New 300 DA - Fresh Water Pump Cycling

jeremyandalison

jeremyandalison

New Member
Apr 20, 2009
71
Ivy Lea Ontario - Thousand Islands Region
Boat Info
300 Sundancer 2006 (2009 to present)
260 Sundancer 2003 (2009 to 2009)
Engines
5.0L Mercruiser/BIII
Hey guys,

Just took delivery of my "new" 2006 300DA. In hanging out doing some cleaning on the boat, I noticed the fresh water system pump runs for 5-10 seconds every 10 minutes or so. Seems to me this must be due to a leak somewhere but in a quick investigation, found no obvious signs of a leak around any of the fixtures.

Any suggestions for further investigation?
 
Do you have an ice maker? Though a 10 minute cycle is non-starter.

In all seriousness, I spent over four hours this spring trying to chase down a water leak in the fresh water system only to find the pressure switch on the pump was faulty.
 
Remember that a "leak" can be an air leak too. If there is no obvious water dripping, clean the strainer & bleed any air out of all the lines. Remember too that the pump may have an adjustment screw on it.

Congrats on the new boat!
 
There are other areas that are harder to check like the transom shower and the dockside water hook up point. You could have a slow leak there as well behind the panels and not be able to see it. Did you remove any hoses for winterization? If so then carefully check the connectors because the newer screw on connectors (which I believe your boat has) can have a slow leak which will cause the problem you describe. I replaced most of my connectors with a different type because of several diferent leaks I found on mine. Others on CSR have had the same problem. Here is my post on the subject from some time back. http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6463&highlight=connectors
 
Dave,

I actually caught your post just after posting this one. Thank you! I didn't winterize or recommission the boat - I bought from a dealer about 500 miles away so they took care of both.

When you replaced the sea ray connectors with the brass barbed connectors did you also have to replace the corresponding male fittings or did the threads match up ok?

I think I'm going to try to isolate the problem and then if it is indeed at a connector, I might have my first little project.

Thanks so much for the reply and your original "how to" post - the photos are very helpful
 
The threads match up fine using the brass fitting shown below. I recommend using teflon paste as I found that teflon tape didn't always seal them properly. The fitting is readily available at places like Lowes or Home Depot. As a side note, I have not had one single leak since replacing all the bad fittings including the ones behind the transom shower.

DSC06361.jpg
 
Also check the pressure relief valve on the water heater - sometimes it does'nt seat correctly (completely) and bleeds pressure. - Jeff
 
Update...

So I am already getting a reputation at my new marina for having a touch of OCD.

Went to the boat today and observed a minute drip at the water pump so I took off the fittings, cleaned the strainer, taped and finger tightened the fittings. No difference, even though the drip now is so slow I think it's just condensation.

Though I know there are other possibilities, I have inspected as much as I can around every fitting - head, galley, wet bar up top, transom shower and faucet, water heater, etc and can't see any evidence of a leak or drip. The shower sump is bone dry and the bilge shows no evidence of accumulating water.

So I have a shut off valve where the cold water from the pump enters the manifold - shut that off and I no longer have the problem. The conclusion I would draw from this is that the leak (either air or water) happens somewhere downstream from that. When I close the valve where hot water comes back into the manifold from the hot water heater, the problem still remains, which tells me that if I've got a water leak, it is not between the hot water manifold and any of the hot water outlets on the boat. Hope I'm right.

I think the hot water heater pressure valve seems like a good place to look, but I also have not been running the hot water heater and the problem still occurs. Could it still be the pressure valve if I'm not actually heating the water?

My next step, I think, is to check the pressure valve and if no joy, start capping off the various exit points from the cold water manifold to see if I can identify by process of elimination which branch of the water system the problem occurs in.

Does anybody know what size of cap I will need to cap off the branches on the manifold? Home Depot is 20 miles from my marina, so it's a long drive to make mistakes.

On another note, the admiral noted that two AC receptacles were not working, so I reset the GFCI and looked like a hero.

Lol.

Thanks in advance!
 
I'm going to doubt that the drip is condensation. I may be over simplifying this (or overlooking something), but this was the very first issue I had to address when I became a boat owner.

Is the drip right at the pump? The tech that replaced my pump before delivery made matters worse by not seating the O ring properly & then over tightening the fitting to try to keep it from leaking. He actually damaged the ring so badly it was useless. I replaced it with a modified O ring from Lowes & have had no problems in almost 2 years.

Whatever fitting the drip is coming from take it apart & make sure its 100% clean, properly seated & tightened. Oh yeah, don't cross thread any fittings like my Bozo did either. Regardless of what he thought, tightening it some more won't help.
 
There was a "drip" at the pump but I couldn't see a drip between pump cycles - plus the hose had obvious condensation on it.

The other thing weighing in on my thinking is that when I shut off the ballcock (ha ha, I said ballcock) downstream from the pump, the problem stops. In my view, if the problem was at the pump, I should still experience the problem when this ballcock is closed.
 
Look closely at the manifold, the blue (cold) water line feeding the water heater has a ball valve on it. That can be used to isolate the water heater as a source of the leak.
 
The only fitting I see with a ball valve on it is the connection that feeds cold water into the manifold from the pump. Then I have three cold lines running aft, for what I assume to be the hwh, transom shower and transom spigot.

There is a ball valve on the hot line that comes back from the hwh where it enters the hot water manifold.

Anyway, is there any reason I can't / shouldn't put ball valves on all the manifold connections so I can isolate any branch of the water system?

Thanks, as always, for the contined thinking!
 
If it is only to isolate a line to find a leak it may be overkill. But then again .........if you can't find the leak..........:huh:

On my boat I did that with the lines that go up to the cockpit and transom area but that is so I can shut them off in the winter to keep them from freezing and still be able to use the other water lines in the cabin since we boat year round. In Ontario, I am pretty sure you don't need to worry about year round boating right?:smt043

Dave
 
Hey...........I put up with a Northern Climate (Ohio) for 58 years. And I am still mad at myself it took me so long to wise up and move south. :smt043
 
We had 3 inches of snow the day before I picked up the new boat - I can't believe after 37 years I still am surprised when it's cold out.

On the other hand, I get to snowboard when I can't boat!

Thanks for all the help, Dave!
 
After tightening down all the fittings, I dropped by the boat today to pay a guy for a vinyl repair and decided I'd jump down into the bilge in my suit to waggle the popoff valve on the water heater.

Seems to have fixed the problem so far! Unfortunately, I had to sit and wait in the sun in order to see if the pump came on, so I was forced to have a beer in order to pass the time.
 
If your still there - have one for me! I'm stuck at work. Glad you solved the problem! - Jeff
 
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