Hose and water

[wkearney99]

"My survey says I have 2 water tanks. Wouldn't there be two fill holes? "

Maybe... maybe not. It depends.

My EB47 has two tanks, but only one deck fill. There's a 3/4" hose cross-connecting them, and a vent out the tank that doesn't have the fill. I have to fill both from one side, letting it slowly raise the level on both of them. Takes about 20 minutes to refill them after a weekend of activity.

 

[SteveK]

Ducati. Continue to ask questions here, but have you asked the seller, the previous owner to meet you for a drink and talk. The knowledge you gain will be useful and specific to your boat.

 

[Ducatihottie]

I have a list I'm building to ask the seller. I wonder if he'll ever talk to me since I asked and he accepted $20,000 off after the survey, thanks.

 

[Sabre602]

Get this:

...and this:

Read both, cover to cover, and refer back to them often for reference.

Anyone can fire up a Winnebago and drive off down the road. Boat systems are complex and highly specialized; failures can strand you far from help, can expose you to great financial liability, and can result in injury or death.

You have no idea what previous owners have done to that boat, or what lack of maintenance and time have done to her OEM systems. There is no substitute for crawling through every accessible space, sweating and cursing as you try to dislocate both shoulders, flashlight clamped in your teeth, and taking copious notes, making sketches and diagrams. Go system by system. For example, trace where the fresh water goes in your boat, where every connection, hose, valve, filter, pressure tank and pump is. Repeat for waste water, fuel, bilge pumps, AC power, DC power, grounding system.

That will be a start. In the end, you should know your boat well enough to be able to guide someone over the telephone when they call you, telling you that an alarm is sounding on your boat. Is it a smoke alarm? Carbon monoxide alarm? High bilge water alarm? You should be able to guide them in silencing the alarm, troubleshooting systems, shutting things down systematically, accessing hoses and seacocks, etc.

Don't be discouraged; it's a LOT to take in. Just get in there and learn it, bit by bit.

 

[Woodland Hills]

Yesterday this whole problem got easier. I get to the boat no water for sinks and toilets. After about an hour I figured out what "F W Pump" means on the electrical panel. Flicked the switch an walaa water. Go figure

I found my water tank filler is in the back of the boat on the teak flooring. Don't know where the key is though, I'll have to ask the PO. I'm happy the water fill is no where ear the fuel fill.

My survey says I have 2 water tanks. Wouldn't there be two fill holes?

Brian

Not always. We have two tanks with a single fill: water enters the aft tank and flows into the forward tank via a 1” hose. There are two vents on the side of the hull and I fill until both vents are venting water. If you turn the dock hose up all the way they fill pretty quickly, but since we use a carbon filter to remove chlorine and particulates and a water softener we fill as a slow rate to allow the resin bed time to work.

The watermaker flows automatically into these tanks and needs to have the vents monitored for overflow and shutdown manually when full. Reverse osmosis water is also soft water so always have soft water for bathing and laundry.

We also use Pur brand filters on the cold water at the kitchen sink as well as on the water to the fridge for ice and cold water in the door and the icemaker on the afterdeck. These remove any taste or smells from the drinking water, we also treat the water tanks with bleach and a good flush every couple of years since we remove the chlorine from the dock water and the RO water never had any.

BTW, big boats have big tanks and Alzero carries 375 gallons of water on the centerline of the boat and 275 gallons of sewage also on the centerline so there is no trim change as the tanks fill and empty. The two fuel tanks are also on the centerline, Hatteras tanks are always fiberglass and are molded into the hull: no rust!

 

[Ducatihottie]

Thanks Anson, I already have both, plan to read while on the boat soon.

"Dislocate both shoulders, " I still don't know how you guys maneuver down there.

Can you recommend how I can safeguard my glass sight fuel guage? I've got two and I know I'm going to break one!!!


Im also taking my survey down there, looking at the photos and locating the items I need to fix, (even though I plan to have a mechanic do it).

Woodland hills

What do you mean by, "fill until both vents are venting water"? You mean until they are over flowing and waters coming out the vent? Where are these vents, outside on the bowel or down in the engine room? If the engine room, do I have to move my furniture, table, rug and heavy floorboards just to watch my water tank fill?

I have a water filter for my sink water, I'm getting one for my dock water.

THANKS

 

[rslifkin]

Most boats have the water tank vents on the side of the boat somewhere. Mine is about 1/3 of the way forward on the starboard side, for example.

Depending on how the fill hose is laid out, you might also be able to hear when it's getting full. I typically can hear it and pull the hose right before it overflows onto the deck (it's already spitting from the vent by that point, but if I'm standing at the fill I can't see the vent).

 

[firehoser75]

Hi Brian,
I had a bit of a laugh over this. Why, because I remember being in your shoes (boat knowledge wise) a while ago. Take heart, even though now there is soooooo much to learn. All of us had to learn. No one is born with this knowledge!! It sounds like you are trying hard to quickly acquire more knowledge.
IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO PUT THE RIGHT "STUFF" IN THE RIGHT TANK. Mistakes in this area are quite common, and can prove to be very costly and very problematic, possibly even in the long term. When fuelling, double, even triple check that you are putting diesel (not ever gas) into only the diesel tank(s). Likewise with the water, only put water into the water tank(s) and never in the diesel tank. Double check before starting any liquid flow. Make it a habit and you minimize the chances of errors.
You can use water to rinse the waste tank using the pumpout deck hole. However, do not overfill the tank (half full is probably lots) as doing so could allow excrement to enter the air vent possibly creating a blockage and thus creating a problem. If you do rinse that tank, monitor the tank level carefully and don't even fill the tank!

I do not leave my water hose laying around on the dock. I always put it away for several reasons. First, anyone else could use it for ANY purpose. I have seen other boaters take a hose from the dock and actually insert it into their waste tank deck hole to rinse. I don't want that anywhere near my drinking water tank!!!! Also, on my home dock, there are often River Otters who like to target lines, hoses, etc. when "doing their business", and I don't want that near my water either.
Like many others, I recommend filtering the water before it goes into your tank, and to use "tank water" and refill the tank as needed to ensure that the water in your tank does not start to "grow" things.
Best of luck, and keep asking questions as that is how we learn.

 

[Woodland Hills]

My vents are all on the outside of the hull close to the fill fitting. Water, fuel and black water vents are all on the outside of the hull basically under the respective fittings on the deck.

I fill the water until the excess flows out the vents and down the side of the hull into the water. I fill the fuel tanks until they ALMOST leak fuel out the vent down the hull and into the water. I stand on the dock next to the boat running the hose and listen for the change in sound as the fuel level reaches the vents in the top of the tank.

I also keep a couple of fuel/oil diapers handy to hold over the vent preventing any fuel foam from reaching the water. Filling the fuel tanks to the top is always stressful and fraught with danger of a spill........ the last you want is fuel on the water!

 

[rsn48]

If it were I and my brain, I'd forget to turn the water off on occasion. Just as I forget to turn the blower off after starting the engine. Only to realize four hours later that the engine room blower was on the entire time. I second the concept of "use your tank water" it will keep them fresher philosophy.

 

[ranger58sb]

What do you mean by, "fill until both vents are venting water"? You mean until they are over flowing and waters coming out the vent? Where are these vents, outside on the bowel or down in the engine room? If the engine room, do I have to move my furniture, table, rug and heavy floorboards just to watch my water tank fill?

Vents outside the hulls. Yes, fill up water to overflowing out those holes. Keeps the spiders out...

(Don't do that with diesel!)

-Chris

 

[wkearney99]

Be careful about filling water tanks until they overflow out the vents. I had a boat with a poly tank that would literally bulge against it's mounting straps if you overfilled it. The amount of water coming in was greater than the vent size could handle, and even with it overflowing on the inlet the tank would still bulge. This led to one of the mounting straps coming loose. I fortunately found it and fixed it before a loose tank became a BIGGER problem.

 

[wkearney99]

And when you buy the oil absorbing towels, buy them in larger quantities. The 3-6 packs you get retail are terribly overpriced. I ordered a 100 pack online.

 

[wkearney99]

My survey says...

It helps when user profiles have an updated location, this helps others better frame their answers if they're locale related.

https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/profile.php?do=editprofile

Likewise you can update your profile to include vessel info, farther down on that same page.

 

[Ducatihottie]

Thanks haven't done that yet as I just recieved the boat.

 

[jbbmillar]

Can I just hook the water hose to up to my boat, turn it on and leave it hooked up, (like we did with our Winnebago)?

Or do I have to turn it off everytime I fill my water tank?

I've been told by a "boat" washer that my docks have, "great water pressure". Could this blow some water lines, faucets or toilets in my boat? Could my water tank overflow?

Thanks in advance for your gentle answer's.

Brian

When I lived aboard I put a volumetric hose meter on at the dock box. One that measures gallons, not time. If a line blew only so many gallons would leak. I just gave the dial a twist every time I went aboard and it rarely shut off unexpectedly. The current model (rain bird?) only measures with a fairly large flow - it didn’t when I tried to use it on a drip watering hose.

 

[AlanT]

Whoa, filling my water tank just got real tricky. I'll spend tonight reading all of this and won't be hooking water up to my boat today. I have Captain training with a mechanic soon as someone above mentioned.

I honestly thought I just hooked up a hose like Winnebago and that's it.

Thanks to all again.

Boy, you age getting a lot of advice, most all of it good, but it can get confusing.

FILLING THE TANK: The boat inlet for filling your tank(s) will be a screw-in fitting with two holes and a slot in the cap for your special opening tool (which you also use for other similar fittings on the boat DIESEL, WASTE for example). It will (should) be labelled simply WATER. The hole is much larger than the hose that you will be filling with. You simply turn the hose on, let it flow into the bay for a while until the "hose taste" water is flushed through the hose, (I usually taste the water before filling my tanks) then insert the hose into the filler inlet and leave it while it fills the tank(s). When it's full, water will either come out a vent on the side of the boat, or will most likely flow up through the inlet. It will take quite a while to fill 250 gallons so go off and do other chores, if it overflows it's not a problem. Now you know your tank is full. Put the cap back on. If I were you I would not mess with the separate pressure connection (if you have one) which is analagous to and will look similar to what you had on your RV. You want to understand what pressure regulator you have on board and figure that out before connecting shore water to a boat system and as many others have said you take a risk of sinking your boat if it all goes hooey.

TURNING ON THE WATER PUMP
Every electrical device on the boat is (should be) controlled by one of the circuit breakers, most or all of which will be on the main electrical panel. This allows any device to be deactivated individually. Most owners turn off most of these breakers (but never shut off the BILGE pump breakers) whenever they leave the boat. One of these will be labelled HOUSE WATER, or WATER PUMP, or similar. When this is turned on the pump will pressurize the system. Once it has pressurized the system the pump will automatically shut off until water is used at which point it will cycle on and off automatically to regulate the pressure/flow of water. If the pump runs and does not stop you need to investigate because the pump will burn out if left running continuously. Most likely if it runs continuously the tank has emptied, so you would check that first. There will (should be) a strainer immediately in front of the inlet side of the pump. If that is full of air, not water, then your tank is empty. Also you may have a tank monitor on board which shows how much water is in the tank. If so download the manual to tell you how to read the monitor (some are more complicated than you would think).

I hope that this is helpful ~Alan

 

[bill.kimbell]

+1

 

[Aloysius Phillips]

do NOT leave water on

I feel safest when I’m using if the water straight from my water tanks but I have hooked shore water straight into my boat’s system and practiced shutting the valve whenever I left the boat AND while I was asleep. The pressure is a little high and I did once blow out part of a faucet because it couldn’t handle the high pressure.
I’ve looked into some type of flow meter that would signal a valve to shut off the water to the boat after a set amount of gallons over a said period but the results were not worth my efforts.
Bottom line, use water from your tanks and refill when needed.
Turn off the power to your water pump and the power to your water heater if leaving your boat unattended for any length of time. Somewhat of a nuisance but kind of like turning off the lights and locking the door.
I’ve even considered putting moving those two switches near to our back doors.

 

[Glaukos]

I have multiple precautionary systems to avoid sinking the boat if a water line fails. Pressure regulator, timer that shuts the dock water off after 2 hours or less if I forget, a shutoff that is activated when more than 200 gallons flows through it. But I also try to remember to shut the dock water off when I leave the boat.
Dick Allen
Sunshine Girl

 

[skipperguy]

I think running off the tan is a wise idea for the protection of no flooding and for frequent turnover of the water in the tank which would otherwise become stale.

 

[psneeld]

Many ways and reasons to do or not do things on a boat.....hardly any opinion is all inclusive, right, best, etc...etc....