Small manual pump for galley waste?

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prv

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Kindred Spirit's galley sink has a handpump (like the red one in this image) in its drain hose. I haven't had her in the water yet, but from this I assume that, like many, the sink must have issues draining on one or both tacks.

The problem is that the pump is very awkwardly mounted; it's both hard to operate and takes up space under the sink that I'd like to use for a gash bin. The main problem is the action of the handle, for which I have to leave space just where I want the full width of the bin.

Is anyone aware of a small manual pump I might be able to replace it with? I'm particularly interested in one that's a different shape to the current one, so I can mount it differently and free up the crucial space. A foot-operated pump might be handy - would the Whale freshwater pumps cope with dirty washing-up water? Alternatively, a through-bulkhead one might allow the necessary flexibility, but again only if it's really tiny - the full-size Whale bilgepumps would fill the entire under-sink compartment. Or perhaps an old-fashioned piston pump, but again, would it cope with dirty water with chunks of food?

Any ideas very welcome - all my googling tends to just come up with conventional normal-sized bilge pumps.

Cheers,

Pete
 
I think you will need to stick with bilge pumps that will handle water with some solids. I think pumps intended for fresh water will have valves that will easily fail to close properly if used as a galley pump where some solids are inevitable.
Also I would avoid plunger pumps like those suggested by M33 because sooner or later the seal on the stem will leak and squirt the dirty washing up water up your sleeve.

I think the type of pump you have is the perfect one for the job!

With bags of electricity to spare a small macerator pump might be a solution but I suspect that's a commodity you don't have in abundance
 
VicS said:
I think you will need to stick with bilge pumps that will handle water with some solids. I think pumps intended for fresh water will have valves that will easily fail to close properly if used as a galley pump where some solids are inevitable.
Also I would avoid plunger pumps like those suggested by M33 because sooner or later the seal on the stem will leak and squirt the dirty washing up water up your sleeve.

I think the type of pump you have is the perfect one for the job!

With bags of electricity to spare a small macerator pump might be a solution but I suspect that's a commodity you don't have in abundance
Click to expand...

I agree that diaphragm pumps are going to be the best bet. I think the whale footpumps are diaphragm ones, but I take your point about the valves. I'd possibly consider a big plunger pump as the shape would fit well, but not the little tinny one linked by M33 (no offense :-) ). I want neither to waste electricity nor to be unable to empty the sink because the battery's flat.

The type of pump I have is perfect in most ways, apart from mounting. I want one with the same technology but through-bulkhead, small, and with the handle at 90 degrees to where it is on that pump.

Looking around some more I actually think the Whale Smartbail might do what I want. It sticks into the locker a bit far, but with the shape it is I might be able to locate it somewhere where that's not too much of a problem. Having the built-in handle will be convenient when just chucking the odd bit of waste liquid away, and it looks the part for a galley.

Pete
 
WindermereColvic said:
I cant quite visualize your problem, but could you not bend a new handle so it guided round the bin space, and stuck out a bit further along the work top?
Matt
Click to expand...

Hah! Worktop! Sheer blooody luxury :-)

Unfortunately I don't have handy a decent photo showing the pump, but here's a couple showing the general area. The sink is under the chart table, and the pump is in the space under it, partly visible (the space, not the pump) in the first photo. The current pump is mounted to the inside of the outer surface of the unit, where the board is lashed in the second picture. The handle sticks out behind (ie further to the right, in the picture) the fire extinguisher; indeed the extinguisher stops the handle just before it reaches the fully-squeezed position.

(Since this photo was taken I've relocated the fire extinguisher to the front of the engine box, where it's less in the way.)

I want to convert that whole under-sink space to a gash locker, since there's currently nowhere sensible to put it. I plan to make a square "ring" which will hold a bag open and locate on blocks just below the sink, leaving a slot at the top of the opening to put things through. However, the pump handle currently moves through this space when it's used. (I'll probably also have a "cooking dinner" position for the gash-bag-ring where it moves out into the navigator's footwell for easier access and greater volume, the bag being changed once dinner is done so it can go back to the smaller setup. But that's irrelevant to the pump question.)

I'm not sure whether there's space for the Smartbail, but if there is I'd fit it through the bulkhead where the board is lashed (removing said board and the bit of ply it sits on), as far up and to the left as possible. It would then occupy the space above the bag-ring, on the opposite side to the slot where rubbish gets put in.

This all sounds far more complicated than it really is, but it's hard to explain any other way without pictures.

Pete
 
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