Added a Port side Water Tank Deck Filler, so now I have a separate filler for each water tank.
Jef from “Miss Poes” installed one and I though that was a great idea,
I was always concerned about not being able to get into that Port tank for either chlorine cleaner or antifreeze for winter lay up.
Plastimo waterdeck fill # 28226 at $53.99 ordered from Defender.com. Plastimo Polyamide Key # 28229 at $15.99
This project will take about 2 hours You will need the following:
1) 2 feet (.609meters) of 1-1/2 I.D.(38.1mm) water hose – (I.D. means Inside Diameter)
2) 4 Stainless Steel hose clamps
3) A 2-1/4 inch (57mm) hole saw, mine cost $18 us at a local hardware store
4) Three #8 X 1-1/2 long SS screws
5) Tube of white or clear silicon
Steps to complete this project: 1) Mark the deck with a pencil 2-5/8 inch (66.675mm) from fore aft edge and 3-5/8 inch port edge as shown in the picture.
2) Now drill your 2-1/4 (57mm) hole through the 1 inch (25.4mm) foam cord deck
3) Put some silicon on your finger and seal the foam core
4) Place your water deck fill in the hole and position it as you would like and then drill your 3 holes for your #8 X 1-1/2 long SS screws Philips screws.
5) Remove the water deck fill and add silicon to the deck area and the back side of the deck fill flange.
6) Place the deck fill back in the hole and position it as you push down to bed the flange into the silicon. Screw in you 3 screws.
7) With a hack saw cut 1/4 inch (6.35mm) of the top of the blue water tank bunk on the stern of the tank. With a sheet rock knife, trim any sharp edges.
8) Install your 2 feet (.609meters) of 1-1/2 I.D.(38.1mm) water hose with 2 hose clamps per side.
I have always been concerned that I have a bit of water in my starboard engine room bilge.
My Port engine room bilge is always dry as a bone.
I investigated and found the water to be coming from the pressure relief valve on the bottom of the hot water tank. I played with the relief valve a bit to re-seat it, but it still drips when the starboard engine runs for a few hours. I assume that we may need a pressure relief valve with a slightly higher rating or maybe just a new one. For now I just put a hose on it down to a container that I can easily empty.
Now my bilge stays dry and I can just dump the container every few weeks.
Update from Quick USA LLC on the Hot water heater pressure relief valve .
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Hi Mark,
It is normal for a relieve valve to release a small amount of water
particularly when it is heating up, so it may not need to be replaced. If
the relieve valve is dripping when the water heater is completely cold then
you may want to replace it. Part # FVSLVS126B00A00 pressure relief in stock. Cost is $24.17 each. You can contact our sales dept. to assist.
They are at customerservice@quickusa.com or at 410-768-5991 Ex:1
Best regards,
Paul Brown
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Mark
Hi all,
I have installed a second water level transducer for the port water tank.
Instrument and transducer are from Wema. The transducer is model S3-E600 0-190 Ohm. Length is 600 mm. Cost around 70 euro incl VAT.
Problem is the length of the transducer versus the height available above the tank. I undid the straps holding the tank, to rotate the tank to starboard. This was not enough, so I also had to bend the transducer. It still worked after bending....
On the instrument panel, the second water maker is connected via a toggle switch to the original instrument.
A second water level meter is useful, e.g. when you mount a watermaker (port tank) and use the starboard tank for shore water. These are not to be mixed; when you use shore water (with chlorine) to flush your water maker, the membrane is dead. So the two tanks are not allowed to be open at the same time.
Also, you might use one tank for emergency water supply, with chemicals added for keeping.
If anybody wants to install this as well, I can post information how to route the wires.
Jef
I have a spectra water maker and backflush once a week with city water while at the marina. You will not "Kill" the membrane if you have a good carbon filter inline with the tank water. You need a good Filter (should remove 99.5% of chlorine). If you regularly change the filter (every 6 months) you will not have a problem. Been making water for 3 years and no problems.
Scott, thanks, I'll remember. We are currently considering what water maker to mount next winter, and how to do the plumbing.
For ocean crossings, we want to use one tank for "emergency water", e.g. 80 liters for 2 people for 20 days. To survive on when the water maker breaks down. 80 liters should be sufficient when we also have beer and orange juice on board.
We want to use the second tank for water from the water maker.
We already mounted a small saltwater pump, 5 liters/minute from Jabsco. For use in the kitchen sink, but we can also use it to feed the watermaker. Only thing is that it causes a lot of noise due to the pressure fluctuations in the hose, and the pump itself is also a bit noisy. It is an impeller type of pump. It is mounted above the water line, connected to the heads salt water intake on starboard. Maybe a centrifugal pump, mounted below the water line, would have been quieter.
Jef
Check out post #25 on this thread, you will see how I mounted the water maker. All I did was tap into the cold water supply to the port sink in the head (accessible under settee and behind plywood plate in hanging locker). Also tapped into the discharge to the sink drain (put a loop in the line to prevent back flow from the sink). Ran the 12 volt wiring to the fuse panel behind the starboard hanging locker and installed a push button breaker on the side of the box. watermaker water goes to port water tank. took less than a day to install, makes 8 gallons an hour and uses about 12 amps DC. Whenever I'm running the port engine or the generator, I'm making water. Truely love the convenience of it.
Location: Sydney, Australia, Cruising Greece in the summer.
Boat: FP Lucia 40, Hull #22
Posts: 467
Re: Plumbing and Water Heater
Hi Jef
I am about to fit a watermaker and a sender in the port tank as you have done. Managed to find the model number by climbing into the locker and taking a picture of the Stbd one. Not easy as I am over 6ft! I could have waited a week and used your info!
Good to have advanced warning that there is an issue with clearance when fitting the sender - any special tips?
I also plan to put in a toggle switch and use the existing guage for both sides.
Has anyone considered installing an "instantaneous" gas hot water heater. We don't want to run the engine just for hot water if we can avoid it. Was thinking of some how putting one in parallel with the hot water storage tank coupled with a circulation pump. The idea being that we could run the circulation pump to trigger the gas hot water heater which would then circulate through the storage tank until it was full of hot water. The instantaneous units seem to put out quite a bit of hot water (typically around 10 - 20 l/min) so would not take long at all to fill the storage tank (approx 25l).
Any ideas, suggestions or words of warning would be greatly appreciated.
I do not know of any Mahe's with a gas add on to their hot water tank. I do not see why it would not work. My only concern would be that, we only have the 2 small 5 lb propanetanks, which may get used up pretty fast if your cooking and heating water.
Yes, I agree that the gas and exhaust issues are the dangers. The gas useage doesn't seem to be that much of a problem with quoted figures for a unit which produces 10 l/min of hot water using 1.7kg gas over 3 hrs. That's nearly 4hrs of continuous use out of a 5lb (2.27kg)cylinder yet it should only take 2.5mins to fill the 25l storage tank. Even if the gas usage figures are wildly under quoted it still seems a lot better than running the stbd engine.
As far as gas leakage is concerned we all have the gas cookers installed and seem to survive. I was thinking of installing it in the stbd engine bay and then maybe fitting a gas detector very low in the engine bilge just in case. I have a B-B-Q mounted nearby so there are gas lines already conveniently located. Also, there is already a provision for a bilge blower in our yacht (ie, hole with exhaust vent installed) so I can hook up the flue to this.
So maybe the stumbling block would be the recirculation pump which would eventually be pumping hot water as the storage tank fills.
Anyway, food for thought. Mrs Tpkas doesn't like running out of hot water when she's doing her hair .... who can blame her!
Although this project is not particularly high on my must do list I will keep everyone informed ...... or, if it goes badly, have my executors post a warning!!
Just to inform you about alternatives: I will install an Eberspacher D5W diesel water heater in my stb engine room during the coming winter. It will be connected to the engine coolant circle, thereby making it possible to heat up the existing hot water tank when the stb engine is not running. I also plan to install two water/air heat exchangers in the stb hull and main cabin, as well as a towel dryer (combined water/220V) in the head. A circulating pump is of course needed, and included. The system will be controlled with several 3-way valves, to avoid the risk of getting to low cooling rate on the engine.
I would suspect that a heater burning diesel is more secure than one burning gas, especially when you install the burner in the fairly rough environment you'll find in an engine compartement. But I have no experience with gas water heaters, so this is just me guessing.
Eberspacher D5W can supply 5kW. A smaller 3 kW (D3W) is also available. Several other producers are selling similar heaters.
Thanks Edmund for your suggestion. It certainly sounds like quite a comprehensive installation you're planning. I agree that the engine room may not be the best place for a gas unit and have been considering, as an alternative, the space in the anchor locker. If this turns out to be a more practical option then I think I'll simply plumb the system in to provide hot water to the bathroom only.
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