Restoring the Fresh Water System

[AKBASSKING]

OK on to the next project.

Started to tear down the freshwater system last night. Taking the water tank out is proving to be a pain in the butt. SR sure made sure that thing was not going to slide around.

I am wondering how much it holds? Anyone know? It is a bow tank that fits up in the V-Berth.

Disconnected the water lines to the tank and yuk, they were just plain nasty.

Took out the old deck fill to put in a new one. Discovered (as mentioned here before) that SR just drilled the hole and put a little sealant on the underside and slammed the deck fill in. I found some water intrusion in the wood fill between the deck and the bottom piece of fiberglass. Tonight I will dig all that out, dry with a hair drying and fill it back in with wood filler, like I did on my hatches.

The plan is to pull the tank, clean, inspect and put it back in with a new fill hose and vent hose. From the tank I plan to re-plumb the entire boat with pex (sp) tubing. Update the water pump. Remove the hot water heater which is all rusted up and replace it with an electric on demand hot water. It looks like I will have some good space to install a second water storage tank. Still thinking about that one. Replace the sinks and faucets in the galley and head. I also have a new city water connection that I will install.

I will post pictures when I can.

 

[AKBASSKING]

Took out the water tank tonight. Had to take the sensor out in order to get it out the door.

Can someone explain to me how this works. See picture. I have a switch on my electrical panel that has 3 lights, empty, 1/3 and 2/3.

Crawled into the center bilge and started to cut the hose out. Figured not to waste my time unscrewing all the clamps. The inside of the water line was brown and nasty.

Here I am laying down in the bilge and I start on the hot water heater. I cut one of the fresh water lines and ended up with water all over me and there was nothing I could do, but slowly pull myself out. I cut the other line and then all the "old" water came poring out and the smell about killed me. Then the new bilge pump I had installed automatically came on.

I then went to the other side and "touched" the recirculation lines and they fell apart!

I started to look at the hot water heater, then I noticed something wrong. The hole was 15 inches wide and the hot water heater is 17 inches wide. I panicked a little, then I realized I could disassemble part of the entrance and get the hot water heater out. That is for tomorrow.

 

[AKBASSKING]

More pics

water sensor and tank hold

 

[AKBASSKING]

The access hole to hotwater heater

 

[AKBASSKING]

After a little of persuasion, I got the hot water tank out last night.

Notice that the seacock for the A/C and head will have to be replaced. They corroded very badly. Tried to rotate the handle and it broke off in my hand. They both sit in the bilge that is also the shower bilge.

Fill the fresh water tank too, it hold 48 gallons. Time to go to Lowes to get pex tubing.

 

[FYN409]

The gage works by completing the ground side of the circuit using the water in the tank. When one of the rod's is not submerged it will not complete the circuit for that light and the light will not come on.

I am actually working on mine now also. It appears that the rods have gotten enough calcium/junk built up on them the the resistance is real high and does not make a good connection. I plan on removing my sending unit and cleaning the rods to see if that helps.

-Ryan

 

[spikedaddy99]

Thanks for posting the pics, the bloody knuckle holding the water sensor says it all!!

 

[AKBASSKING]

Thanks for posting the pics, the bloody knuckle holding the water sensor says it all!!

Well I kind of figure that by doing this it may help someone else.

I have given a lot of blood to this beast!!!!

 

[AKBASSKING]

Update:

Bought Pex tubing and associated connections. I opted for the push connections that all you do is push the tubing into the fitting and that's it.

I wish that was all as today I almost felt like putting dynamite under her. I have the tank out, so I replaced the fill hose and vent line. These lines travel from the rode locker through a hole down to the tank in the bow. Problem is when SR made the damn thing, the used a plastic dryer vent hose for the channel to run the hoses. Who ever engineer this piece of <edited> should be tarred and feathered! Finally after an hour and half I got the hose ran.

Then I went top side to deal with the deck fill hole. The core material was wet, so I dug all that crap out and replaced it with wood filler. With the temp and humidity it didn't take long to dry. Then I got my "brand new" deck fill with the fancy pop up handle cap. Placed it in the hole and it the deck fill was too small! Damn my luck! The old deck fill top flange is 31/3 inches and the one I bought was 3". I hope I can find one that big. So more research.

Then the last project I did was start the first run of Pex from the bow back through two bulkheads into the center bilge. I ran the hose through and it was just plain nasty. The hose run down a hole from the tank for about 3 feet to another hole in the center bilge. I has some slimy nasty, smelly stuff that just about made me puke! I have no idea how to access this area to clean it out. Any of you other 300s have any idea?

You would think hat would be enough for one day, when I noticed my main bilge pump light on. Funny I though and lifted the center engine access cove and the pump is just running. I lifted the brand new float (about 6 months old) and nothing. So I disconnected the bilge wiring.

This past weekend I bought a new set of duel trumpet horns. Installed those and one of the horns is bad...............

I gave up and got me 4 beers and I am now finishing the last one! What a suck <edited> day....:smt009:smt013

 

[Upstream]

Hey Tom, looks like your really going to town on that thing.
Now you know why I siad the relationship we have with our boat was a "Love/Hate".

Good luck with it. Rick

 

[AKBASSKING]

Hey Tom, looks like your really going to town on that thing.
Now you know why I siad the relationship we have with our boat was a "Love/Hate".

Good luck with it. Rick

Hey Rick,

You sure got that right. Have you been in the center bilge of your boat? If you look forward there is a bulkhead that the water line comes out of. If you were on top in the cabin, that bulkhead would run across from the where the threshold is to the V-berth. Then if you look under your v-berth on the back of the water tank the water line comes up through the floor to the water tank.

Do you know if there is access to this area?

I am thinking I will have to pull the carpet and remove a floor panel to get to it. I believe it is designed so that if you get leakage from the water tank it will drain down this hole into the center bilge......but who know?

What do you think? Anyone else want to chime in here too?:huh:

 

[AKBASSKING]

Ran all the rest of the pex tubing yesterday and assembled everything. The hard part was running the lines to the sink in the head. I guess the head is a fiberglass insert and the water lines are run behind it between the insert and the hull.

SR also ran the city water all the way around the stern and then up the port side. I ran it up the starboard side.

We bought a new galley faucet from Home Depot. I will be replacing the head faucet with ine I saw in WM that has a shower head in it.

I have run into a few issues, one is with the gally sink. I wanted to put in a deep, longer sink. Problem is the new one can't be any wider than the old one and can only be about 2" longer. Still looking. The other issue is the drains. They are all corroded and I wanted to replace them too with a bigger hose connection. The search is on........

I also "cleaned up" the bilge and made things look pretty and organized.

I ordered my pump today. Later in the week I am going to order the instant-on hot water heater.

 

[AKBASSKING]

More Pics.

Took my power washer and cleaned the inside of the tank.

 

[Lazy Daze]

I'm enjoying your thread, Tom. :smt001 Fixing up the boat and changing it around to best suit your own needs is a lot of fun! Thanks for posting this thread.

 

[AKBASSKING]

Thanks Dennis,

I thought I would share my experiences with anyone who wants to read them as I do get some good ideas and maybe it would help someone else.

I am a DYI kind of guy and this is my retirement project. I have also done a lot of work on my RV, so some of the systems are the same.

Besides, I am really enjoying this......:thumbsup:

 

[AKBASSKING]

Just about done!

The admiral found a bathroom faucet (have to still secure the shower hose) at the RV store near our house for about $24. It has the shower hose connection for it.

I also put new sink drains in. I used a little Home Depot magic with PVC and glue. I used a bar sink drain that works great.

The biggest pain was the water tank. I installed the Pex 90 quick disconnect and noticed that the plastic fitting glued to the tank was cracked! Now I know where the leak was coming from. I was all stressed out about it as I would have to find someone who could "plastic weld" a new fitting in for me. Then I had an idea. 5200 quick dry. I wondered if I coated the threats then put the goo all around the fitting would it hold and seal the leak? Well it took a couple of days, and when I placed water in the tank, NO LEAKS!!!!

Installing the tank took me about 4 hours and what a pain in the a$$. I laid some indoor/outdoor carpet in the hole to protect the tank from rubbing the fiberglass. The problem I ran into was that I couldn't get the tank in the hold with the fill and vent pieces installed. I had to take those off which was a little messy due to the 5200 I put on them. I had to be carful not to put any pressure on the outlet elbow.

Once I got the tank in the hold, I reinstalled the fill/vent fittings and install the hoses. This became a hard, sailor cussing situation. When SR installed the original hoses they came through the anchor locker, then used at least an entire tube (big tube) of silicon around the hoses to seal it up and prevent drainage from the anchor locker to the V-berth. I had to dig out a lot of the silicon and it was a very tight fit and raw fiberglass and at least 100f inside.

Once I got all that hooked up (my forearms all scrapped up and soar) I installed the braces to hold the tank. There were three of them to hold the tank firmly in place. I was a little concerned with the outlet hose, so I installed an additional 90 degree fitting and that took care of that.

Installed the sending unit and will wait until the 5200 dries to install the wires.

Ordered my water pump, instant hot water heater today. Once the admiral gets a new galley sink (which is becoming more difficult that we thought) and new Formica for the counter top, I can complete this project and install clamps etc.

With all considered we have spent around 1K to re-do the fresh water system.

 

[AKBASSKING]

More pics. These are the tank brakets to hold the tank snug in its hold.

Should also have my deck fills this week. I have also ordered 90 degree stainless flush vents.

 

[AKBASSKING]

More pic. Tank outlet. I decided to add another 90 degree fitting to lesson the pressure on the outlet fitting. This system is so cool. There is a "C" clip that you can put around the tubing, press against the fitting and it releases the tubing. The fitting are a little spendy at about $5-6 each.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Coming along real nice! Sort of a love/hate relationship, huh?

 

[stevea661]

Those shark bite fittings are pretty trick. As long as you kept your cuts square and the pipe is not torqued to one side or the other you should be ok. Also all fittings should be in accessable locations just in case of leaks. I'll be interested to see how they hold up in a boat that gets banged around as opposed to a house that, except here in Ca , dosen't get banged around:grin:.