it there. Mine is an 85. What do you recall as the water collection mechanism under the small floor drain? Was it an integrated pan of some type? Mine is right into the bilge. My cut-off wire with label is in the area directly under the floor drain.
 
Aug 11, 2011
857
O'day 30 313 Georgetown MD
@JamesG161 Those are really cool but on his 28 and on my 30, there is not sufficient room to drop one of those in. My guess without measuring is its about four inches deep, shaped like the upper front of the keel, so pointed to the front, 12" long and about 8" wide at the opposite end. It was a small box shaped pump in there, which had a manual switch adjacent to the head to activate.
 
May 17, 2004
5,031
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
Ours was also an 85, and we were the original owners, so it did come that way from the factory. I think O’Day did make some changes half way through that model year. Not sure if that was one of them. Ours had a teak and holly insert in the floor pan. The insert had the drain hole in it, and the hose ran straight from that hole under the floor to the pump.

The breaker enabled the pump, but there was a separate pull switch on the vanity to turn it on and off during a shower.