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I noticed on some boats the shower sump goes overboard thru the same thru-hull the sink in the head does! Mine does not!

My shower sump pumps into the holding tank! How dumb is that? With a 20 gall holding tank, it will not take long for the shower to fill it up. As a result, we do not use the shower on the boat and when we are away, we use the marina showers.

I am thinking of rerouting the shower drain in my 2004 268Vista to go overboard and tie the drain hose from the shower sump pump to the hose coming off the sink drain with a Y-type connector. I may need to install a check valve also.

Has anyone done this? I looked at the FW owners manual, and it looks like my shower sump is accessed thru the small closet on the starboard side between the head and the aft cabin. There is a section of the floor of the closet that looks like it comes up. I'll have to seal off the hose going to the holding tank somehow and install a longer drain hose from the sump pump to the sink drain hose, but I am not sure how to get to the sink drain hose?? I am thinking I will need to remove the entire section of the shower floor that has screws holding it in place and then caulked all the way around?? I would hate to go thru all of that and find out I did not need to remove it. Anyone have any experience with this on the Vista??

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'04 FW 268Vista "Andiamo"

Have you checked under the aft cushions? Mine is a 1998 258 and the sink/shower drain into a plastic sump that has a bilge pump inside. Mine is under the triangular shaped cushion that is in front of the small closet. As I recall my sink and shower have seperate hoses that connect to the plastic sump. Maybe you could reroute your shower hose to the plastic sump. Good luck, Ben.

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Thanks,
Ben

1998 258 Vista 7.4Gi Duoprop

Thanks Ben! I appreciate the input! We are planning on an 8 day trip in a couple of weeks, and I thought this would be a good project to do before that.

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'04 FW 268Vista "Andiamo"

You can't reroute the shower sump to simply empty via a thru hull, it has to be pumped from the sump out (think gravity).

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Brett DiMichele

Obviously, I did not think that water flows up all by itself defying gravity!

Pumping it out is what I am trying to accomplish, when I said I would connect a longer drain hose from the Sump Pump to tie to the sink drain. All I want to do, is instead of pumping the shower water into the holding tank, pump it out thru the thru hull via a y type connector to the sink drain hose that already goes out thru the hull. I am just not sure how to access all the plumbing. It looks like it is either from behind the storage compartment under the sink, or under the shower basin.

BTW, where does your shower water go on your 248Vista? In the Vista OWners manual, it says that the shower sump pumps either to the holding tank or overboard. I am guessing that the overboard drain system is in connection with the grey water system that I do not have.

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'04 FW 268Vista "Andiamo"

Giaccamo,

I wasn't trying to sound like a smart alek, I thought you was trying to eliminate the sump pump (which would be nice if it was doable) my mistake.

My shower drain and ac condensate drain tie into the sump box and are then pumped overboard via a thru hull on the starboard side. I completely see where you are comming from now, having the shower water go into a gray water tank seems a waste (actually having a gray water tank doesn't make much sense to me, I'd rather have two fresh tanks if possible.

You should be able to just hook the hose up from the shower drain to the sump pump, my pump is in the sole of the cabin floor easily accesible with a lift out pannel. The sump has a manifold on it and even on my setup I still have one "available" port on the manifold. You would have to remove the box and use a saw to open the end of the port and then connect the hose to it.

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Brett DiMichele

O/K, Thanks Brett! That helps. I still wonder why some go ou thru the hull like yours and some go into the holding tank like mine. I'll probably start taking things apart this weekend. I just wish I knew for sure how to best access the drainage systems. It does not look like anyone here has done this. I'll try the dealer or FW today to see if they can give me some guidance. I am leaning towards thinking I can access the sink drainage if I remove the cabinet under the sink? I hope that is the case, because I really do not feel like pulling the shower base out! Thanks for the help!

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'04 FW 268Vista "Andiamo"

I don't belive you will need to access under the sink. The hose should run from the shower drain down into the bilge where the holding tank is. I am guessing you can access the hose from the mid cabin floor and then push the hose towards the bow, pull it into the sole and connect it to the sump.

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Brett DiMichele

I'll give it a shot and let you know! Thanks Again.

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'04 FW 268Vista "Andiamo"

Your boat may have originally been set up for an area of the country that does not allow grey water to be dumped overboard.

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Thanks,
Ben

1998 258 Vista 7.4Gi Duoprop

Interesting Ben! I never thought of that, but that makes a lot of sense! For example, I beleive the Great Lakes and the NYS Canal System, prohibits discharge of Grey water! The option was never offered to me when I ordered the boat, and I had no clue to ask about that, since this is my 1st cruiser! Thanks for the insight!

That makes me wonder if I might be better served while I have everything open to install a valve that would allow me to route the sump pump output to either the holding tank or overboard!!!

That's what I love about this forum! You get some Great ideas! Of course, execution is a different story, but I am really starting to believe that this should not be a big deal to do!

Thanks Again for everyones input!

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'04 FW 268Vista "Andiamo"