Sump Boxes

[jmagel]

Our bilge compartments containing the shower sumps are really dank and appear to be growing mold. Is there any reason they are left open at the top? I'm thinking of having them sealed somehow (with an access door, of course) or replacing them completely with a new setup. I'd prefer to keep the pumps we have since the sump boxes I've seen online look really cheap. Anyone tackle this before?

 

[SKYCHENEY]

They are open so as to act as additional bilge pumps should the water ever rise to levels above the top of any of those boxes.

 

[jmagel]

They are open so as to act as additional bilge pumps should the water ever rise to levels above the top of any of those boxes.

Interesting - I never thought of that.

 

[Paul Gwiz]

I had the same thing, I cleaned them up & got rid of the funk , I use a product called ODO Ban, I get it at home depot, Lowes dose not carry it. It is 20.00 Gal, it works great & will eliminate Those funkey smells. It is a concentrate So as always I tend to mix it on the strong side. I use a plant sprayer with the hand pump. It works well on everything, carpet , drapes, furniture, ect. I even pour a splash directly into the bilge , Front & rear, the bilges are staged so you need to add it in about three areas.

 

[MikeP]

Clorox will clean them nicely and, once that's done, a dollop of clorox in the shower once in a while just prior to using it will eliminate any such issues.

 

[TopHattandTails]

I steam clean and citris wipe all the bilges, ER's, and motors at the beginning of each season. No smell. I also put a 1" clear plexi with rubber gasket and wing nuts on the sump in the master. Made the plexi over hang about 1" all the way around and screwed 2 opposite sides straight down. The box is flared so it picks up the bolt a bit down the side. It helps, just make sure you disassemble and clean out well every few months. The steam clean is the real ticket though.

 

[jmagel]

I steam clean and citris wipe all the bilges, ER's, and motors at the beginning of each season. No smell. I also put a 1" clear plexi with rubber gasket and wing nuts on the sump in the master. Made the plexi over hang about 1" all the way around and screwed 2 opposite sides straight down. The box is flared so it picks up the bolt a bit down the side. It helps, just make sure you disassemble and clean out well every few months. The steam clean is the real ticket though.

Plexi cover with a gasket sounds like a good idea. Do you steam clean yourself or get a service?

 

[TopHattandTails]

I had the intention if doing it myself, but you know how that goes. My detailer does a great job at it. The first time it was a bit pricey, but they did a great job - it just took a few days. The subsequent treatments were much easier for them and therefor less expensive for me.

 

[sandspur1966]

I went a different route. like Sky I like the idea of the redundant bilge pump capability of an open sump so I drained mine with a shopvac, sanded the paint back to glass and layered epoxy thickened with microbaloons to create a shape to the bottom of the sump that spirals down to the pump and then put a check valve in line.

Painted it with silver dioxide additive paint to inhibit mildew and now I have minimal water left in the sump. The less water surface area, the less evaporation... and leave a kanberra gel canister down there as well.

 

[magnawake]

Same funky smell here. Ditto on the ODO ban. Its a hospital grade disinfectant. We use our front showall the time and the aft sump we keep dry. A show vac is great for sucking the very last 1/2"of water out. We have a bad smell, but its not moldy, it from the edge of the sump where the water level goes up and down leaving a white stinky residue. Its soap scum mixed with skin/oils. I need to clean my sump every two weeks or it will get really bad. I started using liquid soap (not bar soap) and it helped a little, but didnt cure the problem. I dont think there is a sure fire answer to the oily stink. I once put too much chloox into the sump and the float switch stopped working. Somehow the chlorox ate the rubber up and let water into the switch.

 

[MikeP]

Well, I don't know... Are you sure the smell is from the shower sump and not the bilges? Wet bilges seem to be the primary cause of odor on a boat.

We use all the showers and you can lean over any of the sumps and take a sniff and there's no odor from them at all. As I said, I toss a dollup of clorox at the shower drain once in a while - maybe once every couple of weeks while on the boat. I've not had any problem with shower sump float switches so I can't explain that. But there is always water in the shower sumps unless it evaporates over the winter.

 

[jmagel]

Well, I don't know... Are you sure the smell is from the shower sump and not the bilges? Wet bilges seem to be the primary cause of odor on a boat.

We use all the showers and you can lean over any of the sumps and take a sniff and there's no odor from them at all. As I said, I toss a dollup of clorox at the shower drain once in a while - maybe once every couple of weeks while on the boat. I've not had any problem with shower sump float switches so I can't explain that. But there is always water in the shower sumps unless it evaporates over the winter.

It's not too much of an odor problem on our boat -- it's the moisture. The compartments with sump boxes feel really damp on all surfaces and we have a scattering of black stuff growing on the wood. I'm going to clean everything real good with Clorox and attempt building plastic covers out of plexi.

 

[branwyn]

I ended up replacing my shower sumps with an Atwood 750GPH sealed sump box: http://www.amazon.com/attwood-4143-...1383058142&sr=8-1&keywords=atwood+shower+sump

Although I've become partial to Johnson Pumps and will replace them when the Atwood pumps fail.

While I appreciate the redundant bilge pump, I was more concerned with the prolonged steam bath the bilges and wood flooring gets in the boat. As we live aboard full time I became concerned with the amount of vapor moisture distributed. My wife has a propensity to drain the hot water tank with as hot a shower as she can stand... the amount of steam vapor that created in the open sump box was staggering. It was actually causing the underside of our mattress in the master to become damp as the heated vapor escaped the bilge area under the bed. The wood and flooring plywood around the master sump was constantly damp.

I figured the lesser or evils was to encapsulate the sumps. Now the wood and plywood is dry, the underside of my mattress stays dry.

I also put OXO shower drain covers over the shower drains to reduce the amount of hair that makes it to the sump. The first year I found I had to clear the screen in the sump box about every six months but over the last year it has stayed almost completely clean. http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-Sho...47&sr=8-1&keywords=oxo+shower+drain+protector

Cheers,
Ryan

 

[Artzco]

For years, I have used Lysol concentrate to combat odors and stop the growth of mold and mildew in virtually every space subject to damp conditions. A small bottle of concentrate will last a very long time and is low cost. Start with a clean sump and pour some concentrate and them mix some with water and spray other areas. I learned from a canvas guy long ago that if I spray canvas and the cloth part of the zippers, it prevents the black mildew spots and it has worked. I prefer it over bleach which can be harmful and it lasts longer.