Water in shower drain

D

Doryman

New member
We have not yet used the shower in our TC 255. For those not familiar with this boat, there is a drain in the aft port corner of the head for the shower water to run into.

Today we were cleaning up the boat in preparation for our departure for the Gulf Islands and we mopped the head. Now there is wash water standing in the drain. I tried running the bilge pumps but that did not affect anything. Lori thought that it was overflow from the toilet but I demonstrated that when you flush the toilet it has no effect on the water in the drain.

So -- how do I empty this drain? Is there a switch or a valve that I don't know about?

Thanks,
Warren
 
Warren,

I have a CD25, but I believe the shower drains are similar. If you look, you'll see that a drainage hose runs from the shower drain into the hanging cabinet on the port side of the cabin. In the bottom of the hanging cabinet is a hinged door. Look under the cabinet bottom and you should find an enclosed plastic box with a sump pump with a float inside. It is probably completely filled with water if you have standing water in your shower drain.

Water from the shower, drains into this sealed box, which then fills with water and lifts the float which activates the sump pump. Mine didn't work the first time I used it and shower water escaped the box and flowed into my cabin floor. After giggling the wires, it worked and drained the water out. I worked on it after that it seems to work now.

I made a big assumption that our systems are similar (CD25 and TC255), and I hope I have been helpful in solving your issue.

Best of luck,
 
Warren:
The arrangement is just as Sarge has outlined, except on the TC 255 the plastic box with the sump pump for the shower is under the kitchen cabinet on the starboard side. Open the trapdoor on the floor of the cabinet and the pump will be right below it.
 
Warren,

Sarge, when you said you worked on it after that, what did you mean?
Click to expand...

Basically, after I jiggled the wires, the system drained itself. Then once the water was no longer overflowing the plastic box, I removed the screws on the of the box cover and examined the pump and float to see if it was a loose wire or a stuck float that was preventing the system from working. To be honest, I never found the true cause, but I secured the wires in a position that I felt reasonably sure that the pump had electricity and I manipulated the float enough times, and tested it with more water to feel equally assured that it was now functioning. If and when I use the shower again, I will keep an eye on the float and pump to verify that it is working as designed.
 
I would suggest re doing the wiring to the sump pump. If it was "disconnected" to the point you had to jiggle the wires, it is not properly crimped. We found that they had crimped a #10 wire to a #18 wire in the same crimp--without using a reducing crimp or double back crimp. There are several ways to do it correctly, but none of these were done on my boat. I removed the wiring and re-did it properly. Be sure and seal the wires, and use heat shrink tubing over the splices.
 
I had the same situation in my CD. The shower sump never completely empties out and after a while the water goes stagnet aqnd mildew starts to grow. So I added a second switch that I can manually turn on that bypasses the float so I can completely drain the sump box. The new switch is spring loaded to return to the off position when not held. So now after using the shower or washing out the head, I turn on the bypass switch until I hear the pump run empty.
 
Unfortunately was not able to get the pump to run by wiggling wires. Also, I am too big to get my shoulders through the cabinet door so that I can work down through the hatch. I guess I will have to get this serviced. Bummer.

What is the purpose of the sump box? I thought it was grey water and that all grey water went to the bilge and was pumped out by the bilge pump.

Warren
 
They use these in a lot of boats to pump the gray water over the side. Most of the time just the shower because the drain is to low to go out the side. There is a plastic screen in them to catch hair, might have to cleaned every now and then. Check for 12 volts at the 2 wires that go into the box, if you don't have 12 volts look for a blown fuse. If you do have 12 volts there then raise and lower the float and check for 12 volts at the pump. If you have 12 volts there the pump is probably dead. If you don't then it's the float or a bad wire or connection.
 
The shower drain is very close to the water line, so if you drained it overboard, water would back up in the head in rough seas--and in the 25 it is below the water line.

I have put diaphragm pumps (with a screen filter) attatched directly to the show sump, and done away with the sump or drain into the bilge.

In my Tom Cat, not only did the pump not work properly, but someone at the fractory forgot to attatche the sump hose to the shower drain, or they disconnected it, since the hose clamp was already in place...but not tightened....So when I first got the boat, the shower was draining into the stb hull bilge...

Warren, find a friend who can get down in there. I am fairly good size, and had to do the recrimp by feel. Of course it is under warantee, so make sure that they do it right--with a reducing butt connector....
 
On this trip to the Gulf Islands I discovered that when I ran the galley sink it put enough pressure or whatever on the pump that it kicked on and drained the shower in the process. So apparently it is working OK, it just doesn't work if the shower drain is all that needs to be pumped out.

Warren
 
Warren,
The galley does not drain into the shower sump in our boat nor the others that I have looked at. The sump pump switch is only a float switch--basically a rule bilge pump switch. You need to have check the float switch and power supply to the pump and switch.

Did you observe the pump comming on, and water exiting the thru hull? There are other reasons that the pump activated--such as rocking of the boat. Also the angle of the drain--and fall from the shower drain is marginal. In our boat the drain hose, exits the shower drain, and goes almost parallel to the floor, with barely adequate fall--it should be at least an eight of an inch a foot--preferably one quarter of an inch a foot. The hose then runs into the sump at a steep angle. If the hose is too high, it will form a fluid lock and not drain. So this could also be an issue with the shower drain. Again, one needs to access the sump box to determine if the shower is draining properly. Peroidically one needs to clean the strainer in the sump of hair and debris.

Bob Austin
 
To all CD 25 and Tomcat 25 owners,

If you live in colder climates, ie New England, it is important that you winterize these shower drain systems. The best way I have found is to pour some Winter Safe Pink RV antifreeze into the drain. You must pour enough in to activate the float switch. Once you see the pink coming out the discharge port on the side of the boat, you've got it!

Happy Boating.

WRDORY
Meredith NH
 
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