Shower drain/sump on E30+

[paddlingctdoc]

Wondering if anyone can help me figure out the best way to deal with the shower drain on my '86 E30+.

I'm in the process of doing some refit work - including possibly replacing the cabin sole - and trying to get it more ready for some short distance cruising. I've never used the shower. If I do use the shower, I don't want the drainage into the bilge. Per the original brochure (which I found on this site), the shower has its own sump compartment but it isn't clear from my inspections so far where that is. I also can't tell if there is already a drain somewhere for it overboard.

In the head, there is a manual Whale pump that I can't totally trace. I've assumed that it was to empty the boat's holding tank through the seacock (I don't discharge the holding tank) but after reading the manual, I'm now wondering if that drains the shower sump. If there is no drain to the shower sump, wondering about putting in an electric pump with discharge above the waterline.

Thanks in advance for the insight.

Mike

 

[Loren Beach]

My '88 model had the "head-and-holding-tank-options for everything" system from EY. When I rebuilt the whole system and did some reformatting, I could clearly see that I was removing all-factory-installed parts.

Your heavy duty hand pump in the head compartment is for pumping the contents of the holding tank overboard. There should also be a deck-fill fitting for pumping out the holding tank via a vacuum pump-out arrangement at dockside.

While I have not looked at the shower sump parts in your model, I have some familiarity with the factory system in a 32-3. There should be an electric pump for the shower sump, but it will likely be in the main bilge sections close nearby, with a short connecting hose to that part of the internal grid.

One thing to watch for, usually courtesy of naive prior owners, is the presence of centrifugal pumps like the inexpensive and ubiquitous Rule pumps. While they do indeed move water under perfect conditions, they are known for lower flow than rated, air locking, and back flooding. Our boat had separate bilge pumps for main bilge and shower water, both $$$ Jasco check-valve pumps. I had only one fail and replaced it with a new one.
Given the age of all of these boats, I would strongly... recommend replacing ALL bilge pump hoses with new smooth-bore hose. I did that over en years ago. The original ribbed white hose from EY was decent quality, but this stuff gets brittle, cracks, and fails. (Humans, to a fair degree, are self repairing, boat systems are not...)
Those OEM transom plastic thruhull fittings should be replaced, as well.
Our HT narrative: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/new-holding-tank-piping-valves.6251/

Wear your vinyl gloves when working........

And, here is the link for my replacement of the transom thru hulls with new SS ones:

Transom Thru Hull Replacement

Yesterday I removed all the above-water factory thru hulls on our transom. It's been over 20 years and from the outside I had observed for some time that the exterior part of each was getting attacked by UV. One of the 1 1/2" ones had been replaced a few years ago by the yard when a workman...

ericsonyachts.org

 

[Frank Langer]

Our 1984 E30+ might have a different system from your 1986 model.
We have a Plexiglas plate on front of the toilet which covers the small shower sump. In that sump is a small red rubber hose which connects to the main bilge hose under the salon area. Under the sink in the head are two red switches, one for the shower sump, the other for the main bilge. Only one of these should be open at a time, depending on whether you are emptying the shower or the main bilge. Both of these are pumped out by a Jabsco diaphragm pump located in a compartment aft of the battery compartment under the quarterberth cushions. We also have a small black push button switch in the head to operate the pump while showering.
It's tricky to explain, but fairly simple in practice, if your system is the same.
Frank

 

[paddlingctdoc]

These replies are very helpful. Now that I have the boat more apart, here's what I've found.
1. There is a hose that comes from the stern underneath the port settees and into the head under the sink. It is plugged/dead-ended. Am assuming that is the hose for the shower drain.
2, There are a set of wires above the headliner that are just there unconnected to anything. I haven't been able to trace these back yet but wonder if these are for power and switch to a pump.
3. Removed the shower grate to see what was below. There is just a hole into a bilge compartment. no hose attachment.
4. I can't tell if there is a sump beneath the floor in the head but it does look like there is a channel from the shower drain into a bilge compartment underneath the settee that is just in front of the bulkhead/head aft wall. That is the compartment where my depth transducer is. Thinking that may be the best place to place a sump and then reroute the dead-ended hose to the sump outflow. I would need some sort of drain fitting that I can connect a hose to for the sump input and haven't yet found an appropriate fitting.

No opening below the toilet but that would have made sense.

 

[Frank Langer]

These replies are very helpful. Now that I have the boat more apart, here's what I've found.
1. There is a hose that comes from the stern underneath the port settees and into the head under the sink. It is plugged/dead-ended. Am assuming that is the hose for the shower drain.
2, There are a set of wires above the headliner that are just there unconnected to anything. I haven't been able to trace these back yet but wonder if these are for power and switch to a pump.
3. Removed the shower grate to see what was below. There is just a hole into a bilge compartment. no hose attachment.
4. I can't tell if there is a sump beneath the floor in the head but it does look like there is a channel from the shower drain into a bilge compartment underneath the settee that is just in front of the bulkhead/head aft wall. That is the compartment where my depth transducer is. Thinking that may be the best place to place a sump and then reroute the dead-ended hose to the sump outflow. I would need some sort of drain fitting that I can connect a hose to for the sump input and haven't yet found an appropriate fitting.

No opening below the toilet but that would have made sense.

Hi,
You're making good progress figuring out out! I think you're right that the hose from the stern on the port side is the bilge pump hose, and a previous owner has removed the hose from the shower. You are also right on thinking that the hull area under the salon is a good place for the bilge hose pickup, as that's a low point in the hull. There is a keel bolt there, and I placed our pickup right next to that. You can buy a pickup piece that has a barbed end to fit in the hose and has a flat opening on the underside to suck up water. It's a good idea to add a screen to that to avoid sucking up hair or debris. I did a search on marine shower strainer and found an expensive one made by Perko at West Marine, but you can probably find a cheaper one.
I would also add a hose to the hole leading to the bilge, Silicone it water tight, and T connect it into the bilge hose and add another pick up fitting in the shower sump under your plastic grate. That way your shower water goes directly into hoses rather than sloshing around in the bilge and eventually creating smells or soap residue.
Finally, the wires above the headliner are for mast lights, not shower sump pump. They go from the head up through the deck and into the mast.
Frank

 

[Frank Langer]

Hi,
You're making good progress figuring out out! I think you're right that the hose from the stern on the port side is the bilge pump hose, and a previous owner has removed the hose from the shower. You are also right on thinking that the hull area under the salon is a good place for the bilge hose pickup, as that's a low point in the hull. There is a keel bolt there, and I placed our pickup right next to that. You can buy a pickup piece that has a barbed end to fit in the hose and has a flat opening on the underside to suck up water. It's a good idea to add a screen to that to avoid sucking up hair or debris. I did a search on marine shower strainer and found an expensive one made by Perko at West Marine, but you can probably find a cheaper one.
I would also add a hose to the hole leading to the bilge, Silicone it water tight, and T connect it into the bilge hose and add another pick up fitting in the shower sump under your plastic grate. That way your shower water goes directly into hoses rather than sloshing around in the bilge and eventually creating smells or soap residue.
Finally, the wires above the headliner are for mast lights, not shower sump pump. They go from the head up through the deck and into the mast.
Frank

In thinking this through further this morning, I think you may need to add a shut off valve (perhaps an in-line one) in each of the shower and bilge pump hoses. If you don't do this, if you have water in the bilge, your bilge pump may not suck that water effectively if it can more easily suck air through the shower hose opening, and vice versa. Also, you need to be able to shut off the strainer opening in the bilge when you shower, so your shower water goes into the shower hose and exits the boat via the pump, and doesn't just drain out the bilge hose strainer into your bilge. So it will take a bit of careful design work as to where to run the hoses, where to add a shut off valve in each, so that the system is accessible to operate and also to maintain.
Some people don't use the boat shower drain, preferring instead to run the shower head out the head window and shower on deck, or buying a black shower bag to hang from the boom once the water is warmed by the sun. Showering in the small head on the E30+ is a bit of a challenge and tends to leave everything wet for a bit.
I hope this helps a bit.
Frank