460 Sundancer Sump Box overhaul.

Carpedmman

Carpedmman

Member
Feb 24, 2007
659
Tampa, Florida
Boat Info
Boatless presently.
Engines
Boatless
Last weekend while draining the galley sink, I noticed a strange whirling noise coming from the drain. I opened the cabin floor access door to check on the sump box. Sure enough, the Rule 2000gph had come loose from the basket and was causing a mini-whirlpool tub in my sump box! I tapped the float, but to no avail, the sump would NOT shut off! I finally resorted to shutting it off at the fuse panel via the breaker.

This week I have had the opportunity to become closely acquainted with this wonderful box and the relatively poor design for the 6'3" man to clean out an access. Here are my findings and changes to better make this more accessible and take some pain out of the process of maintaining the system.

1) Upon opening the sump box, I notice the lower intake cage on the Rule pump is pink and all broken up. It appears the PO might have used bleach to keep the box "Clean". The bottom of the pump was all smashed open so replacing the cage was not an option. So I now need a pump and a new float. I removed the old parts and discovered what a pain in the a** access to these screws that attach these parts to the bottom of the plastic sump box are and so another change was necessary. Additionally, while unscrewing these parts 2 screws broke off in their holes!

2) I decided there must be an easier way to maintain this system and gain access to this box for clean-out. I decided to mount the new pump and float on 1/2" piece of starboard which has been cut to size so as to not move around in the box. But, before I started, I had to use Marine-Tex to seal the existing holes in the bottom of the box. Next, to reduce the mounted boards from floating, I have a "vertical support leg" which is screwed to the board. Since all the plumbing comes in from the side or the back of the box, I have the support leg on the front, therefore, when cleaning the box, I can pull out the pump and the float and suck away with the shop vac! When i need to replace the basket or the float, I will have easy access so I can pull the bracket and do the work at the dock or at home. Simple!

3) One question that remains, there is a second float in the box. You can see the float in the photo below on the far right. What is this float for? back-up? Is it still made?

Lessons learned? When I was cleaning up, I noticed a gallon jug of bleach in the rear head. This leads me to believe that the PO poured the bleach down the system to help sanitize it; well sitting there for days or weeks, also weakens the basket drastically, too! Bleach is now off the boat and I'm going to use 1/2c Simple Green weekly and clean out every 3-4 months. Additionally, I am going to put a spare float in my parts box so if it ever goes out again (ha, ha!) the fix will take 1/2 hour to fix and not 6-8 hours....

Thanks to those who posted their issues with the Sumps here on CSR!
 
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I am going to start putting some white vinegar down my shower drain to keep it fresher, maybe some hydrogen peroxide as well. Just say no to bleach! At least the only things that drain to my sumps are the shower drains. Kind of nasty thinking about food waste going into a sump...
 
I use bilge cleaner to keep it clean and fresh. It's a terrible design, holding stinky water and not entirely evacuating. I'm adding a switch so not to have to disassemble the monster when the float gets stuck. You thing they would have installed a switch.
 
My concern is that if the sump does not drain because of float switch or pump failure / blockage, the eventual overflow has no where to go other than up toward the front of the compartment, my previous 400DA (1997) had an open bilge directly to the aft of the three sump boxes, and any overflow following a failure went overboard through the bilge pump fitted there.

Did Sea Ray figure that the all in one design fitted to my 2002 460 would never fail? WRONG...... had an overflow within first 10 days of ownership.

Has any body fitted a secondary pump and float switch mounted slightly higher, so a primary system failure would still be taken care of without a flood in the compartment. Altenatively is it possible to fit an extra overflow hose so that if there is a failure, and the sump fills up, before it overflows out through the lid, an extra outlet hose could feed by gravity to the main engine room bilge.

Graham
 
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The lower float switch in the photo (Right) should be to activate the pump as water enters the box. The upper switch should be the alarm switch. If the second switch trips, there should be an audible alarm at the helm.

My boat has the smaller box with an 800 gph Rule pump. The is only one float switch in the box, but there is an area to the rear of the sump, in the bilge, about 2 feet away where another float switch is located. If the the sump overflows, this area will accumulate about 3 gallons of water before the second alarm switch trips.

Most boats have the second alarm float somewhere, yours just happens to be inside the sump box.

Don
 
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