240 sundancer water system help

[240danj]

Hello all, I am new to the site and new to searay boats. I just bought a 2002 240 sundancer. Previous owner didn't know much about the boat since he didn't have it long. I was playing with the water system yesterday. When I hook the boat up the the freshwater hook up with my garden hose my sink and shower work perfect. I tried running it off of the water tank but I wasn't as lucky. My water tank is about half full of water. My pump turns on but I have no water to the pump. The filter is clear. From the pump end I disconnected the water hose that runs from the tank to the pump and have no water coming out. I assume I might have a clog in that line or right at the exit of the tank?

Also when I was running the water from the garden hose I had a consistent stream of water coming out of the port side rear hole which I believe is the manual bilge port. Is this normal?

Sorry for the newb questions I am trying to learn the boat and my manual is not super clear on these things.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Lazy Daze]

I don't know, off-hand, which thru-hull that is that is spitting out water, but you can look in your manual (download it from SR's webiste, too) and you can typically find that kind of info in there. HOWEVER, I suspect that the expansion valve on the HWH is open, probably from the last time it was winterized. With the valve open, water will exit through the thru-hull. Take a loook at the valve - it's the same thing as you would see on your home's HWH.

That may also (not guaranteed, but could be) explain the problem with why it seems like you aren't drawing water out of the tank. You mentioned you disconnected the supply line from the tank at the pump and didn't have any water in there. But, if the pump is higher than the tank, then as soon as you disconnected the line, the water would have drained back into the tank.

 

[240danj]

Thanks for the reply. I am not totally sure what the expansion valve is however I do have a hose bib on the hot water heater that I opened and was able to drain it. I had that closed but was still pumping out of the manual bilge according to the manual. My fresh water holding tank is about 12 gallons and I have about 6 gallons in it. The hose exit is at the bottom of the tank. I would assume the gravity of the water would push it out through the hose?
Thanks

 

[Lazy Daze]

The output from the tank is at the bottom? OK, that's not factory then. Factory also would have been a 20 gallon tank. Nothing wrong with that - it's just info that's needed (and you likely would not have known it wasn't factory. Post some pictures of everything so we have a better idea.

Are you 100% positive that the water is exiting the boat through the bilge pump hose? If so, that means you have many, many gallons of water in the bilge. This is why I'm questioning things - obviously you should see the water in the bilge, but you didn't mention that. Based on the info written, it "sounds" like you're guessing? That, and the bilge pump thru-hull is most likely on the starboard side while the HWH overflow is on the port side.

Follow the thru-hull... where does the hose go?

The expansion valve is one of the things on the HWH and by process of elimination it should be easy to figure out. Google for the term if you need to.

 

[skibum]

The expansion valve has a little metal toggle handle on it. It's the brass colored fitting above and to the right of the electrical connection cover in this pic. As Lazy Daze said, that is plumbed to a port side through hull at the rear of the boat. The bilge pump is plumbed to a through hull at approx the same location on the starboard side.