Shower drain drain issue

Tuck · Post by **Tuck** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 9:37 am

on my 77 f32, the shower drain has apparently become clogged.

i know about the in-line filter/screen, and have cleaned it out as usual. but, i'm still not getting the shower to drain properly.

it seemed as though there is a clog between the shower drain itself and the pump, which is located under the galley sink. with that, as i couldn't get a plunger in the corner of the stall, i used...of all things...a sham-wow to stuff down the little opening in the drain to create a plunger effect, and when i did, the water began to get caught by the pump and drained. when i stopped "plunging", it stopped.

the pump is running, and again the filter/screen is clean, but it's a no-go.

i spoke with g3 last night who told me about an access opening near the shower drain/gally wall. unfortunately for me, the previous owner of my boat was apparently a bone-head and glued down wood flooring in the galley and lower cabin...covering up the access opening to both the shower drain and the center opening for the bilge.

in the hopes of NOT having to pull up the floor to get access to that opening, can anyone offer any other suggestions as to how to correct the problem?

any safe drain cleaners? drain sized nuclear explosives?

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:07 am

could try compressed air to blow out the line.

Dan Faith · Post by **Dan Faith** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:37 am

I agree compressed air, be sure you blow from the pump back to the shower so you do not mess up the pump. Also hook up a hose to the pump and put end in a bucket of water to make sure the pump is pumping it could be a pump problem before you tear into the shower.

Tuck · Post by **Tuck** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:52 am

tks for the response. compressed air, eh?

sounds good...now i need to find a source. hehe

as far as the pump, i'm pretty sure it's good. after talking with g3 last night, i took the line and placed it in a bowl of water. it started sucking it out, so i moved on.

Tuck · Post by **Tuck** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:39 am

<ding> new stooopid question pertaining to this...

what size air compressor would i need to do the trick on this? i don't want to go spend an azzload of money on something i'll hardly ever use and it be more than i need.

thanks again in advance.

ready123 · Post by **ready123** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:47 am

Check connections around the filter to ensure no air leaks... I found that caused what you described exactly.
Because the pump is so far away from the shower I find that I need to use the plunger to get it going every now and then. What I do is turn it on when I start to use the shower and then it usually starts sucking just before I'm finished.

I think my problems may be caused by the old hose collapsing.... you could be having the same problem.

MTP · Post by **MTP** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:59 am

Tuck wrote:tks for the response. compressed air, eh?

sounds good...now i need to find a source. hehe

as far as the pump, i'm pretty sure it's good. after talking with g3 last night, i took the line and placed it in a bowl of water. it started sucking it out, so i moved on.

what is with all the sucking and blowing in this thread.....we may need to move it over to pontifications if this keeps up

Tuck · Post by **Tuck** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 12:05 pm

ready123 wrote:I think my problems may be caused by the old hose collapsing.... you could be having the same problem.

i sure as hell hope not. again, the bone-head i bought the boat from put hardwood flooring down, and covered up the access to the shower. (i was so miffed at discovering this last night, that i actually thought about calling the guy up and asking him WTF he was thinking. oh well.)

if i have to pull up the floor to get this fixed, that would really SUCK and BLOW (that's for mtp's amusement.

)

wowzer52 · Post by **wowzer52** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 1:05 pm

Tuck, I used a wet/dry vac and sucked the crud out the shower drain then found the hose was not tight on the pump.

Tuck · Post by **Tuck** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 1:16 pm

wowzer52 wrote:Tuck, I used a wet/dry vac and sucked the crud out the shower drain then found the hose was not tight on the pump.

Ooooooo! Great idea. Dock mate has one I can use.

Hose is tight.

Tuck · Post by **Tuck** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 4:22 pm

Updateskie: drain fixed...I think.

I bummed a shop vac and it blew and sucked the drain/hose (that was for you, mtp

) for a couple of minutes, then checked the filter again. Hooked it back up, and it drains.

. BUT...I checked the port outside, and while it is draining, it seemed as though it was less than it should be.

Now, granted, I'm paranoid about the drain now,and I have never paid any attention to the flow from the outside before, so hopefully all is well.

Once again, thanks to all of you'se guys for your input and help.

alexander38 · Post by **alexander38** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 6:20 pm

plug the drain in the pump box and pour some vinegar down the shower side to eat and kill the slime. Lime-a-away works good for maintenance

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 9:21 pm

Tuck,.... umm...I was wondering....ahh... with all the pandering you just did for MTP...uhh... do you think you could work something in about midgets in your next thread ???....ah, please? [ yea I know I promised....

]

smplybttr · Post by **smplybttr** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:35 pm

Billy Mays' business partner (I don't know his name) is selling some sort of mini drain snake, that may come in handy.

http://www.bestofasseenontv.com/TurboSn ... oSnake.php

captainmaniac · Post by **captainmaniac** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:35 pm

When I first got the boat 10 years ago any water poured on the shower floor drained really well - I eventually found out that was because one of the hoses was disconnected from the strainer so it was just running into the bilge....

After I fixed that I found out why it was probably disconnected by the previous owner - after a run in some pretty choppy stuff we found the carpet on the head floor was soaking wet -- the thru-hull for the drain had been submerged a few times and water forced its way back in, backwards through the pump, hoses, and strainer, to accumulate on the shower floor.

At that point the system was 'primed', so turning the pump on did drain everything properly. BUT I found that if I just poured water on the shower floor, the pump didn't really do any good - it can't pull the water through an un-primed system to drain it. I put the pump not working properly down to either distance and height issue (mine is mounted up under the galley sink, a foot or two higher than the shower floor, and there is probably 8' of hose in between), or that the pump has lost its self-priming ability (after 30 years, maybe its internals or impeller have loosened up a bit too much).

To get mine going (when needed) I use a coolie (without the beer bottle in it) - upside down over the drain in the shower, and give it a squeeze. A half dozen or so squeezes is usually enough to get water to the pump, and then the rest gets sucked out properly.

Oh - and as for the reverse flow into the shower problem, I crawled in under the galley sink (pull the fridge out and go in through that opening), split the hose, and put in a 1-way valve between the pump and the thru-hull.