Hmm, no flow on hot water

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Donna

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Joined
Aug 30, 2016
Messages
1,231
Location
United States
Vessel Name
Southerly
Vessel Make
1986 Marine Trader 36' Sundeck
I installed a new hot water heater a few months back. Was working fine. This morning I go to get in the shower and no flow coming from the hot water at all. I seem to have low water pressure on the cold water also.

Anybody have this happen? Hopefully it’s not an all day fix. Off to work today.
 
Start with the simplest and work upwards to the potentially more complex!

Water in the tank?
Gummed up shower head?
Pressure relief valve somehow stuck open on the heater?
Water heater and/or fresh water pump breaker off?
In line filter unit closed or filter gummed up?
Partial line break (fresh water in bilge so hot water tank empty)?
Pump gone bad?
Accumulator tank issue, not getting filled by pump?
 
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Unexpected water in the bilge?
 
You have a filter somewhere upstream of the water heater which is plugged.

pete
 
You have a filter somewhere upstream of the water heater which is plugged.

pete

I think this is most likely the issue. When I installed the hot water heater, I also changed out all the hoses. No water in the bildge, dry as a bone. I have a dockside hose filter. When I get back from work, I’ll take it off and run it without until I can either clean it or replace it. Ahh the joy!
 
Yea I hope it’s an easy fix. I’ve been living on the boat for 3 weeks, have another 2 weeks at least while my land home is being renovated. I have so much canvas work to do for other boats that I just don’t have enough time in the day and that’s my second job. I’ll try the dockside filter first and if that doesn’t work, I think I’ll just hire. I’m exhausted.
 
How is the water flow and pressure at the galley sink?

Ted
 
O C Diver has it right. It’s a simple diagnostic. I had the same issue. Got a new shower head at Lowe’s for 22$. Problem solved. Good luck.
 
Well that sucks.

Is the pump shutting off because you have “reached” proper pressure? Or are you hooked up to dock water?

And 2, how new is the filter?

And 3, so all the water uses are low pressure?

Just trying to narrow it down.
 
Well that sucks.

Is the pump shutting off because you have “reached” proper pressure? Or are you hooked up to dock water?

And 2, how new is the filter?

And 3, so all the water uses are low pressure?

Just trying to narrow it down.

Connected to dock water

Filter is about 2 months old

All water uses are low pressure on cold and no pressure on hot
 
If the boat is connected to dock water (pressure) with the same result, then it would seem likely that the restriction is between where the dock water tees into the boat plumbing and the water heater.

Just to recap:

The flow and lack of hot water is the same regardless of whether water and pressure are from a dock faucet or the boat water tanks and pump?

The flow and lack of hot water are the same at all boat faucets and shower?


Does the cold water plumbing share a common tee with the water heater inlet, before the cold water continues to the rest of the boat?

Ted
 
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You are on dock water? If I had a guess? Someone touched the valve and partially closed it, or it broke being re-opened, or the hose got kinked before getting to the boat. This might be as easy as turning a knob or moving the lever!


If cold water is a problem, hot water will be a problem, as it comes from heated cold water. So I'd start with the cold water problem and, specifically, start at the dock spigot and work my way forward.

Is the dock spigot fully open? Try playing with the valve. Someone could have messed with it. Someone may have seen it dripping and turned it off, for example.

Does water come from the dock spigot with usual high pressure? If not, ask the marina about it. The valve could have gone bad, etc.

You mentioned an external filter before it gets to the boat? Does water from freely before the inlet? If not, I'd bet the hose is kinked, folded, delaminating, or clogged.
(I'd say the same if it was a volume flow meter, etc).


What about the filter's outlet? If not, the filter media could be clogged, the inlet or outlet or associated fittings could be clogged, or it could be otherwise broken. Or, if it has a service valve, it could be closed or partially closed or broken.

Does water come out of the hose on the boat side, before the water inlet, with high pressure? If not, I'd bet the hose is kinked, folded, laminating, or clogged.

Does the inlet of the water inlet/pressure-reducer on the boat side /look/ clean? Or is there debris clogging a screen? Or plugging up the ports going in?

If you can access relatively (for a boat) easily, is water coming out of the inlet/pressure reduce fitting at its output? In other words, does it spray and make a mess when the hose is disconnected from the back?

Follow that hose forward to the first device. It may be a valve, water filter, T-connector, manifold, or improvised manifold (bunch of T connectors). Does water get to the input side? If not, backtrack and find the problem -- you likely missed a device. If you can't find another device, backtrack to the inlet and check again. Disconnect it there.

Does water get to the back side of the inlet with normal pressure? If not, recheck the inlet and input side. If it does, blow through the output side hose, which is now disconnected at both ends (inlet and 1st device past inlet). Is there a clog?

Back to that first device. If water gets to it with good pressure, does water get past it with good pressure? Does it get to the output side that eventually leads to at least of one of the misbehaving devices?

If it gets to the input side but not the output side with good pressure, check the device.
For example, if it is a valve, is the valve set to open? Does the lever or knob move freely? Can you run something through it when open but not closed? Can you see through it?

Just walk forward from start to finish and you'll find it.
 
Oh my gosh! I see I have my work cut out for me when I leave work. No rest for the weary. :eek:
 
Hey Donna,

Or, someone played with the valve or kinked the hose dockside :) I always bet on the simple things!

-Greg
 
I found it! It’s a break in the waterline hose in the engine room. No worries, I have everything onboard to fix it. Getting the stuff out will take longer than replacing the line. Here are a couple of pics of the broken line and one where I reattached it temporarily until a permanent fix in the morning because this girl is resting now!

Thank you all for the suggestions! I’m pretty good in the engine room!
 

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I found it! It’s a break in the waterline hose in the engine room. No worries, I have everything onboard to fix it. Getting the stuff out will take longer than replacing the line. Here are a couple of pics of the broken line and one where I reattached it temporarily until a permanent fix in the morning because this girl is resting now!

Thank you all for the suggestions! I’m pretty good in the engine room!

So # 6 on my list! :)

Any idea why they have a copper pipe corner there rather that all water hose?

Seems strange to me?

You may want to consider just replacing with all water hosing back as far as you can go down to the pvc fitting and remove the more inflexible copper.
 
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Be careful!

If you run on dock water (which I strongly recommend against) breaks in lines like that can sink boats. Unlike running from tanks, where the most that can happen is that water already in the boat moves to a different part of the boat, when running of dock water new water can get into the boat.

In terms of rough numbers a garden hose can dump approximate 1000 gallons/hour into a boat -- about 8,000 lbs.

In the perfect world, the bilge pumps have no problem keeping up.

In the real world, they might get clogged with debris that gets washed down, the power could get interrupted and the batteries run down. And, if it happens at night -- people might not be walking the docks to notice. Or, if you are bow in, especially if the docks don't float, they might walk right by and not notice until it is late in the game.

Careful running off dock water!
 
So # 6 on my list! :)

Any idea why they have a copper pipe corner there rather that all water hose?

Seems strange to me?

You may want to consider just replacing with all water hosing back as far as you can go down to the pvc fitting and remove the more inflexible copper.

That is exactly what I am doing in the morning
 
Be careful!

If you run on dock water (which I strongly recommend against) breaks in lines like that can sink boats. Unlike running from tanks, where the most that can happen is that water already in the boat moves to a different part of the boat, when running of dock water new water can get into the boat.

In terms of rough numbers a garden hose can dump approximate 1000 gallons/hour into a boat -- about 8,000 lbs.

In the perfect world, the bilge pumps have no problem keeping up.

In the real world, they might get clogged with debris that gets washed down, the power could get interrupted and the batteries run down. And, if it happens at night -- people might not be walking the docks to notice. Or, if you are bow in, especially if the docks don't float, they might walk right by and not notice until it is late in the game.

Careful running off dock water!

Dark Waters always shut off when I am not at the boat
 
Ok fixed! Guess I get to was the dishes now, lol!
 

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