Ice box drain

I recently bought an e-34t that is a project boat and so far the project is going well. But I wold like to know if any one has tried to drain the ice box into the thru-hull fitting for the cocpit drain. obviosly I am trying to get water out of the ice box rather than add to it. I am also trying to keep the ice box water out of the bilge. Any suggestions?

There is a "plumbing" thread in the Design and Function forum dated 4-23-03 that speaks to some of your questions.
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Welcome to the group!


Best,

Loren

I am not familiar with the 34, but on my 32-3, I have two foot pumps for the galley sink, one for fresh water and one for salt water. I keep the salt water seacock closed and have the icebox drain connected to a T fitting so that the icebox can be pumped into the sink with the salt water pump. Also, it's nice to be able to use the melt water for non-drinking purposes.

On my E-36RH I have a foot pump mounted under the galley sink that pumps melted ice water from the ice box into the sink. It goes down the drain and out of the boat. It works really well and solves the melted ice problem nicely. No water in the bilge and no extra through hulls needed.

Steve

Thanks For the advice. I think I will either do the foot pump arrangement or take a friends advice of building a small sump box with a small bilge pump and float that discharges into the sink as well. I will let you know how it works.

Whatever you do make sure there is no chance for a backflow into the icebox. I discovered this issue on my very first sail after purchasing my 1984 E-28.

Picked up grinders at the little store in Noank and tossed it into the icebox. No real need for ice since I was just going out for an afternoon sail.

On my boat the icebox drains through a through hull mounted just forward of the engine intake through hull. The drain through hull was open.

After a couple wonderful hours of sailing my sister went down to get our sandwiches. She found they were totally soggy with seawater. It's obvious what happened. With the heel on a starboard tack the water backed up through the drain.

Now this through hull is normall kept closed, only opened when necessary, while at anchor, to drain the accumulation.

If I ever install a seawater faucet and foot pump, I'll definitely incorporate the T connection. Even with this configuration the valve to the icebox drain will remain closed unless being used to empty the box.

Thanks again!
I'm glad I did not go with the through-hull idea. I ended up buildind a small sump out of a tupperware container. I cut two small holes in the lid for intake and discharge. inside the box I put an inexpensive bilge pump/float switch leading to a seperate spout that drains directly into the sink. There is no need to try and remember draining the box and it WORKS GREAT. Wish I took a picture before installing it. The whole set up cost less than $45.

Not sure how your Tupperware box is set up, but I thought I would pass along the advice that you should find a way to incorporate some type of airlock into the drain system. Having a drain that is completely open will allow cold and heavier air to constantly drop out of the ice box, with warmer air being sucked in to replace the cold.

All you really need is a loop in the line, sort of like a P trap.

A plastic coke bottle on the end of a hose works and beats another worrysome hole in your boat