57 Voyager, shower won't drain

[Barrett50]

This is my first real issue with the boat. When I bought it, it was surveyed. There were no reports of issues with the shower drains. I have used the master stateroom shower and it drains fine. Last wknd I used the hall shower and it did not drain. The Carver ops manual refers to an 'optional gray water tank'. I do not have a gray water tank.

Section two discusses the sump pump, and operation with a 'breaker' to enable:

2.2.1.2 Auto Sump - Forward and Aft
This breaker controls the flow of electricity to the forward and aft sump
pumps. Because the sumps are located below the boat’s water line, the
sump pumps are needed to pump shower waste water, sink waste water
and air conditioning condensation overboard or into the optional grey
water tank. Each sump pump is activated automatically by a float switch
whenever water within the sump rises above a predetermined level.
Switch the Auto Sump - Forward circuit breaker “ON” before using the
air conditioning or showers and sinks in the port and starboard heads.
Switch the Auto Sump - Aft circuit breaker “ON” before using the optional
crew quarters’ air conditioning, shower or sink.

Well, I don't have a 'auto sump' breaker anywhere on my DC panel either. I know the drain for the sinks is working as they drain well. When it was surveyed, I don't think they ran the shower enough to have the auto float switch. Which leads to these questions:

1. Does anyone know where this sump pump breaker is supposed to be on the DC panel? I don't have it listed.
2. Does anyone know where the tank and pump and switch are located in the engine bay so it can be tested/fixed?
3. I KNOW not to use a plunger on the vacu-flush as it will invert the flapper of the valve. Can I use a plunger on the shower drain in case there's a blockage?

The hall way bathroom sink seems to drain just fine. I would presume they go to the same tank, so I'm fairly sure I have a blockage in the shower to tank section. Any assist would be appreciated.

[Midnightsun]

You have a shower sump if you do not have the optional grey water tank. Normally it is on the same circuit as the bilge pump, I have not yet seen a shower sump breaker or a bilge pump breaker as they are normally directly connected to the battery.

Sinks may or may not empty into the shower sump as some go directly overboard such as my galley sink.

You say the shower does not drain? Does it still drain slowly or not at all? If it drains slowly then the float switch and/or the pump in the shower sump probably needs replacing. You need to find your shower sumps, usually located under carpeting via a hatch for servicing not too far from the shower. These sumps need regular annual or biannually servicing as they do tend to crud up therefor the importance of locating them. For what it's worth, I do both of mine every fall layup and no problems all season long.

[buster53]

Now is the time to get to know your boat. Open up every bilge opening you can find to see what they give you access to. FYI, Carver is famous for putting bilge openings in hidden, out of the way places...inside cabinets, under berths, underneath stairs, under carpeting, etc. Find all your bilge pumps, thru hulls with strainers and figure out what each is used for.
Your sump pumps are physically near your drains, probably within a couple of feet and as mentioned, they need to be cleaned out at least once a year, more if you use your showers a lot. FYI, the sump is basically a plastic box, maybe 8" x 10" with a bilge pump inside. Water from showers, air conditioning condensation and sometimes sinks drain into the sump, bilge pump kicks on and pumps the water overboard.

[Viper]

Ya as mentioned there will be a shower sump somewhere, you just have to find it, and your sink drains may be discharging overboard, hence why they're draining just fine. The sumps usually have a little relief/overflow hole in them which drain when the box is full due to a failure or water volume. So if the shower doesn't drain right away but you find that the water level is slowly dropping and you're not hearing a pump, it's the box overflowing through this hole into your bilge. Look for a section of bilge by the hall shower that has water in it. If that area is usually dry but not now, run the shower until the floor fills up a bit, then listen for water dripping, it might lead you to the sump. For your aft stateroom, under the bed may be where that sump is...rings a bell but could be anywhere.

Breakers for bilge pumps and sumps may be a different type than the toggles for the other systems, and they're not always labeled. You may have button type push/resettable breakers instead. The button pops out/up when they trip so look for that. They use those so you can't accidently shut your bilge pumps off but are still able to protect the circuit. These circuits may not be in your main distribution panel either, they could be on a junction box in the engine bay, under a step, aft stateroom closet, anywhere really. If you have battery selector switches, look around there, common for them to be in the same spot.

You need to find this sump and it's breaker. If the pump is seized and the breaker hasn't tripped, the pump will heat up and could cause a fire. Hopefully it's just a stuck float switch or clogged drain but you need to address this asap in case it's an electrical issue.

Hopefully someone with a similar vintage 57 will chime in. Keep us posted.

[KyleR]

On my 396, there is a "DC Safety Panel" (Carver's terminology) that is located in the master (aft) stateroom. It has the bilge pumps, the sump pumps, and other DC equipment that Carver thought should be isolated from the main DC panel. Try to see if you have something similar and you might find those sump pump breakers - and some other important ones too.

Kyle

[buster53]

Source of the post On my 396, there is a "DC Safety Panel" (Carver's terminology) that is located in the master (aft) stateroom. It has the bilge pumps, the sump pumps, and other DC equipment that Carver thought should be isolated from the main DC panel. Try to see if you have something similar and you might find those sump pump breakers - and some other important ones too.

Kyle

On my 356, I have the same setup. Lift up one of the steps leading down into the salon, I have at least a 1/2 dozen breakers as well as my battery 1-2-Both-Off switch.
Also, up on the flybridge, underneath the bench seat forward of the helm, there is another series of breakers.

[Barrett50]

Thanks folks. I have all my bilge pump breakers on all the time. I also located all three bilge pumps and checked them for operation. I don't have a breaker panel of any kind in my master stateroom. I have a small panel in the engine bay which has a couple of vac-u-flush switches. I've never seen a sump pump breaker or button or anything there. I'll keep looking, but the book doesn't show anything except the oil changer breaker, two vac flush switches, and a breaker for the inverter. I'll have to hunt for the tank and switch on the stbd side, and see about testing it. I know where the black water tanks are located, guessing the sump tank and pump will be close by.

[buster53]

FYI, both of my sump pumps are about 1’ from the drain. They will always be close to the drain. My Vacu Flush tanks are not quite as close.