Fresh water system

[maureena5]

Hi All,
We have a 1982, 34ft C&C. We just put out boat in the water last week and discovered our fresh water system is not working. We have a Shurflo pump installed last year. The faucet in the head emits air and sporadic spurting of water. The faucet is the galley emits air only. We let the pump run for a very, very long time, but didn''t have any luck. Where might we begin to explore this problem. Also, we never did have very good water pressure even after installing this new pump last year. Our water system has never been up to par. Someone had suggested we check the accumulator tank. Dumb question.....but where might this tank be located? Thanks in advance for any help!

[walt123]

You need to 1st check whether you have any water in the tank and check the bilge for excess water a good sign of a leak. If you are drawing water from the storage tank you should be getting it out of the fawcett. If you are not you are drawing air into the system, this is probally occuring before the pump. You need to check each and every connection in your system for tightness and leaks. That means every single hose clamp must be physically checked, Starting from the water tank to the pump to the accumlator tank through each sink fawcett. There is no big deal in doing this however you may have to crawl and look in some tight places. A couple small screw drivers, long and short, a hose clamp tightener and a small mirror to observe around corners is helpful. Consider this a good time to become familiar with this system. If you had the pump installed and don''t feel comfortable checking this out I would take it back to where the pump was installed and have them trouble shoot the complete system for you. Really this is a simple job and something we all should be able to do on our own boats. Good Luck

[gnorbury]

To give yourself a reference point of where to start looking, run the pump with the faucett open and check for air being draw up the pump inlet hose. This would indicate some sort of hole in the pickup hose, a bad connector or an empty tank (duh!).

I think its probably quite unlikely air could enter the system after the pump because the water is then under pressure and therefore leak out through the hole.

The only other option I can think of, would be a leaky pump valve. In this case you''d see air on the outlet side of the pump hose, but not on the inlet.

Good luck
Graham

[hamiam]

perhaps the pump you put in is not self priming. remove the hose on the output end of the pump and see if any water comes out when you turn it on. if not there is either a priming problem or an obstruction somewhere between the tank and the pump. I wud say to rip apart the pump but it shud not need to be rebuilt at its young age. I had a similar problem on one of my old boats. the "fix" was to pour water into the line between the pump output and the faucet and to open the faucet before the pump was turned on.

[MaryBeth]

WALT,

THANK YOU for suggesting that this is something that all boat owners should be familiar with on their own boats. Nothing else, just THANK YOU.

The water system on your boat should not be a mystery. Be it a head or a fresh water system, all owners should be familiar with it BEFORE you get on the boat, if nothing else, so that you can instruct others as to the usage. If the salesman includes that as a selling point, ask him/her to please explain if you have no idea. Whether it''s a 25 foot Sea Ray or a 36 foot sailboat.

I''m maybe too tired of dealing with idiotic questions about water systems, what with everyone around here scrambling to get holding tanks for their waste, but thank you Walt for expressing the basic - it''s your boat, know the system!! Do not expect to go into a store and tell them the make of your boat and have the person in the store know everything about your boat''s plumbing.

Know your own boat!! Yes, Walt, you are an angel for expressing that!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

MaryBeth

[NormOwens]

Originally Posted by maureena5

Hi All,
We have a 1982, 34ft C&C. We just put out boat in the water last week and discovered our fresh water system is not working. We have a Shurflo pump installed last year. The faucet in the head emits air and sporadic spurting of water. The faucet is the galley emits air only. We let the pump run for a very, very long time, but didn''t have any luck. Where might we begin to explore this problem. Also, we never did have very good water pressure even after installing this new pump last year. Our water system has never been up to par. Someone had suggested we check the accumulator tank. Dumb question.....but where might this tank be located? Thanks in advance for any help!

If all else fails, consider the pickup tube in the tank. Mine came loose from corrosian and wouldn't pickup water.

[sailingdog]

Norm-

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