cleaning shower drain-- R-27

[johnw]

'Any idea how to clean out the hair in the shower drain?
Thanks for any help

 

[GaylesFaerie]

Do you mean the shower drain or shower sump? The drain can be cleared with a bottle brush. The sump box needs to be opened and the filter removed and cleaned by hand. At least that how it is on my 2012 R27. You didn’t specify your year.

 

[johnw]

2012 ,

does the white drain unscrew or pop out. Is the box hidden under the sink and how do I access?
I have not cleaned it in 4 years and it is clogged big time.
Thanks, John

 

[Levitation]

The Shower drain pump and filter is in the floor of the shower. Getting the box open requires determination.

 

[GaylesFaerie]

From a previous post that mostly applies to your situation. If you can't access the pictures send me private message and I'll forward the photos. HTH, Gary

If your sump pump does not activate it is most likely gunked up (technical term, sorry). You can try some methods suggested on these forums to unstick it if you find anti-freeze backing up thru the drain like pouring in hot water or vinegar to free things up. Of course once your drain is overflowing its going to be messy trying to get the sump empty again so you can add those ingredients. I suggest you open the sink cabinet and remove the floor piece - mine just lifts out, no fasteners. The sump (i.e. bilge) pump should power on when the box is about 3/4 full. If it doesn't it may be time to bite the bullet as I did before things get messy.

I took the lid off which as others have acknowledged is a pain but with patience and an offset phillips head driver its pretty easy since the material is all plastic. Then try flicking the manual lever of the bilge pump UP (its located on the far side of the pump and out of sight so just play around a bit) to activate the pump. If that doesn't work just get a small cup and remove the water manually. I then disassembled the cylindrical filter and cleaned it, removed the pump (left all wires in place and only had to remove a zip tie that gathered extra wire) and cleaned it with a toothbrush, cleaned out the box, clean the one way valve in the hose exiting the box, and finally tried the manual lever again. All the fittings in and around the box are tight so write down your order of disassembly to make reassembly easier. If after all the cleaning the manual lever doesn't activate the pump you probably have a bad pump or more likely an electrical issue to chase down.

If the pump does finally activate reassemble everything, pour in about 1/2 gallon of vinegar (do not put in enough to activate the pump) and let it sit for an hour or two. Then flush with water.

Here are some pics to show what I did:

Sump box with view of pump, filter, inlet and outlet:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/08yiTQg ... QCchQj9Aew

Sump box lid removed:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0iNV8Su ... yMNti6E6zA

Pump close up:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/04zuMdg ... C2OZE2yrYQ

Float switch close up (the manual lever is behind the switch in the upper right corner):
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0Hhl6h_ ... ANKxWhYBfQ

Filter removed:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0mxi792 ... -pihp_b__g

Pump removed (the one way valve is the dark bit in the short plastic tube):
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0_-3LyB ... PHjz1LW1yw

Hose clamp for the short plastic tube (pain to remove it but easy to put on):
https://share.icloud.com/photos/06RRpV6 ... lORnk8MxdQ

Float switch removal (only need to remove the visible screw, the out of view screw just needs to be loosed 1 turn):
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0HymzCP ... PMqyP2m_dQ

The out of view screw can stay in place:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0LHNLty ... ePueshnMrA

Float switch removed with float mechanism slid out of the case:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0eg3zBD ... -NJk9h5SZQ

HTH, GF

 

[Wynot1]

When my pump stopped working on my old 2017 R27 I did as Gayles did. But found out quickly that the problem was the float switch and not the sump itself. If you lift the float the pump should activate . If it does not there are three things.
Power
Float switch
Sump pump.
If you bypass the float switch and apply power directly to the pump and it does not activate the that’s the problem.
You should be able to meter the float switch and see that when you operate the float switch you get a short indicating there is nothing wrong with the float.
I opened the sump box with a short not stubby Philips screwdriver.
Fairly easy just 4 screws where you would expect them to be.
You should clean the sap box every year or two if your shower does not get much use.