Presurized water system

[fkittson]

This fall I will be replacing all of my pressure water system piping, pumps and check valves. I plan on using 1/2" ID nylon reinforced tubing (marine grade) and all the proper fittings to go with it.
This spring my wife were asleep on the boat and at 3:30 am we had all hell brake loose. At are marina we seam to get a lot of pressure spikes at the shore water hookup. At my psi gauge I'm reading normal is 14psi but the high is 35psi. This caused the hot water pipe to the head tap to burst. Thank god we have excess flow alarms on are shore water hookup. It is set up to go off if there is continues full flow for more then 3 min. To bad I had not Installed the auto shut off valve. We spent the next week drying out the boat.
I would like your opinions on the best pipe and pump to use.
We have a galley sink H/C, head sink and shower H/C, and will be installing a transom shower with H/C water. All help is is welcome.

[fkittson]

Forgot to add it is a 31' power boat.

[Sailmonkey]

Plumb with PEX, forget about the nylon reinforced hose......and use your tank water. Think how easy it is to fill up a tank once a week vs drying out the boat for a week, or worse sinking it with water from the hose!!

[bloodhunter]

Even though my boat has a hookup for shore water, I never use it to avoid what happened to you. I have same type of system that you do and 150 gals of water in three tanks pressure is probably less than using shore water but we don't have any problems.
The alternative would be to use copper piping with braised or threaded fittings or you could go to pvc piping. That would probably withstand any pressure spikes but it also would be harder to install

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

Plumb with PEX, forget about the nylon reinforced hose......and use your tank water. Think how easy it is to fill up a tank once a week vs drying out the boat for a week, or worse sinking it with water from the hose!!

I like PEX too. Less pressure loss, smaller diameter for easier routing, lots of nifty fittings (which are becoming more widely available -- can even find them here in CA).

Also, know a few boats which have been sunk by connections to dock side water -- I prefer the fill the tank once a week approach.

[Cheechako]

fill tanks, use water, refill tanks. ......or install your own pressure regulator.

[dandrews]

PEX for sure. Easy to run and is rated for household water pressures.

[Hkalan]

Hello

What is wrong with PVC or CPVC ?

It is very affordable

Alan

[MysticGringo]

Originally Posted by Hkalan

Hello

What is wrong with PVC or CPVC ?

It is very affordable

Alan

Not as easy to work with on a boat with twists and turns. It's also rigid, and connections will be sensitive to the flexing of a boat, and will likely crack.

[jeremiason]

I second or third the PEX Pipe... Many boat manufactures are starting to use it now. It is also nice to use red for hot and blue for cold for identification purposes.

As far as the dock connection... I have learned my lesson, by almost sinking my boat. I forgot to turn the dock water off and left the boat for work. Ten hours later my wife arrived home and found the bildges flooded.

One of the water lines had a loose hose clamp and it gave way. The bildge pump did its best, but I still had about 600 gallons of fresh water in the bildge.

My recommendation to everyone, is never use the dock water connect valve on your boat!

[dandrews]

PEX, PEX, PEX. Just re-did my entire system with it and it is easy to run, can withstand household levels of pressure (+40 psi), is flexible, will not corrode and fittings are very easy to install. Can even use the push on Shark Bite type if you are so inclinded.

Don