Shower waste water pump (cheap item on ebay)

[Karen Lea Rainey]

Currently looking to install a waste water shower pump, at the moment I pump a bellow by foot power to send the water overboard after showering to empty the shower tray.

I've seen these 12v pumps on Ebay for around £10 -£12,  does it matter that there wont be any psi (advert says works upto 100psi), I think they can be used with jet washes and other powerful needs.

I simply want it to work by pumping waste grey water overboard at the flick of a switch during showering.

They are only small and about half the size of a whale gulper or shurflo pump and obviously a fraction of the cost.

Will it work ? Has any one used one?

[robtheplod]

At that price you takes your chances..... Whale Gulper everytime!

[Tom and Bex]

Having tried an alternative (already fitted on boat, but soon changed!) I'd never have anything other than Whale Gulper ever again. (Unless you really enjoy cleaning filters out every week🤣)

[Jen-in-Wellies]

My whale gulper has been coping with long hair, laundry lint and mud washed out of caving gear for fifteen years so far.

Gulpers will run dry, so if you forget to switch off the pump for a few minutes, it doesn't matter. Other pump types can be wrecked. If this is one of those, I've no idea.

Edited November 10, 2022 by Jen-in-Wellies

[nicknorman]

It is at least a diaphragm pump not an impeller type. So it might be OK re not getting blocked, worth a try I’d say, if budget is the priority. Just because a gulper is very good doesn’t mean that nothing else is adequate.

Edited November 10, 2022 by nicknorman

[Tony Brooks]

Pressure is not really an issue, but volume is. A small pump is likely to have a small output volume and that might allow the shower tray to overflow. It says impeller so that suggests it is like a Jabsco Water Puppy but all plastic. I very much doubt it will run dry for long without damage and I am far from sure the impeller is replaceable. If you get this I would advise a push button switch so the pump stops the moment you release the button. Then there is a question about how easily it will block with hair etc. Personally I would advise forget it.

 

We went through a similar process in the early 70s on the hire fleet using a pump Lucas introduced. It was not a success.

4 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

It is at least a diaphragm pump not an impeller type. So it might be OK re not getting blocked, worth a try I’d say, if budget is the priority. Just because a gulper is very good doesn’t mean that nothing else is adequate.

 

Nick, where did you get that info from, the attached diagram says impeller.

[nicknorman]

5 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Pressure is not really an issue, but volume is. A small pump is likely to have a small output volume and that might allow the shower tray to overflow. It says impeller so that suggests it is like a Jabsco Water Puppy but all plastic. I very much doubt it will run dry for long without damage and I am far from sure the impeller is replaceable. If you get this I would advise a push button switch so the pump stops the moment you release the button. Then there is a question about how easily it will block with hair etc. Personally I would advise forget it.

 

We went through a similar process in the early 70s on the hire fleet using a pump Lucas introduced. It was not a success.

 

Nick, where did you get that info from, the attached diagram says impeller.

It does, but the title includes  “self-priming diaphragm”. Impeller type pumps are not self-priming and it does say “diaphragm”. I think the “impeller” label is just a mistranslation for “the pumping bit”. 

[Tony Brooks]

2 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

It does, but the title includes  “self-priming diaphragm”. Impeller type pumps are not self-priming and it does say “diaphragm”. I think the “impeller” label is just a mistranslation for “the pumping bit”. 

NO, flexible impeller pumps as per the Jabsco range are self priming, it is the centrifugal ones that are not. The way the connections are located on the pump I would suggest is more typical for a flexible impeller pump than a centrifugal one. I would want to know a lot more about the pump than the info we have at present and I do not trust any description from unknown internet sellers.

 

 

[rusty69]

28 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

My whale gulper has been coping with long hair, laundry lint and mud washed out of caving gear for fifteen years so far.

Gulpers will run dry, so if you forget to switch off the pump for a few minutes, it doesn't matter. Other pump types can be wrecked. If this is one of those, I've no idea.

23 years here. Yours is just a youngster.

[Arthur Marshall]

39 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

It is at least a diaphragm pump not an impeller type. So it might be OK re not getting blocked, worth a try I’d say, if budget is the priority. Just because a gulper is very good doesn’t mean that nothing else is adequate.

I use an ordinary impeller Jabsco. I have to clean it out about once every three years so I never bothered with a Gulper. I do have a filter before the shower outlet though.

[Tony Brooks]

21 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I use an ordinary impeller Jabsco. I have to clean it out about once every three years so I never bothered with a Gulper. I do have a filter before the shower outlet though.

 

No gulpers as far as I know in the late 60s so all our fleet used Jabsco water puppies for shower pumps without any filters and they did not block except when idiots did odd things in the shower like pluck and gut a duck they caught. But nowadays people seem not to want the bother of a push button  switch.

 

The Waterpuppy on JennyB was 30 years old when we sold it and it had worked faultlessly for the 20 years we had it on the original impeller.

Edited November 10, 2022 by Tony Brooks

[mrsmelly]

I have had cheap small pumps on my first couple of boats, they worked BUT had to be de haired and cleaned at least weekly, a right pain in the bum. GULPER is the only one to buy IF you can afford it?

Think petrol gennies, there is only one to buy, its called Honda, end of, BUT if you cant afford one??

[nicknorman]

2 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

NO, flexible impeller pumps as per the Jabsco range are self priming, it is the centrifugal ones that are not. The way the connections are located on the pump I would suggest is more typical for a flexible impeller pump than a centrifugal one. I would want to know a lot more about the pump than the info we have at present and I do not trust any description from unknown internet sellers.

 

looking on eBay, the text description says this: “This is a high quality DC micro diaphragm pump.”. Well, not conclusive I’d agree, and I’d be a bit worried about the “micro” bit. Micro diaphragms = get clogged with micro-debris. Maybe!? It produces 130psi which is quite a lot for a flexible impeller pump I’d have thought?

[Tony Brooks]

If it is a diaphragm pump then it's good, but looking at the image, it suggests to me that the valves are probably small, and we know from the reliability of the multi-chamber water pumps that are sold as shower pumps small valves clog easily. I think it is the large valves on the Whale that makes it so reliable and difficult to clog. I suppose the good ting is that it looks as if just five screws will give access to the valves but how many times it can be disassembled and reassembled before the cover leaks is open to question.

[jonathanA]

I've used this type of pump to pump clean water from a vehicle mounted watervtank into a power washer and it was fine for that. I very much doubt they would cope with grey water. The other thing is they are designed to cut out at a certain pressure and I found they would blow normal plastic hoselock type connectors and had to a) use good quality fittings well made off  b)adjust the cut out pressure down.

[Karen Lea Rainey]

Well, I've ordered the £10 pump , we'll give it a go.

Just bearing in mind it only gonna be used for a few odd days, a few times a year, I reckon it could do the job.

Remember I only want it to empty the few litres of shower tray water , so maybe 5 minutes operating for no more than a dozen or so times.

[Alan de Enfield]

46 minutes ago, Karen Lea Rainey said:

Well, I've ordered the £10 pump , we'll give it a go.

Just bearing in mind it only gonna be used for a few odd days, a few times a year, I reckon it could do the job.

Remember I only want it to empty the few litres of shower tray water , so maybe 5 minutes operating for no more than a dozen or so times.

 

Just ensure that you don't 'moult' or use any soap or shed any skin - 1 minute of pumping  water, hair and soap scum and it could be blocked.

[LadyG]

I think I have one of those and used to clean filter very often, but I now have a strainer that sits in the shower tray and I also remove any debris with a cloth.

[blackrose]

Some people do love doing everything the hard way and ordering cheap shite to save money. If you get the right pumps they will last years and won't need any filters or unblocking. I installed my whale gulper more than 17 years ago and never touched it since. Liveaboard use.

16 hours ago, robtheplod said:

At that price you takes your chances..... 

 

No a £10 pump is going to be crap for sure.

[cheesegas]

I bought one of those mini diaphragm pumps with a little hose gun for about £15 on ebay for washing the boat with canal water. Works great for that, but it has a fairly fine filter on the intake, the little valves inside will clog with hair and soap deposits very very quickly. It's simply the wrong tool for the job, price aside...

[LadyG]

On 10/11/2022 at 07:34, Karen Lea Rainey said:

Currently looking to install a waste water shower pump, at the moment I pump a bellow by foot power to send the water overboard after showering to empty the shower tray.

I've seen these 12v pumps on Ebay for around £10 -£12,  does it matter that there wont be any psi (advert says works upto 100psi), I think they can be used with jet washes and other powerful needs.

I simply want it to work by pumping waste grey water overboard at the flick of a switch during showering.

They are only small and about half the size of a whale gulper or shurflo pump and obviously a fraction of the cost.

Will it work ? Has any one used one?

I think that's the one I have, and it's just not working any more, though the electrics are still activating it. 

I'm going to get a whale gulper, should I by pass the filter which is gauze inside a clear plastic cup. There is also a settling tank which seems pointless if the Gulper can cope with anything.

Thanks

Edited April 26, 2023 by LadyG

[rusty69]

4 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I think that's the one I have, and it's just not working any more, though the electrics are still activating it. 

I'm going to get a whale gulper, should I by pass the filter which is gauze inside a clear plastic cup. There is also a settling tank which seems pointless if the Gulper can cope with anything.

Thanks

Yes. Ditch the strainer. 

[LadyG]

On 10/11/2022 at 16:47, Karen Lea Rainey said:

Well, I've ordered the £10 pump , we'll give it a go.

Just bearing in mind it only gonna be used for a few odd days, a few times a year, I reckon it could do the job.

Remember I only want it to empty the few litres of shower tray water , so maybe 5 minutes operating for no more than a dozen or so times.

Make sure you don't let anything get past the shower outlet.