88 300 WE fresh water plumbing

Has anyone had to replace their water lines after the pressure pump? The previous owners did not service the system; i cleaned out the see-thru filter which was a mess, freshened the water tank and filled but I think the original pump is not up to standards after 30 plus years. During winterization I never got "pink" thru the system to the head or galley, so I anticipate possible damaged water lines after our deep winter freeze.

Questions: Are these only marine grade lines that have to be purchased as such?

Thanks

I don't think there's marine grade plumbing but what I've found is at least with my limited plumbing repairs I've done to my 98 290 DA is that my lines and fittings are all 15mm which is not something a local hardware store or even the local Camping World stocks. They all stock english fittings and plastic tube.

I've purchased everything so far from this vendor. Good pricing and fast shipping.

https://www.hamiltonmarine.com/

Thanks. All insights on this subject are appreciated. I plan on replacing the pump with a higher psi and adding an accumulator

PEX is the most known name brand for this stuff, but any cross-linked polyethylene tubing will do. As Ducky said, though, it could be 15mm tubing or it could be 1/2" - you'll have to look at the tubing for markings or measure it. But if you find it at your local hardware store, that's fine.

There's a good chance that your tubing will be just fine, though. PEX is "supposed" to be able to withstand a hard freeze as it will expand. Plus, if you at least ran your system dry, you eliminated most of the water. The area of more notable concern would be the connections - depending on how they're physically situated and whether they will self drain, or not (high spot or low spot).

Hamilton Marine, in Maine, is a great bunch of people. Good store and locally owned (Wayne). Another easy source for these supplies is Fresh Water Systems dot com.

Thank you for your advice. Hopefully the system was ran dry. I got a little trickle, then nothing.

I know someone will disagree with this but I use it all the time because I buy houses and flip and or rent them. Normal pex is red or blue and you can get it at a plumbing supply house, lowes and home depot. It comes in 1/2", 5/8", 3/4" and etc even tho some sizes you have to order. 1/2" is 15 mm, 3/4" is 20mm same thing if you disagree mic a piece with calipers its right in the middle. The clear hose in boats is same as used in moble home and same as red and blue pex only clear. You can use regular pex fittings which crimp so you need to buy a crimper or you can use shark bite fittings ( that what they are called here and they fit all the lines. by that I mean a 1/2" shark bit fitting will fit a 1/2" piece of pex, 15mm pex, your 1/2" boat lines and even a piece of 1/2" copper. So you can adapt you lines together and do what ever you want. Normal water lines or pipe go with inside diameter, refridgeration lines go with outside diameter and thats why they aren't interchangable. So save yourself some money and go to the hardware store and get your stuff!! If you disagree take a piece to your hardware store and try it you will be surprised!!

Just my two cents but I never put pink in the fresh water system. I disconnect the lines at the pump, the one from the tank and the one that comes off the pump. Open ALL valves in the boat and let gravity pull the water out. Drain the water heater. Remove the hoses and open her up, including the pressure relief.

Could it be that just the pump has gone bad?

I just had to rebuild my pump.

The motor worked but the 19 year old diaphragm was shot.

I bought the entire pump head for less money then buying individual parts.

If you look at the link below about my fix'er upper there's some pictures of what I had to do to get my pump back up and operating.

I have read several different takes on winterization techniques, some have used the pink, some have not. The first time I initiated working on the system it bled pink. Since the previous owners didn’t use the system at all I resorted to starting from scratch this coming season but used the pink to preserve what’s in place now. I think buying a new pump, properly cleaning the fresh water tank nd see through filter along with adding an accumulator tank should work out.

Little Ducky, the link didn’t come through

Never mind, got it! Thanks