Plastic in the faucet

[AKDoug]

I just launched for the new season, everything is working well and no issues, except... After flushing the pink stuff out of the water system the kitchen sink started running very slowly. The bathroom sink was kicking it out with great pressure, and when I tapped on the kitchen faucet (spout) it would run better and then slow down again.

When I unscrewed the screen on the faucet, it was slightly filled with small pieces of plastic, blue and white. I am assuming that the impellers in my water pump are dissolving from the pink stuff that I use to winterize. It looks like time to start carrying a spare water pump!

Has anyone else ever had this issue? Where else could the plastic be coming from? All of the plastic chips are about the same size, about like raw sugar granules.

Bathroom sink has no screen in it and drains overboard, so I couldn't see if plastic was passing through that faucet as well.

 

[Comodave]

In a previous boat we had a lot of small white granules in the water that would plug up the strainer screen on the faucets. After a lot of searchiit turned out to be the gel coat flaking off the insides of the fiberglass water tanks. So out came the sawsall and in with new water tanks.

 

[AKDoug]

My tanks are plastic, all white... The blue AND white plastic in the screen have me wondering what color the impeller blades in the pump are. Shurflo pump...

 

[FF]

. "After flushing the pink stuff out of the water"

A tip for folks that winterize with the pink goo.

Leave the system as full of the pink as you can so it will flush easily.

If the FW system has air in spots the pink goop will harden and it will be many many more system rinses till the color and taste depart.

 

[kchace]

My tanks are plastic, all white... The blue AND white plastic in the screen have me wondering what color the impeller blades in the pump are. Shurflo pump...

Except for Globe "run dry" impellers which were blue and which I would be surprised to find in a store bought pump, I have never seen an impeller that wasn't black. Could it be leftovers from the water system construction? Pex bits?

 

[TDunn]

There are two kinds of "pink" antifreeze. The one you want to use is propylene glycol. That will not harm your system. The other type has alcohol in it. The alcohol will attack rubber gaskets, etc. I am betting you used the alcohol type of "pink".

 

[koliver]

Except for Globe "run dry" impellers which were blue and which I would be surprised to find in a store bought pump, I have never seen an impeller that wasn't black. Could it be leftovers from the water system construction? Pex bits?

In hard water it is likely that the white bits in the screen are precipitates from the water. The blue?

 

[psneeld]

No, the antifreeze did not hurt your water pump.


What model shurflo pump do you have? Most water pumps use black rubber diaphragms not impellers.

 

[ghost]

I’ve never had it happen on the boat, but at the house we had white plastic bits clogging the screens that turned out to be a disintegrating dip tube in the water heater. Might be long shot, but worth an investigation if you don’t find the culprit elsewhere.

 

[Maerin]

I’ve never had it happen on the boat, but at the house we had white plastic bits clogging the screens that turned out to be a disintegrating dip tube in the water heater. Might be long shot, but worth an investigation if you don’t find the culprit elsewhere.

A O Smith had a run of defective dip tubes years ago, they did a significant warranty program to correct the problem. I changed a lot of dip tubes! The debris was the real fly in the ointment. Ugh!

 

[Shrew]

A couple of thoughts (some related, some not).

The pressure pump should be a diaphragm, not an impellor (It's why they can run dry AND self-prime).

I'll second using pink Propylene Glycol vs pink with alcohol. The alcohol has a higher freeze point, despite being significantly cheaper.

I'll also second leaving the lines full of propylene glycol. While "Air doesn't freeze" it does foster the growth of mold. Mold won't grow in lines full of propylene glycol (that I'm aware of).

The white stuff is common (I risk saying it without seeing it). I clean little bits of white 'calcification' from my screens every spring. Though not enough to noticibly reduce discharge.

Blue bits?? Residual stuff sitting on the bottom of the tank from the manufacturing process? I found the round cutouts in the bottom of a tank once from when the holes were cut for the fittings.

 

[Conrad]

Blue Sky has a similar issue, but only with the hot water. The galley faucett has a strong cold water flow whereas the hot water is slowing significantly. I have a similar issue with the shower head on occasion, and when I open the strainer on the shower head I find little bits of a tan coloured material. I'd always assumed that it was a deteriorating inner liner on the hot water tank but don't really know. The galley faucett is a bear to get at.

 

[jimL]

Regarding what oliver and Shrew indicated above;

In hard water it is likely that the white bits in the screen are precipitates from the water. and The white stuff is common (I risk saying it without seeing it). I clean little bits of white 'calcification' from my screens every spring. Though not enough to noticibly reduce discharge.

I have two aluminum water tanks and have had the boat for four years. I get those white and off white colored grains and small pieces of whatever they are clogging up my faucet screens. This weekend, the grains and pieces were so much, it actually clogged the lines going from one of my tanks to the water pump. We had to clean out both lines to get the grains and pieces to come out.

Q: What are those grains and pieces and what can be done to minimize them? Every year a couple of grains find their way to the head - water selenoid. There it prevents the solenoid from sealing, causing a run on head with water filling the bowl and eventually the holding tank.

The Jabsco pump has a filter screen which catches most of the grains and pieces, but not all.

The is no room to put an inline filter between the tanks and the pump.

Any idea how to minimize the grains and pieces? I filter the water prior to the water going to the water tanks.

Thanks,

Jim

 

[AKDoug]

All good info, my tanks are white plastic, the water lines are either old copper (past the pump) or new plastic hot/cold 1/2" lines with the filament in the plastic. I honestly have no idea how long the plastic has been in the screen, I have never checked it before I had the flow issue this year and the faucet is about two years old now.

I did use the popular pink RV antifreeze with alcohol, I thought glycol was toxic? Being in Alaska sometimes we are pretty much forced to use what is on the shelves instead of what we would like to have. The pump is functioning perfectly, on the other hand I sure would like to have a spare on board since I really like having running water

An inline filter would be very possible, there are no visible particulates in the water tanks, which I can see clearly into from the fill points on both tanks. I will wait to see if I accumulate any more plastic bits in the screen, and plan to acquire a spare water pump for peace of mind.

I did add a magnesium anode to the hot water tank least year, which the hot water heater had never had before. Not sure if possibly that did something to free up something else within the hot water heater.

Not sure what model Shurflo it is... time to crawl into the rear hatch and take a picture for posterity!