kitchen sink at below waterline

[content]

Our Pacific Seacraft has 2 annoying features. The worst being that when loaded the bottom of the kitchen sinks sits below the waterline, hence a puddle of dirty water constantly sits in the sinks.

After considering options like raising the whole unit and changing to shallower sinks we decided that fitting some type of small pump and valve would perhaps be best to keep the sinks dry.

Any other bright ideas? Particularly advice as to an appropriate pump/valve combo for this purpose
Thanks

[Pblais]

If it's below the water line then you may want to add a seacock for use under sail. A pump really is not an answer since being below the waterline means it's a never ending problem.

[starfish62]

Wow. That's an interesting one. Some of the little one-way check valves might help as the level would fall when you heeled and then the water would not come back in when you went over the other way. It would be cheap to try one. You can't really do a loop as it would just back up in the sink.

Good Luck!

[content]

The idea was to have a small pump between the sink and the one-way valve. The pump moving the water that accumulates in the bottom of the sink below the valve which prevents it reaccumulating.
There is a seacock.

[Pblais]

Some of the little one-way check valves might help as the level would fall when you heeled and then the water would not come back in when you went over the other way.

For sink drain a check valve is going to be a PITA. Any gunk that goes down the drain will stick the valve open or closed. The worst would be closed when you are trying to clean up after dinner. For a galley you want the biggest drain you can get. They clog up far too easy. I always try to insist the Admiral be mindful of what goes down the drain. It works but only so far.

You realize that drains in Australia rotate backward from drain here. Odd thing is they all drain in the same direction if viewed from the north or south pole at the same time. Being upside down relative to the northern hemisphere gives the illusion that draining water spins backward from people of the north. Hurricanes do the same things only they are backward of drains. You view hurricanes from underneath but drains are top down. They all rotate the same way it's just how you look at them. Just a little drain / hurricane trivia. I'll bet you didn't think they had anything in common. It's true that there is hell to pay when either gets stuffed up. That's the same in both hemispheres.

[Pblais]

The check valve is a bad idea with a galley drain. You naturally put things down the drain like you do at home. The check valves can not deal with anything what so ever down the drain other than water.

[Squeaks]

Content:
This summer I fought the same problem. My galley sink (kitchen? don't sound like my girlfriend now :-) looked like it would be below the waterline and the original builder had the drain plumbed to a sealed sump located under the engine pan (could be anywhere below the sink drain). The water was then pumped overboard, thru a transom fitting, via a small 12v, auto-switched sump pump. Sorry, but he was never completely happy with it and I changed it over to a direct drain via a thruhull and seacock (and have a couple of inches spare before any water comes up). But the sump would be better than water always sitting in the bottom of your sink(s).
Good luck.

[Ex-Calif]

I think squeaks is right. If you are below the waterline for sinks or showers, I think the only logical answer is to sump drain it then pump it out.

[LtBrett]

I use a check valve on the branch of my house drain that sits below the outlet to the septic system. We're talking black water here, so lots of things to make the check valve fail. So far, no issues. Granted, the check valve is opened by pump pressure. But based on this rather limited anecdote, I can see a check valve working on your galley sink, especially if you install a pump. In fact, I would suggest a check valve in addition to a sea cock to insure against back flow should you forget to close the sea cock. Install it as vertically as possible to minimize the opportunity for gunk to collect. If you have a short run from your sink to the thru hull, it shouldn't be too hard to rinse the check valve with a little extra galley water.

Brett

[Arch Stanton]

Just out of curiosity, what is the OTHER annoying feature with your Pacific Seacraft?

[svHyLyte]

Connect your drain hose to the input line on a Gusher Galley Mk3 Foot Pump (http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|51|26723|316451&id=223941 ) AKA:



Connect the output from the pump to a discharge hose with a vented loop that rises above the base of the sink drain ( e.g. Forespar: Marine Products that Perform )

AKA:




Connect the discharge side of the vented loop to the through-hull and run a small (1/4" dia) tube from the vent on the Loop to a point under your counter top.

Then, keep an old dish-soap squeeze bottle filled with 50/50 Lemon Juice and Fresh Water under the sink.

To drain, simply pull the plug on the sink and step on the foot pump a few times. Once the sink is empty, pump a few squirts of fresh water into the drain with a squirt of lemon juice from the squeeze bottle and pump a few times more to keep the drains/sink smelling fresh.

Been there, done that, got the T-Shirt.

s/v HyLyte

[svcattales]

Originally Posted by content

Our Pacific Seacraft has 2 annoying features. The worst being that when loaded the bottom of the kitchen sinks sits below the waterline, hence a puddle of dirty water constantly sits in the sinks.

After considering options like raising the whole unit and changing to shallower sinks we decided that fitting some type of small pump and valve would perhaps be best to keep the sinks dry.

Any other bright ideas? Particularly advice as to an appropriate pump/valve combo for this purpose
Thanks

We had a Pacific Seacraft 37 for 10 yrs and had the same problem. When we bought it, we had a Whale Gusher pump to drain the sink. It worked but always got clogged up with food particles and was a real PITA taking it apart to clean it. I think a check valve would be just as big a problem. I finally switched to straight through drain. We didn't have water in the sink, but you could see it lurking just below the strainer. Can you lighten the boat enough to bring the sink above the waterline? I thought we were overloaded, but never had water in the sink.

The whale pump might work if you placed fine mesh screens over the strainers to catch all the food particles. I never tried that but it might be worth a shot. Good luck.

[cooper]

If it is below the water line can you leave the boat and sleep ?
Sump and dump.


If it is really below the water line eveytime you open the seacock you will get ingress. BAD.

Sinks are a problem. They are a unclosed system straight into your boat. You may have other below water line seacocks, but I bet you dont have any others that are "open". By that I mean the plumbing comes in and goes out in a closed loop.
Be careful. If it is truly below the water line it can set up a siphon. And down goes your boat.

[Joli]

We have a couple sinks at waterline, we use a Jabso Diaphragm Pump to evacuate the water. Seacock to pump to sink. When we are not aboard we close the seacocks. No problems leaving the seacock open when sailing but prudence calls for closing all seacocks when not aboard.

[content]

Wow, thanks everyone for the replies they are very helpful.
- A question for svHyLyte, have you used a Guesher galley foot pump to drain a galley sink? Did it get blocked much? I see svcattales has had problems with a Whale Gusher pump when emptying a galley sink
- A question for joli. Do you use a valve or vented loop to prevent water backflowing into the sink? Do you find the jabso pump blocks up much? If so is it easy to clean?

We don't fancy a sump as no easy place to put it.