Pre-repair showing failed sump pump base and fouled filter
The PSC31 has a shower that comes off of the sink in the head. There is a nice teak grill on the floor over a shower drain. The drain is kept emptied by a sump pump that is installed in the aft at the transom of the boat. When we purchased Cool Change, there was some standing water in the drain system and the sump pump switch, which is located on the sink cabinet face, did not work. It took a while to actually figure out how the plumbing was routed and where the sump pump was located … or where it was supposed to be located. When I did finally locate it, there was a story to be told. The location was deep in the lazarette and could only be accessed by actually climbing inside the lazarette and laying down on my side. It was extremely uncomfortable. There was a filter ahead of what appeared to be the base diaphram body of the sump pump. The rest of the pump was missing. The filter was completely clogged and I am guessing that due to the location, a previous owner did not know that a filter existed here that needed to be cleaned. Once the clogged filter ended up causing the motor to burn out, they started the project but didn’t follow through (probably because it was so freaking hard to get to!) When I replaced the pump and filter assembly, I moved them both to an easier to access location in the aft lazarette. Future maintenance should only involve semi-contorted body positioning from the outside rather than the torture pose fully inside the lazarette.
As is often the case with boat repairs, one thing leads to another. In the process of working on the sump pump, I came in contact with a hard plastic hose that broke when I touched it. Upon investigation, I found it was a hose leading from the electric bilge pump. I stuck it back together as best as I could with duct tape for a temporary fix and added it to the project list. That became a high priority, as it involved a system that could mean the difference between keeping the boat on top of the water rather than under, so I have since completed that job as well – yet another story!