Shower Pump

[Keebz]

On my alpha 32 being ex hire the water from the showers drain in to th bilge witch I can’t stand im fitting pumps to both, I would usually just use the common makes we all no but has any one had any experience with the cheaper makes on the market as my school of thought is for the price I can buy 5 for the price of one and when you consider how little it will be pumping compared to a boat still in hire, but I have that tradesman mentality buy cheap buy twice has anyone used the cheese ones?

[BroadAmbition]

Not for us ,only the expensive robust brand named ones onboard which have been performing well for years now

Griff

[Vaughan]

Make sure it is a diaphragm type which will not overheat when run dry, and is self priming.  The Jabsco Water Puppy impeller type is not suitable.  Always fit a shower drain filter, available from all chandlers, as hair is death to shower pumps!

[Oddfellow]

When Vaughan says "Diaphragm pump", don't confuse that with a diaphragm water delivery pump. These use multiple small diaphragms that will not like debris (like sand) which will get through even with a filter. 

A Whale Gulper is a good option if you can stand the sound. An alternative would be a fully automatic drain such as those produced by Whale. These have a bilge pump installed in a watertight box with and inlet, outlet and a float switch. When the water in the box from the shower gets high enough, the switch triggers the pump and there's nothing else to do. Quiet too. 

To be honest. most hire boats I have encountered have water puppies which will perform fine in most cases. Just ensure that you have a spare impeller on board and it's essential to have an inline filter and keep it clean.  

[Keebz]

I had already bought the sundries (hoses, filters, inline fuses cable ect) I have just read on another forum from a guy with a ocean yacht he used one for three seasons before it packed so I’ll consider my options further and do some more searching as I hate going in to chandeliers buying direct saves a fortune 

[Smoggy]

I think the shower sump I had on my old boat had a johnson centrifugal pump and float switch (normal bilge pump stuff)  inside and the inlets were filtered via a mesh screen that was easy enough to clean, seemed to last ok and was always on.

Now got a diaphram pump on my present boat that needs switching on and off and sounds like a randy frog.

 

'Kin hell I'm sure I didn't pay that much for it! (£153 from asap) Of course 1 will do multiple showers if so equiped and can take calorifier prv outlet too.

[Vaughan]

20 minutes ago, Smoggy said:

This is what you need when converting a boat to have all outlets going into a grey water holding tank.  The cabin washbasins as well as the shower trays all drain into this and the submersible pump pushes it into the holding tank. You will probably have 2 or 3 on board in a larger boat. The galley sink has to go through a macerator pump.  Locaboat use these on their hire boats in France.  They need regular and thorough cleaning and can also get very smelly.  They are a frightful "faff" to be honest.

 

[Oddfellow]

3 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

This is what you need when converting a boat to have all outlets going into a grey water holding tank.  The cabin washbasins as well as the shower trays all drain into this and the submersible pump pushes it into the holding tank. You will probably have 2 or 3 on board in a larger boat. The galley sink has to go through a macerator pump.  Locaboat use these on their hire boats in France.  They need regular and thorough cleaning and can also get very smelly.  They are a frightful "faff" to be honest.

 

I don't have experience of using these. I can imagine they are a pain in the rear for cleaning, but I would also imagine that an inline pre-filter would help enormously. The idea is sound and, if used just on showers on a private boat where there's much less use than a hire boat, I would think the case for installation stacks up better. 

 

[BrundallNavy]

1 hour ago, Smoggy said:

I think the shower sump I had on my old boat had a johnson centrifugal pump and float switch (normal bilge pump stuff)  inside and the inlets were filtered via a mesh screen that was easy enough to clean, seemed to last ok and was always on.

Now got a diaphram pump on my present boat that needs switching on and off and sounds like a randy frog.

 

'Kin hell I'm sure I didn't pay that much for it! (£153 from asap) Of course 1 will do multiple showers if so equiped and can take calorifier prv outlet too.

This is the set up on our boat and I’m not that impressed by it, our last boat had a sump and after you finished showing you just pushed a switch to empty it, never gave any trouble in the six years we had it.  

[Keebz]

2 hours ago, Smoggy said:

I think the shower sump I had on my old boat had a johnson centrifugal pump and float switch (normal bilge pump stuff)  inside and the inlets were filtered via a mesh screen that was easy enough to clean, seemed to last ok and was always on.

Now got a diaphram pump on my present boat that needs switching on and off and sounds like a randy frog.

 

'Kin hell I'm sure I didn't pay that much for it! (£153 from asap) Of course 1 will do multiple showers if so equiped and can take calorifier prv outlet too.

I had looked at these but I think I would struggle to locate one if I can I may in the aft shower they are very cheap to 😀