[C320-list] Shower sump pump woes

[Scott Thompson]

At the end of a cruise yesterday someone who shall remain nameless turned on the shower sump pump to drain melt water in the fridge but forgot to turn it off so it ran for quite a while. ( We couldn’t hear it over engine noise. ) Later I noticed more water in the fridge from defrosting and tried the pump again. Nothing pumped out. I correctly thought the filter might be clogged and so we removed it and cleaned it. But the pump won’t prime at all now. Thoughts? Do I need a new pump? Any priming tricks welcome.

And what kind of contortionist installed that thing in the first place. I can look at it through the door under the sink, or I can sort of get my hands in there, but not both at once.

[Bruce Heyman]

Hi Scott,
No shortage of items on our boat where you can either look at something or "kinda" get a tool on it but certainly not both at the same time.
I've had similar problems with getting a prime. Almost always it was fixed by a very thorough cleaning of the filter and making sure that the filter goes back together without an air leak. I have had the pump out and I do sort of remember taking it apart, cleaning it all up and reinstalling it. Seems to get a prime very quickly now.
Good luck,
Bruce
Bruce Heyman
Somerset #671 San Pedro (LA) California

[KEN GEIGER]

SCOTT, you can "better" access the shower pump by removing the bins and frame behind the aft cabin door.  Still not easy.  I have had my pump out and apart to clean and it worked after.  Not sure what one calls that type of pump, multiple diaphragm??????, but has 4 or so valve sealing surfaces that can get dirty.
Regards
Ken GeigerNorthern Dream 2000 #765Being hauled out of Georgian Bay tomorrow

Sent from the all-new AOL app for Android

On Mon., 4 Oct. 2021 at 15:31, Scott Thompson<surp...@thompson87.com> wrote: At the end of a cruise yesterday someone who shall remain nameless turned on th shower sump pump to drain melt water in the fridge but forgot to turn it off so it ran for quite a while. ( We couldn’t hear it over engine noise. ) Later I noticed more water in the fridge from defrosting and tried the pump again. Nothing pumped out. I correctly thought the filter might be clogged and so we removed it and cleaned it. But the pump won’t prime at all now. Thoughts?  Do I need a new pump?  Any priming tricks welcome.

[Ian Neale]

Hi,

I have had similar issues. In the end it was the y valve that changes from the cooler drain to the shower drain that had a small air leak that caused the pump to not prime properly.

With regard to accessing the pump I put a water proof enclosure for the toilet roll in the fascia to the left of the basin and under the counter top. The cut out for the roll holder gives great access to the pump. So maybe an upgrade to add a holder will make your pump maintenance easier as well.

Cheers, Ian.

Sent from. my iPhone

> On Oct 5, 2021, at 9:49 AM, Bruce Heyman <Bruce...@cox.net> wrote:
>
> Hi Scott,

[Chris Burti]

You can access it by removing the drawer frame in the aft cabin. Make sure that the y valve hasn’t been changed to the shower sump first. Water runs downhill so priming shouldn’t be an issue.

Best Regards,
Chris Burti
Commitment #867

> On Oct 4, 2021, at 4:49 PM, Bruce Heyman <Bruce...@cox.net> wrote:
>
> Hi Scott,

[Bob Borelli]

The shower sump will not take suction for discharge with the sea valve closed.
Check that the sea valve is open.

I have removed, disassembled to clean and reinstalled the original pump & strainer.
Finally installed a new pump, strainer & hose to the sea valve.
Lube the sea valve with Forspare Marelube.

Access - remove the 2 drawers & than 5 wood screws in the frame & ease the cabinet frame assembly out & set it aside.
Now room to work. You can remove the vanity to place a drop light in the opening to help see whats going on.

I replaced the original pump with the same so the 3 wood screws holding the base down would line up.
I purchased the new pump on Amazon. I've taken several showers onboard including last night. Works.

Jabsco 37202-0000 12V Light Duty Bilge Pump Shower -181
4.5 gpm 8 ampls. Shower sump pump with
Jabsco 36202-0010 Pump Gard on suction side.

Bob Borelli 1995 C320 no. 209 Georgetown MD

________________________________
From: C320-list <c320-lis...@lists.catalina320.com> on behalf of Chris Burti <clb...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, October 4, 2021 6:27 PM
To: C320...@catalina320.com <C320...@catalina320.com>
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Shower sump pump woes

[Troy Dunn]

Scott

The best (not necessarily quickest) way to access that area is to remove
the entire two drawer unit from the aft berth area. Empty the drawers,
remove the frame screws and set the unit aside in the aft berth. Now you
can practically crawl into that area.

You will find that working in that area is still cramped. There's no good
way to position yourself and your tools. I have the admiral hand me tools
thru the head cabinet door. That helps resolve some of that issue.

As an aside, if the thru hull is closed, that style pump will pump up to a
point and then stop being able to pump. Our fridge just goes to the bilge
so we don’t have the y valve but I would assume that doesn’t impact the
thru hull needing to be open to get the pump to operate.

Troy Dunn
Hull #514

[Scott Thompson]

Water runs downhill but on my boat the hose from the fridge goes up from
the bilge to the y-valve, and then up higher to the filter, then higher
still going over the top of the pump before connecting to the pump inlet
on the far side. It has occurred to me however that getting a higher
head of water might help overcome all of that by filling the fridge with
fresh water. Is there a downside to that?

[Chris Burti]

Just having to bail it out if the pump has failed…

Thanks,
Chris Burti
Farmville, NC

[Mark Calisti]

I’m looking to add an asym, ATN Tacker, and a sock. There is usually just two of us on board, so I’m not comfortable getting a spinnaker. An asym and sock seems to be a good shorthanded solution for sailing deeper angles in lighter winds and without a pole. This will be our first downwind sail and searching out a more general purpose asym to sail around 130 to 165 TWA. Anyone using an asym with a ChuteSCOOP (and perhaps also the ATN Tacker) and have rigging suggestions and any general tips about the entire arrangement? Also, apparently the ATN sleeve is a bit bulkier than the ChuteSCOOP, so leaning towards this particular sock.

Thank you,
Mark Calisti
Wayward, 749
Solomons, MD

[Chris Burti]

Mark,
We had one and sold it.

Pro - The ChuteScoop works just fine, we mounted the tack to the bail on the anchor roller without issue. Used Garhauer snap shackles for the tack and the turning blocks which we secured to the aft cleats with loops. I could easily single hand the sail ( you only need 5/16” sheets). If you do a lot of day sailing in light air, it is a great sail.

Con - It takes up a lot of room in the cockpit locker, it does not do well straight down wind. Tacking/gybing it is a bit tricky solo. Since most of our sailing is cruising, we left it home most of the time in order to use the cockpit space for provisions, kayak etc. so, in the end we didn’t use it very much at all and sold it.

Thanks,
Chris Burti
Commitment #867
Farmville, NC

[Bruce Hunter]

Hello,          Medical issues have brought us a decision to make, sell our 320 and move up to something with an in-mast main furler or boom furler or outfit our 320 with a boom furler. In today's crazy boat market I THINK it would be more cost effective to install a boom furler. Forespar is supposed to be the best, I'm just starting research on it and wonder if anyone here has real life experience with one. Are they reliable? Cost? Is an electric winch required? Cost of sail? Can the 320 diamond and hull # be put on that sail?I know once I get the research done I may look back on some of these questions and probablt wince but as stated, I'm just starting to seriously look into these things.
ThanksBruce HunterNauti Time #719

[Graeme Clark]

Bruce

The PO fitted a boom furler to my C320 but I doubt the specific model (Sailtainer 2000) is available in the USA. However there may be some learning points that are useful to you that apply to all makes, so heres my two cents worth!

The in boom furler will need its own sail - i don't think you will be able to convert an existing one, but no reason why it cant have the diamond etc - mine does.

The angle of the boom when furling is CRITICAL. If it is more than 90 deg from the mast the sail will roll forward as it rolls up and jam. If it is much less than 90 degrees then it will pull away from the track and at the very least cause friction. Mine has to be between 87 and 89 degrees and this is achieved by a fixed vang. (No kicker) This limits sail control

Similarly the outhaul control is lost or reduced. On mine you can adjust the outhaul tension but its a job with a hex-key at the start of the day, not mid-sail

On mine the furling drum is at the clew end of the boom, not at the mast. This can lead to a lot of line friction (lots of blocks etc) some torsional ‘give’ on the rotating boom ‘foil’ and even, if under serious load some bending of the boom. As a result we can ONLY furl our sail (or reef it) with the boat headed directly into wind so that the sail is luffing.

On the above point because the sail feeds off a roll, it cant be fed into the mast track without a kink in the bolt rope. So on mine there is a ‘dummy track” that fits into the mast and the sail luff bolt rope slides up and own this. It is difficult to explain in words but if the boom is not directly fore/aft in line with the axis of the boat there will be a glitch in smooth running. So as above, the boat needs to be head to wind AND the boom lined up fore and aft - you cant get away with (say) heading 30 degrees to the wind and letting the boom swing out 30 degrees

On the plus side - infinite reefing. If it jams - let go the halyard just like a conventional sail. Fully battened

On the negative side, you need to keep tension on the halyard whilst furling in order to ensure that the sail wraps tight. The PO bought this to help him sail single handed. I’m not sure that you can easily use it single handed unless winds are very light.

I’ve got the original boom and vang so could go back if I wanted, but that would mean a new sail. I’ll probably stick with it, but I would never have bought it myself.

I’m sure there are MUCH better boom reefing systems out there now, but if you are aware of some of the pitfalls it may help you choose.

remember what works on the demonstrator stand at the boat show doesn't necessarily work in a 25 kt wind!

Friction is the enemy!

UK agent marketing spiel here: https://jeckells.co.uk/boom-reefing-system/

Graeme
#366, 1996

Furler installed about 2008