PDQ OWNERS FORUM

Have discovered my on board shower does not seem to be fully draining. Plenty of suction at pump, but drains slowly after 6 month layover. Detached exit tube from pump and blew through it. Felt like I blew a ball of crud out then air flowed freely, but still getting water backflow into shower after completely draining. I guess pump impeller is next stop, but suction seems to be really good. Can I stick a wire down that exit plumbing (downstream from pump) to check for further blockage? If I can easily blow through it I would think pump can pump water through it. Ideas?

You might try soaking the hose (insde) with vinegar for a few days. Vinegar does work. For example, I do a 3 day soak every winter for our entire water system, the hose from the toilet TO the holding tank, and the hose from the macerator pump TO the thru-hull valve. A change in the Fed law 2 years ago now prohibits any boat or ship from discharging ANY black water tanks in the entire Puget Sound area. So, we haven't used the macerator much for the last couple of years (unless we traveled into Canadian waters). I assumed that hose would be clean. Not so... when I tested the macerator pump AFTER the 3-day soak, it blew an ugly, compacted "brown" plug out the thru-hull valve.

Hey Nick,

Instead of a wire try blasting the outlet with a garden hose, it should flow freely. The gulper 220 sump pump is usually quite reliable. With this said the diaphragm or duck bill's may need replacement after drying out after layup.

Hope this helps
James

This ended up being a super easy fix, but required a valve rebuild kit. Kit available overnight with Amazon.....but then you need to have a daughter willing to bring it in her suitcase to Bahamas haha!