I’ve got similar water pressure at my dock property.
It’s connected to the local water company line in the street and I’ve only got the one spigot.
Like yours, it’s great for washing the boat.
I usually just use water from the tank and keep filling it.
Aside from wanting to keep the tank fresh and not having to step over or around a hose connected to the boat, I’m hesitant to subject the pressure regulator in the boat to that much work.

 

I just moved to this location - after I experienced the problem. But I wonder how many other places I have been are the same. Will do an informal survey with my new gauge as I visit marinas.

We do a mixture of both shore water and running off the tank. We do all the laundry on the boat, so when the washer is running it is nice to not have to worry about the tank.

When I bought the gauge, I bought an adapter to be able to test the pressure behind the regulator - see if it is doing its job. Didn't get around to testing this weekend, was too busy with other tasks. Good project over our holiday cruise.

 

This thread got me thinking about my situation. We stay connected to shore water when in the slip, turning it on only when showering or washing dishes etc. We run off the tank the rest of the time. This project is on my list but i have not hooked up a gauge or done anything other than ponder the problem. We have considerable more pressure on the tank pump than we do on the shore tap. I have found a gauge on the shore inlet line just before the pressure regulator. It show about 60 psig incoming to the regulator. No way we have that amount of pressure down stream. My question is what pressure would the regulator been set to when new ?

 

They come pre-set.
45 https://www.westmarine.com/buy/jabs...om/buy/jabsco--flush-mount-water-pressure-regulator-45-psi--6617070?recordNum=3

65 https://www.westmarine.com/buy/shur...shurflo--pressure-regulator-wall-mount-city-water-entries--13812870?recordNum=4

I'm sure there are others.

 

OK Thanks I was not sure what pressure the plumbing was designed to handle. Think ill go with 45 psi.

 

Skip, I installed the 65 PSI Shurflo model in place of the OEM 45 Jabsco and have been very happy with the higher pressure; I also find its design makes connecting and disconnecting the hose easier.
Were you a crew member in OHP?

 

I think most fresh water pumps are in the 40-50 PSI range.

 

I have a quick connect on the stern for shore water connection. The pressure reducer is of coarse on the backside of that receptacle and the only access to it is a squeeze. I was a crew member on the Perry from 1980 to 1982.

 

Posting this in case it helps someone else. Time to time there are problems with Hot Water.

My problem:

Hot water works fine when running from the fresh water tank. No hot water when running on shore water. Was a bit of a head scratcher.

Hot Water heater is 3 years old. When turned on (either scenario) amperage draw was the same.

Solution - the pressure relief valve on the hot water heater. The valve was new with the HW heater, relatively new. Not easy to initially identify, the pressure relief valve is plumbed to dump anything to a through hull.

When checking it after being on shore water - the pex was cool to the touch. Was only after digging around while not on shore water, then switching back to shore water, my hand bumped the line, and was warm.

Called the manufacturer (of the boat), to get the plumbing diagrams. Found which through hull that it was dumping through, eliminated the other items that went to that through hull. That was it.

Replaced a relatively inexpensive part and problem fixed.

Next step, will test my pressure regulator on the shore water hook up - make sure that it is functioning correctly.

Just for grins, picked up a $10 pressure gauge at Home Depot. Put it on the faucet next to the boat that I had just moved to. That faucet was showing 80 lbs. Great for washing the boat.

Nice inexpensive solution. FYI I wouldn't want that kind of pressure going through my water lines. I always use a pressure reducer between the city water and boat water inlet. We've had 2 boats sink in our marine over the past two years because of hoses bursting.

 

I would never leave a shore water connection "connected" or a fresh water pump on if I was not on the boat.

The failure of the Hot Water pressure valve was not related to the pressure I measured at the dock connection. Note, the problem occurred before I moved to the current marina with the higher dockside pressure. The pressure discussion was a side observation.

The pressure relief valve was surprisingly very corroded and the spring ineffectual. This is a valve that was only 3 years old. Would have expected a longer life.

The pressure regulator is doing its job as far as I can tell. I will test it next time I am there.

My freshwater pump is 40PSI. My pressure regulator is 45-50PSI (about 2 years old). Still want to check it just to be sure.

Background - just enough additional pressure on shore water to push the warm water out of the tank, never letting the tank get warm.

Set up the scenario - hot water on the tank, no hot water on shore water, amperage draw to heater the same. That's the scenario I wanted to share in case anyone else runs into it.