"Tango" Shower drainage !!

April 11, 2011

MBA Marine can you expand on that please and I will check for outlet on hull saturday

April 11, 2011

there is an automatic bilge pump directly under the hydraulic drive but the boat has three watertight bilges and the pump only clears the drive bilge, the engine compartment dosent have one at all and as you know my problem is with the shower drainage bilge pump location

MBA Marine · April 12, 2011

there is an automatic bilge pump directly under the hydraulic drive but the boat has three watertight bilges and the pump only clears the drive bilge, the engine compartment dosent have one at all and as you know my problem is with the shower drainage bilge pump location

If you cant find the bilge pump or drain outlet you want to find; Instead of chasing your tail why not buy a small submersible bilge pump (Â£20ish) stick on enough pipe to get it from your bilge over board, a long cable to get it to your batteries and get the bilge pumped out, then you might see what your looking for, if nothing there you can stop looking and install the system you want.

Be it straight into the bilge and bilge pump out as discussed, pump (go for a daiphram pump that can run a little dry) direct of the shower tray to through hull, or proberbly the best option if you have room to install a dedicated 'grey water' box and automatic pump.

Mark

Gordon · April 12, 2011

Hi This seems a profound mystery. Trying to think from scratch

Is the water leaving the shower tray or does it fill up and not drain away? If it does drain away it will have to go somewhere my thought is keep poring it in till you find where it is draining to you will eventually see or hear it. It will have to be either the bilge or out of a disconnected pipe. As already suggested a bit of food coloutr if you are uncertain)

If it doesn't drain away then you must be looking for a pump if it is a diaphragm pump like we have on Woodland Dawn you will hear it making more row than the Perkins however it it is an impeller pump it will be a lot quieter and its reason for not performing could be power not getting to it , motor or impeller siezed or just spinning without turning the impeller.

As I have said before on this forum the most useful bit of kit on a boat is a cheap multimeter it will answer all sorts of questions you cannot see electricity it aint like fuel or water without one you have no way of even starting to find an electrical fault. Revisit the switch if it you think it might be something to do with the shower. Is there power there ? this might need a second long peice of wire to find the earth from several feet away. If there is no power it could indicate a fuse fault (more likely bad contact than blown) Turn the meter onto a current range put it across the switch without pressing it , if you get a reading it will indicate that there is something drawing power ie a pump you cannot hear or one that aint pumping. Finally although the first two tests ought to negate the need disconnect the leads and test the switch on the resistance range. Remember boats are damp places and electrical connectors can corrode and give al sorts of faults

Finally if you havent already done it look round the outside of the hull and look at all the deck fittings, work out what each one does ie sinks deck drains etc and see if there is one that could be a shower outlet, I am sure it would need to be above water level (for a couple of good reasons) and hence the need for a pump Good luck, oh and one question I cannot answer is why would a boat need a shower :naughty: or even water for that matter I thought the rules were quite clear don't wash and drink beer.