[2068]
...
Happily anchored, I get curious and lift one of the floor panels to waggle some seacocks, and have a nose around.
I see the shower sump box (medium sized plastic box with a clear perspex lid) has some slightly murky water in the bottom, so I decide to turn on the shower and give it a good flush through.
What is meant to happen:
- Water enters the box
- Float switch activates (Attwood part 4202A - For replacement information please call Attwood customer service at (616) 897-2290 ... the fact that a part has such a sticker should have been a warning)
- Pump empties the sump box with a pleasing whirring sound
What actually happened:
- Water enters the box
- Float switch (Attwood part 4202A - For replacement information please call Attwood customer service at (616) 897-2290) goes "clonk", and separates into two parts.
- The part intended to float, does indeed float, but it's left behind the rest of the switch, which disintegrates in a cloud of rust as the water submerges it.
- The box fills rapidly, and I am mesmerized for a few seconds, as I watch the level of the rusty water and the floating switch head towards the perspex lid.
- The pump is sulking, it's silent
- I am jolted into reality as the float switch hits the perpex lid, and water starts to come over the side of the box into the bilge. I rush back and turn the water off.
- The boat is bobbing gently in the swell, and I spend the next 20 minutes removing the perspex lid and emptying out the rusty water into a pan, and then to the sink.
- One Float switch (Attwood part 4202A - For replacement information please call Attwood customer service at (616) 897-2290) is ordered.
It got me thinking that I'd be no good in manufacturing: I'd be figuring out how to make things work properly and last a reasonable amount of time in normal use, whereas here is a business that is thriving ($93 million revenue) on customers replacing their broken products.
.
I see the shower sump box (medium sized plastic box with a clear perspex lid) has some slightly murky water in the bottom, so I decide to turn on the shower and give it a good flush through.
What is meant to happen:
- Water enters the box
- Float switch activates (Attwood part 4202A - For replacement information please call Attwood customer service at (616) 897-2290 ... the fact that a part has such a sticker should have been a warning)
- Pump empties the sump box with a pleasing whirring sound
What actually happened:
- Water enters the box
- Float switch (Attwood part 4202A - For replacement information please call Attwood customer service at (616) 897-2290) goes "clonk", and separates into two parts.
- The part intended to float, does indeed float, but it's left behind the rest of the switch, which disintegrates in a cloud of rust as the water submerges it.
- The box fills rapidly, and I am mesmerized for a few seconds, as I watch the level of the rusty water and the floating switch head towards the perspex lid.
- The pump is sulking, it's silent
- I am jolted into reality as the float switch hits the perpex lid, and water starts to come over the side of the box into the bilge. I rush back and turn the water off.
- The boat is bobbing gently in the swell, and I spend the next 20 minutes removing the perspex lid and emptying out the rusty water into a pan, and then to the sink.
- One Float switch (Attwood part 4202A - For replacement information please call Attwood customer service at (616) 897-2290) is ordered.
It got me thinking that I'd be no good in manufacturing: I'd be figuring out how to make things work properly and last a reasonable amount of time in normal use, whereas here is a business that is thriving ($93 million revenue) on customers replacing their broken products.
.
Last edited: