Gray water pump cycles a lot !

[Icurusty]

I have a Sea Ray2000 sedan bridge 400. It sounds to me like the gray water pump cycles more than it should. I’m wondering is this because there’s some sort of a failed check valve. Is this something that can be repaired by a competent repair man. is this something that’s going to cause a problem in the near future. I’m sure many of you have dealt with this and have experience but this is my first time to experience this as I am a relatively new boat owner. I would appreciate any direction. Thank you

 

[ranger58sb]

Gray water pump? You mean the shower sump?

Not familiar with your boat, but on some, AC condensate is plumbed to a shower sump... which in turn means the pump does periodically come on more often than you'd expect even if you haven't been using the shower.

And/or... it could be a clog in the discharge line so the pump isn't able to force water out the thru-hull.

It's usually a DIY job, not usually necessary to find a "competent repair man" at $100/hour who won't be available 'til October. Easiest start is to open up the sump, check it out. Pour in fresh water, see what happens, etc. If necessary, try some compressed air or dockwater pressure out the discharge hose.

You'll likely find the sump is full of goop (hair, coagulated soap, etc.) and smells bad, so you might as well be prepared to clean it out while you're there.

-Chris

 

[K-DUB]

Mine was doing the same thing. It would pump, then the remaining water would run back down the line back into the sump when the pump shut off. Thus pushing the level back close to the float engagement level.
I added check valves in my discharge lines for mine and it took care of it. It’s an easy job if you can access them.

 

[Lazy Daze]

It's hard to figure out what you mean by 'more than it should". Since you're new to this stuff, is it possible it's normal? As noted above, often the AC condensate empties into the box - so if you're using the AC, that would trigger it.

Let's start by getting a better understanding of what you mean... exactly how often does it cycle? 30 seconds? 2 minutes? An hour?

But... easy way get more info and see what's going on... Just watch the pump box to see what's happening. If needed, pour some water into your shower drain to hasten the issue.

 

[exsailer]

on mine the difference between off and on is probably about a quart so if ac is running in summer it will certainly turn on a lot(with no shower) maybe once per hour? The check valve is a must and might need to be cleaned and/or replaced.

 

[scooper321]

Gray water pump? You mean the shower sump?

Not familiar with your boat, but on some, AC condensate is plumbed to a shower sump... which in turn means the pump does periodically come on more often than you'd expect even if you haven't been using the shower.

And/or... it could be a clog in the discharge line so the pump isn't able to force water out the thru-hull.

It's usually a DIY job, not usually necessary to find a "competent repair man" at $100/hour who won't be available 'til October. Easiest start is to open up the sump, check it out. Pour in fresh water, see what happens, etc. If necessary, try some compressed air or dockwater pressure out the discharge hose.

You'll likely find the sump is full of goop (hair, coagulated soap, etc.) and smells bad, so you might as well be prepared to clean it out while you're there.

-Chris

If you don’t have a compact wet vac, this is the time to get one. Makes cleaning the sump box a lot less disgusting as you can vacuum out the dirty water, the goop around the float and pump and even shove the nozzle up the various feed lines to suck out whatever is building up there. Wear gloves.

 

[Njlarry]

Same boat same problem. Replaced check valve 2 years ago and problem solved.

 

[The Bill Collector]

Same boat same problem. Replaced check valve 2 years ago and problem solved.

+1 Check valve.... Mine is right by the sump box in the discharge line. Got 20+ years of service out of it, I'm good.