Shower pump - to change or not?

[Hudds Lad]

Just thinking ahead really and pondering ideas.

 

Currently the shower is equipped with a Rule shower drain pump-inna-box affair, which automatically kicks in (eventually) which has been in since fitout in 2007.

It works, but you're often stood in an inch or so of water whilst it does it's thing. Not got any info to hand other than the Owner's Manual for the boat which claims its 12volt 800gph.

 

Is there any improvement in swapping it out for the same thing but higher rated (they do an 1100gph version), or going a different route with say a Whale gulper?

[philjw]

Are you sure that the pipework from the shower to the box is clear? There may also be a kind of tubular affair in the intake to the box which has holes and acts as a crude filter. This also can block up. I think the problem may be that the waste water is not getting into the box and that the Rule pump is actually getting the box emptied as it fills. 

[Hudds Lad]

2 minutes ago, philjw said:

Are you sure that the pipework from the shower to the box is clear? There may also be a kind of tubular affair in the intake to the box which has holes and acts as a crude filter. This also can block up. I think the problem may be that the waste water is not getting into the box and that the Rule pump is actually getting the box emptied as it fills. 

Nope, not sure at all, something to check at the weekend  

[mrsmelly]

Gulper, end of.

[Hudds Lad]

4 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Gulper, end of.

Don't tell me, it's "vastly superior" ?  

[springy]

I have a similar "pump in a box" and whilst it works it has the same problem - I think there's not enough "fall" between the bottom of the shower tray and the box inlet hence the slow draining. I have a Gulper waiting to be fitted and it should be much better because it "sucks" ! 

(I haven't actually fitted the Gulper yet because I also connected all the water drain cocks to the shower pump box making draining down for the winter much easier - that works well.)

 

springy

[mrsmelly]

20 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

Don't tell me, it's "vastly superior" ?  

 Correct. Its one of those indisputable FACTS. Much like, there is only one way to heat a narrowboat, a solid fuel stove and only one type of bog that makes any sense, the cassette type.

I had ten years of a whale gulper full time living before I bought my new shell to fit out. Like a muppet I saw those boxes, this was in 1999 when shell was delivered and I thought oooooooh how lovely and fitted one........................mistake............after a few months I binned it and bought a gulper  my other boats then after that time all were Mr gulper.

 

[Tracy D'arth]

The pump in a box things are terrible, seen load of hire boats flooded with them. Definitive answer is a Whale Gulper.

[magnetman]

Whale Gulpers are good pumps for evacuating the shower. Very reliable. 

[GUMPY]

Bin the pump in a box and fit a gulper, it's the only way forward mine is 11 years old and never been touched.

The thing to remember is that they use the same pump with bigger pipes  as a pump out pump so it's never going to clog pumping a shower.

[Momac]

2 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

Don't tell me, it's "vastly superior" ?  

I dare say it is 

 

The sump box type relies on gravity flow from the shower waste to the box. Possibly not much fall available on a narrowboat. So any restrictions in the waste pipe or the waste outlet pipe, which are very likely , will cause the water to back up into the shower tray. I recently noticed a motorhome shower had two waste outlets which seemed like a good idea . 

I recently fitted a new  sump box kit which was a lot less money than a  whale gulper. But I dare say the sump pump is not your issue unless the filter inthe box is clogged , which I would have thought you would have noticed.

Anyhow  a good clean out may restore performance assuming it has not had the same issue from new.

 

https://www.securefixdirect.com/shower-sump-pump-system-750gph-waste-water-12v-caravan-rv-boat-drain-automatic-4289-p.asp

[dmr]

When we got our boat it has one of these (sometimes called a strum box though I don't think thats totally correct), and obvious signs of leakage/water damage. I took it out and a lumpy water friend took it to a boat jumble and somebody actually gave money for it.  

Whale Gulper and a human operated switch has many advantages. Our shower base is a hip bath so I dont turn the gulper on till ive finished the shower, that way my feet get a nice soak.

[BEngo]

A strum box, aka elephants foot, is the thing with lots of holes that goes on the end of a suction pipe to prevent bigger bits than the pump can handle going up the pipe.

 

N

[MtB]

9 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

Currently the shower is equipped with a Rule shower drain pump-inna-box affair,

 

OMG what a bodge-up.

 

Get rid and fit a Whale Gulper, just in case no-one has mentioned this bomb-proof reliable shower pump yet.

 

And fit a manual on/off switch inside the shower too.

 

Greenies for this awesome wisdom accepted. 

 

 

[Hudds Lad]

6 hours ago, MtB said:

OMG what a bodge-up.

Not sure why you think it’s a bodge-up, it’s an off-the-shelf product, not something cobbled together in an ice cream tub?

 

Anywho, i’ll give it a clean at the weekend, and then take measurements etc. to look toward upgrading it to a gulper and manual switch affair.

On one hand it’s worked fine for 16yrs with no leaks, on the other the likelihood of failure increases by the day.  

[Jon57]

7 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

Not sure why you think it’s a bodge-up, it’s an off-the-shelf product, not something cobbled together in an ice cream tub?

 

Anywho, i’ll give it a clean at the weekend, and then take measurements etc. to look toward upgrading it to a gulper and manual switch affair.

On one hand it’s worked fine for 16yrs with no leaks, on the other the likelihood of failure increases by the day.  

The previous 16 years the male user probably started off with a full head of hair ( now bald🤭) and the female started off with smooth silky legs. ( don’t go there😱) replace with a whale gulper you know it makes sense.

[TheBiscuits]

I've not bothered reading any of this thread, but have you considered fitting a Whale Gulper?

 

That's what I'd recommend, best with a manual switch but I think @nicknorman fitted a timer circuit to his because he likes making stuff unnecessarily complicated ....

 

[blackrose]

16 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

 Correct. Its one of those indisputable FACTS. 

 

I can't believe after all these years some people still haven't got the message. It's not like the OP is a new to boating and the forum.

 

When I was fitting it my boat 18 years ago Dave at Uxbridge boat centre explained to me that sump box shower drain pumps were crap and told me to fit a whale gulper. That advice has been repeated ad infinitum on the pages of this forum by so many members.

Edited May 4, 2023 by blackrose

[Jen-in-Wellies]

7 hours ago, MtB said:

 

OMG what a bodge-up.

 

Get rid and fit a Whale Gulper, just in case no-one has mentioned this bomb-proof reliable shower pump yet.

 

And fit a manual on/off switch inside the shower too.

 

Greenies for this awesome wisdom accepted. 

 

 

Done!

[GUMPY]

1 hour ago, Hudds Lad said:

 

On one hand it’s worked fine for 16yrs with no leaks, on the other the likelihood of failure increases by the day.  

With luck like that maybe you should be doing the lottery 😂

[magnetman]

Jabsco do a pump which is equivalent to a Whale Gulper. 

 

It might be alright but I have retired to the bunker in case of incoming. 

 

https://www.jabscoshop.com/marine/pumps/sink-shower-drain-pumps/50880-1000-self-priming-diaphragm-pump-12-volt-dc.htm

 

Not cheap. 

[Hudds Lad]

1 hour ago, blackrose said:

I can't believe after all these years some people still haven't got the message. It's not like the OP is a new to boating and the forum.

No, but relatively new to outright boat ownership where things are now my problem. We don't live on, so it takes time to slowly get to grips with all the workings of the boat. 

[MtB]

3 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

Not sure why you think it’s a bodge-up, it’s an off-the-shelf product, not something cobbled together in an ice cream tub?

 

 

I took it to be exactly that, having done that myself back in 1977 and found out pretty rapidly that the float rapidly gets clogged up with a mixtrure of soap deposits, hair and general slungey splut so it no longer floats. Then the ice cream tub/washing up bowl/whatever happily overflows into the bilge instead of pumping out and the first thing you know about it is when you begin to notice the boat is sitting a bit oddly in the water and you check the bilge and find the last three months of shower water glowering back up at you. 

 

Back in them days though, a Whale Gulper didn't seem to be a thing. I think they were invented about 30 years ago. 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 4, 2023 by MtB

[ditchcrawler]

9 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

Not sure why you think it’s a bodge-up, it’s an off-the-shelf product,  

 

Wait until it leaks stale soapy water into your bilge and you dont notice its happening for 3 months

[Hudds Lad]

3 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Wait until it leaks stale soapy water into your bilge and you dont notice its happening for 3 months

You're assuming i wash that often