Shower water, where is it suppose to go.

T

timjet

Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2010
RO Number
32060
Messages
73
Hi Folks, just bought a 98 355 ACMY and am getting use to all the systems. My wife had a shower and I noticed water in the bilge. The shower drains into a box which also collects condensation from the A/C and is then pumped via a bilge pump operated by a float switch, seemingly into the bilge. This seems strange, and my guess is something isn't right. Where is water from the shower, sink and A/C suppose to go after it collects into that box with the bilge pump.
Another question, I have a Vac U Flush for both the fwd and aft toilet and a DC powered breaker labeled Electric Head Fwd and another labeled Electric Head Aft. When I turn on this C/B I hear a gurgling sound. Is this normal as I thought this C/B supplies power to the vacuum motor. Doesn't seem right that I would hear a gurgling sound.
Thanks guys,
Tim
 
Shower sumps normally pump overboard or in NDZ's, in a gray water tank.
Why have a shower sump that pumps to the bilge?
 
It should be pumping overboard. I'd say you have a broken or missing hose letting it go into the bilge. Not sure about the circuit breaker issue as the sumps and toilets have separate breakers. The noise could be vaccuum building up and leaking around the ball seal at the bottom of the bowl.
 
Shower water sitting in the bilge is going to start really stinking when the weather warms up. Stinks so bad you'll swear your holding tank is leaking. Believe me... been there, smelled that! As others have said, it needs to be pumped out via hose through a through hull fitting. Do some investigatind and I'm certain you'll find a loose or missing hose.

On another subject, is the discharge of grey water prohibited in all NDZs? We hadn't seen that in the NDZs we've been in, just a prohibition on black water (treated or not).
 
they usually have those Rule float pump switches. Shower crud causes them to gum up. Look for the float and see if the pump comes on when you lift it.
 
Thanks guys, I thought something was amiss. The pump and float switch work fine, so I've got to find where the outlet to the pump goes and the answer to that will answer my question.
I'll be down at the boat this weekend to find out.

It seems the vacuum seal is holding well in the tank. It flushes just fine after not having the vacuum pump turned on for several hours. When I turn on the C/B labeled Electric Head Fwd which according to the Carver manual states "This breaker controls the flow of electricity to the forward electric head" I get a gurgling sound that would have to be coming from the fwd holding tank as there is no other tank in the fwd part of the boat. The C/B is mislabeled as I have the Vac U Flush system and I guess Carver just used the generic name of Electric Head on their panels.
Tim
Tim
 
Carver puts them out the side of the hull.
 
check to be sure that the shower sump is working on it's own - by having the shower water drain into it (not just with pulling up on the float switch....as mentioned if the shower sump box is not cleaned regularly the switch will jam and cause the pump not to work.....the water will rise in the box and dump into the bilge as the sump box cover is not watertight......been there / done that
 
Everything on the shower pump side is working fine, pump and float switch, the water just ends up in the bilge. I first saw the water in the fwd bilge area. I will check the pump outlet tube and that will probably tell me where the water is being pumped to.
 
When I bought my Carver 356 a few years ago, I had the exact same problem in the aft shower/bilge pump. The previous owner changed the bilge pump and swapped the line from the air conditioner with the one to the overboard fitting, so everytime the pump turned on, the water was pumped into the air conditioner drain pan, then overflowed into the bilge. WHY???
 
UnderOwnersCabinForwardRearBilge.jpg


For my issue, the bottom two hoses were swapped. Just located the one outlet by the pump, and connected the hose that went overboard.
 
Swapped hoses will be the first thing I will look for. The PO was not a hands on guy.
Looks like someone did some after market work on your system with that hard PVC.
 
My Carver manual shows the locations of all thru hulls and what is attached to that thru hull. Find out which thru hull if for the shower sump and make sure it's connected properly.

For the vacuflush is the sound a gurgle or a splashing sound. When my pump is moving effluent into the holding tank I can hear a kind of splashing sound.
 
"For the vacuflush is the sound a gurgle or a splashing sound. When my pump is moving effluent into the holding tank I can hear a kind of splashing sound."

I'm not sure. I will have to investigate further, I'm getting to know the systems on the boat by trial and error. I just read in the vac-u-flush manual that you should flush it for about 10 sec before leaving the boat for extended periods of time to clear waste from the pipes and prevent the waste from hardening in the tubes. I did not when I left it Wednesday. I had hope to return to the boat Monday, but just got a jury summons. Hopefully only one day and I'll be down there Tuesday. It's a 2 hr drive each way.

Tim
 
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