342 shower sump wet carpet solved

Black_Diamond

For those who have had the dreaded shower sump overflow and had it soak the cabin carpet, I finally put an end to it.  I am speaking for my 2003 342 solution. 

In short, the area between the stringers where the shower sump goes had no way to drain to the mid berth bilge. The section where the A/C and toilet strainers drains to the area where the shower sump is too. I could not find where maybe someone got sloppy and glassed over a drain hole. 

I ended up drilling a 1-3/8 hole at the rear of the shower sump area. Ran 1-1/8 inch bilge pump hose from the shower sump area to the bilge. Lots of caulk  to seal the new hole to the hose. The dark areas are just shadows. 

rasbury

Good job! Guess they don't always think this stuff through.

John342

I own 2004 342 and about to take it on 2.5 week trip. Is this a common problem on them? or something i need to keep eye on?

Liberty44140

Nice add! John, its only a problem if your shower sump pump fails or is not working for some reason. When I bought my 342 in 2016 I replaced the pump and box so in 4 years no failures. But for whatever reason the box would lose prime over the winter and the first shower of the year would result in an overflow so each spring I started the year by filling the box with water manually to make sure it pumped. All good from there and never an over flow. It was easy to tell that I had an overflow because I could not hear it pumping while taking the shower so I was able to clean up the water before any wet carpet. But had the admiral been in there, sounds are meaningless to her, I could have had some soggy carpet. Just make sure it works and you will be fine for your trip.

Stodge

John we use our shower both on the hook and in marinas.  I had an issue a few times with it and got into the habit of running the shower water slowly for a few minutes and listening for the sump to kick on.  I was getting what I'd call a hydro-lock.  To fix it I open the sump box, and pull the pump out, then put it back in.  That appears to relieve the pressure in the line that is causing the pump to not move water.  I have a check valve that has been sitting in my parts bin for a few years now.  I keep saying next time it backs up I'm putting it in.  So far so good.

In my case I took a different approach and tore out the board that separates the cabin from the mid-berth area and replaced it with a new piece of pressure treated 2x10 with a weather strip on the bottom to keep any future leaks in place.  If I run out of projects I may look at the drain to the mid-bilge.  Nice bit of engineering @Black_Diamond.

DanD2

Stodge said:

In my case I took a different approach and tore out the board that separates the cabin from the mid-berth area and replaced it with a new piece of pressure treated 2x10 with a weather strip on the bottom to keep any future leaks in place. ... 

Huh? Can you explain in greater detail or provide pics?