Fresh water valve/filter - what is this?

[Stee6043]

This winter I have had a very unusual thing happening between visits to my boat. My bilge keeps filling with water!!! Fresh...clean...lovely water. Well yesterday I think I found the source. There appears to be a slow leek from this circled valve setup.

This line comes directly off the bottom of my fresh water pump mounted on the transom. I've never closed that valve (until now) and never really paid much attention to the other items in this line.

Immediately upstream of the valve, is this a filter? It's a clear acrylic housing. If this were something I should have been servicing...clearly I was not.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this!

 

[dtfeld]

Man are you a lucky gas guy!!! All that room to get at stuff back there. I'm jealous!!

Seriously, thats just a "strainer" that usually comes with the fresh water pump. Only function is to keep large debris out of the lines. I've never serviced mine. Some of them are serviceable, but unless you get crud growing in your tank, not much to do with them.

On a more serious note, that water hose is really getting cracked. It looks like it light be the sea water line from the strainer?

 

[Stee6043]

Man are you a lucky gas guy!!! All that room to get at stuff back there. I'm jealous!!

Seriously, thats just a "strainer" that usually comes with the fresh water pump. Only function is to keep large debris out of the lines. I've never serviced mine. Some of them are serviceable, but unless you get crus growing in your tank, not much to do with them.

On a more serious note, that water hose is really getting cracked. It looks like it light be the sea water line from the strainer?

Hah! I was waiting for that! Truth is I'm wicked sore today after crawling around that thing yesterday. Oiy.

Thanks for the comment, just a strainer, good to know. I plan to replace that entire section since I don't know which component is leaking. So perhaps I can find myself a new strainer out there. Thank you, @dtfeld !

And yeah, that cracked line is a waste line running from the pump to the tank. My water lines look a lot better fortunately. I will probably have to pay to have all of my waste/blackwater lines replaced at some point in the next couple years. Either that or I'm going to make my million coming up with a wrap that can be applied to existing, cracked lines

 

[Lazy Daze]

The clear bowl is a simple filter that twists apart. Inside, you'll find a SS screen mesh - simply clean it and put it back together. Often, you can tell if there's any debris in it just by looking in.

While I imagine that you could rebuild that valve with a simple seat washer like any other turn valve, it would probably be better to replace it with a 1/4 turn valve. You have 15mm tubing and those parts are made by Whale (not that you need that brand). Fresh Water Systems dot com is a good resource for these parts.

But, that's if you even want to keep the shut off valve... obviously it doesn't seem to have a use since you've never used it - and while I don't generally work on the bigger boats, I have never seen one being used on the smaller Sundancers and when you break it down, a water system is a water system is a water system. I imagine there must be some, obscure use for it - but it's nothing that I can think of, anyways.

Thinking as I'm typing here... if you had a leak somewhere downstream of the valve, you could turn your water off like you would in your house. ... given the larger amount of water that you carry, I could see this being useful.

 

[dtfeld]

Hah! I was waiting for that! Truth is I'm wicked sore today after crawling around that thing yesterday. Oiy.

Thanks for the comment, just a strainer, good to know. I plan to replace that entire section since I don't know which component is leaking. So perhaps I can find myself a new strainer out there. Thank you, @dtfeld !

And yeah, that cracked line is a waste line running from the pump to the tank. My water lines look a lot better fortunately. I will probably have to pay to have all of my waste/blackwater lines replaced at some point in the next couple years. Either that or I'm going to make my million coming up with a wrap that can be applied to existing, cracked lines

My waste lines are the same, and will need to be replaced in the near future as well. I replaced all the raw water lines, and all the stainless clamps. Those clamps are not cheap.

 

[Stee6043]

The clear bowl is a simple filter that twists apart. Inside, you'll find a SS screen mesh - simply clean it and put it back together. Often, you can tell if there's any debris in it just by looking in.

While I imagine that you could rebuild that valve with a simple seat washer like any other turn valve, it would probably be better to replace it with a 1/4 turn valve. You have 15mm tubing and those parts are made by Whale (not that you need that brand). Fresh Water Systems dot com is a good resource for these parts.

But, that's if you even want to keep the shut off valve... obviously it doesn't seem to have a use since you've never used it - and while I don't generally work on the bigger boats, I have never seen one being used on the smaller Sundancers and when you break it down, a water system is a water system is a water system. I imagine there must be some, obscure use for it - but it's nothing that I can think of, anyways.

Thinking as I'm typing here... if you had a leak somewhere downstream of the valve, you could turn your water off like you would in your house. ... given the larger amount of water that you carry, I could see this being useful.

I assumed it would be 15mm, but was gambling, so thank you for the confirmation! I ordered up 15mm x 1/2" unions from fresh water systems first thing this morning. I'm going to rebuild that valve/strainer section in 1/2" since I have tubing laying around. Thank you for the tip on the filter/strainer. If I can save that I will. Good stuff!

 

[Henry Boyd]

I’ll add to Dennis’ comments, if you regularly use dock water you should step up the frequency of cleaning the screen as the stagnant water will sprout life, clog and get real stinky. Our 280 had the same filter screen. The current boat uses a standard whole house filter for tank and dock water sources. Of the two I like the standard filter approach. If you are re-plumbing it’s something to consider.

 

[Stee6043]

My waste lines are the same, and will need to be replaced in the near future as well. I replaced all the raw water lines, and all the stainless clamps. Those clamps are not cheap.

Do you know if that type of hose can be spliced? I assume not but the only wear on these things is where they bend. Sure would be nice to just replace the bends/corners vs the entire line back to the heads. Sounds spendy...

 

[CaptRonn]

Do you know if that type of hose can be spliced? I assume not but the only wear on these things is where they bend. Sure would be nice to just replace the bends/corners vs the entire line back to the heads. Sounds spendy...

Replace the whole line with good new hose. Some of the hose offered today is far superior than what SR used. Splicing old hose is a PITA, and typically won't last or create other problems.

 

[Lazy Daze]

You are welcome!

You may not "have" to rebuild that whole section of fresh water fittings - possibly with a little more investigative work you can find the culrpit. Not that it's bad or much money to do so, but just a thought. Yes, those filters are easy to find, although the style has changed - if memory serves, they are under $10 at a SR dealer (and they are 1/2" screw-on fittings).

Although your waste hose are starting to show cracking, honestly, those hoses are so beefy that they are a long time from being actually "bad". I have seen SOOOO much worse than that and they still don't leak. You can leave this project for another time/year. But, yes, you could splice them with a barb connector and some hose clamps (double up). It's possible you could create a spot that could catch toilet paper and such, but you can pretty much eliminate that by filing down the barb end to make a smooth transition (only needed on the head side of the fitting).

 

[my3sons]

This line comes directly off the bottom of my fresh water pump mounted on the transom. I've never closed that valve (until now) and never really paid much attention to the other items in this line.

Immediately upstream of the valve, is this a filter? It's a clear acrylic housing. If this were something I should have been servicing...clearly I was not.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this!

Just to make sure you're looking at this the right way, I'll give you my thoughts, and then you can verify as I know nothing about your model boat. The line doesn't come from the water pump on your transom (assuming I'm looking toward your transom in the picture) It goes to the pump. There should be a flow direction arrow on the strainer confirming this. So the strainer is not upstream from the valve, it is downstream. The water tank in this boat must be forward of this location and this line is the suction line between the pump and the tank. The valve is so you can stop the flow of water from the tank without having to drain the tank in order to clean the screen in the strainer or work on the water pump. The dockside inlet is plumbed in somewhere downstream of this set up and dock water doesn't flow through here. The dockside hookup should have a screen in the hose connection on the dockside inlet to perform the straining duties of the dock water.
If you've never touched any of this before and you are from west Michigan, you must have heated storage, wish I did

 

[Lazy Daze]

The valve is so you can stop the flow of water from the tank without having to drain the tank in order to clean the screen in the strainer or work on the water pump

That makes sense, Mark. I guess I should have thought of that...

As I was reading your post, it dawned on me that the reason I had never seen this valve on the Dancers I have worked on is because they all had the screen and pump mounted higher than the tank.

 

[my3sons]

That makes sense, Mark. I guess I should have thought of that...

As I was reading your post, it dawned on me that the reason I had never seen this valve on the Dancers I have worked on is because they all had the screen and pump mounted higher than the tank.

I'm not sure what the deal is with the valve, never seen one before either. I'm guessing someone added it. My water pumps are lower than the tank and no valve, but we know by looking at those strainers which way the water flows so that's the only thing I can think of.

 

[Lazy Daze]

I'm not sure what the deal is with the valve, never seen one before either. I'm guessing someone added it. My water pumps are lower than the tank and no valve, but we know by looking at those strainers which way the water flows so that's the only thing I can think of.

It makes total sense. Surprised that you, then, don't? Weird. Some engineer thought it was important! I took a quick look at the parts manual and it does show a valve - and everything in his picture appears to be uniform. Strange that it appears to be a stop valve, though, as opposed to a 1/4 turn (ball valve). '97 isn't that old, after all... or at least I refuse to believe it is!

 

[Strecker25]

We have the same valve but on the 410 it’s forward because of the relocated fresh water tank. My tank is under the master berth, about 3’ of hose goes to that valve, then into the fresh water pump that’s in the floor right next to where the thruster tunnel is. 400 has the tank under the aft berth right?

 

[Stee6043]

Just to make sure you're looking at this the right way, I'll give you my thoughts, and then you can verify as I know nothing about your model boat. The line doesn't come from the water pump on your transom (assuming I'm looking toward your transom in the picture) It goes to the pump. There should be a flow direction arrow on the strainer confirming this. So the strainer is not upstream from the valve, it is downstream. The water tank in this boat must be forward of this location and this line is the suction line between the pump and the tank. The valve is so you can stop the flow of water from the tank without having to drain the tank in order to clean the screen in the strainer or work on the water pump. The dockside inlet is plumbed in somewhere downstream of this set up and dock water doesn't flow through here. The dockside hookup should have a screen in the hose connection on the dockside inlet to perform the straining duties of the dock water.
If you've never touched any of this before and you are from west Michigan, you must have heated storage, wish I did

This does make complete sense. The hose pictured with the valve goes into the bottom of my fresh water pump. I did not see any obvious flow direction marks but what you say makes perfect sense.

I do indeed store inside heated. This year was to be the second year I left 1/2 tank of fresh water onboard for a mid-winter boat wash. Sadly, the water did not make it to the boat wash...hence this thread.

 

[Stee6043]

We have the same valve but on the 410 it’s forward because of the relocated fresh water tank. My tank is under the master berth, about 3’ of hose goes to that valve, then into the fresh water pump that’s in the floor right next to where the thruster tunnel is. 400 has the tank under the aft berth right?

I thought mine was forward as well but I cannot say I've gone looking for it...yet.

 

[Strecker25]

I thought mine was forward as well but I cannot say I've gone looked for it...yet.

When we were looking at 400’s I remember reading they have an L shaped tank under the aft berth. Most folks avoid filling it past 3/4 because the corner cracks and leaks.

 

[Stee6043]

When we were looking at 400’s I remember reading they have an L shaped tank under the aft berth. Most folks avoid filling it past 3/4 because the corner cracks and leaks.

I've always kept mine to 1/2 full for that reason, I read somewhere around here that this was a smart thing to do. I suppose I could have been wasting all that capacity for 2+ years now! ha.

 

[Jus the two of us]

Replace the whole line with good new hose. Some of the hose offered today is far superior than what SR used. Splicing old hose is a PITA, and typically won't last or create other problems.

+1