How to get the water pressure up again??
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Category: Hints & Tips
Forum Name: 341 / 342
Forum Description: 341 / 342 Hints and Tims
URL: https://www.myhanse.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4042
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Topic: How to get the water pressure up again??
Posted By: kirkelund
Subject: How to get the water pressure up again??
Date Posted: 30 May 2010 at 20:12
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Hi everyone Although, I have had my boat in the water for more than a month by now, I haven't had the time to check the water system until this weekend (work  ).Anyway, I had the system "winter protected" etc. and this weekend I filled the water tank to give it a flush with fresh water. I turned on the Flojet pump as I would normally do, but nothing happened. I could'nt get anything out of the taps. The pump just kept "spinning" as it would normally do for just a minute to get the pressure up, but no water through the system. Could this be because of air in the system - or what? How do you get the water running again? Here is the Flojet water pump. It is placed under the forward port side seat in the saloon (see below). To start with, I forgot to mount the filter, but I soon found out and got it back into place - Ups  I know there has been some discussions concerning the water pump earlier on this forum, but I could'nt find any solutions to my problem (I am a complete novice though ) Ole Kirkelund Ishøj, Denmark |
Replies:
Posted By: nickflo
Date Posted: 31 May 2010 at 20:35
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did you open the water-tap in the bath-room and the kitchen? be carefull, if you fill up the system, because, if the outdoor shower ist broken, the pump will fill up your bilge. do you got water in the filter?
------------- S/Y Druid Hanse 342 #555 Kiel, Germany |
Posted By: kirkelund
Date Posted: 31 May 2010 at 21:16
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Hi nickflo / Druid Thanks for the response! Yes, I tried to do both, but not at the same time, though. Maybe I should try that. I did mount the outdoor shower tap (it is connected to the Isotemp tank). As far as I can determine, it is still intact. So far I haven't succeeded in getting any water through the system at all, so not water in the bilge - yet  I can't even see any water in the Flo Jet water filter (water doesn't even reach the pump). So, my initial diagnosis is that there too much air in the system to build up water pressure. It seems the pump is just spinning in "thin air". That's probably also why it just continues and does not switch off again. As I understand it is supposed to switch off as soon as the water pressure is OK. So normally when you switch on the water pump it builds up pressure for a few seconds and then stops. If you then open a tap it goes off again to keep the pressure - right? Anyway - thanks a lot for the check list. I will try to open both taps at the same time and check the outdoor shower again.  Ole, |
Posted By: Doug
Date Posted: 01 June 2010 at 01:21
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Two more things to check: (1) the strainer--if clogged the pump cannot pull water from the tank; and (2) the tank air vent--if clogged this will create a vacuum which the pump cannot overcome. Good luck solving this problem.
------------- "Red Sky" 2008 Hanse 370, #465, Doug Anderson, Deltaville, VA, USA |
Posted By: kirkelund
Date Posted: 01 June 2010 at 06:04
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Hi Doug Thanks, I will add the vent to my check list. Do you mean the overflow valve in the hull, or is there another vent somewhere else on my 342? The overflow valve should be enough to prevent vacuum - or? The strainer is OK. Ole, |
Posted By: Doug
Date Posted: 01 June 2010 at 12:07
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Yes, the valve, or vent, in the hull. This is an air vent. If you over fill the tank water will back up through this vent and over flow. This may be worth trying to flush out any possible blockage in the vent tube.
------------- "Red Sky" 2008 Hanse 370, #465, Doug Anderson, Deltaville, VA, USA |
Posted By: Matros
Date Posted: 03 June 2010 at 13:47
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I'm not sure about the angles in your picture but it looks like the hose from the tank makes a turn above the pump. Is that right?
If so, you should remove the filter, by pulling the blue sprint in the left hand side of the pump. Suck on the hose so you get water all the way to the filter. Try to mount the filter again, without letting the water out of the hose.
And yes, I do believe that it is trapped air that is the reason for your problem. You might also get a better result if you fill up your water tank as much as possible.
Good luck
Mats
------------- S/Y Rosetta, Hanse 342 # 245 Definition: boat, a hole in the surface of water, into which money is thrown. |
Posted By: kirkelund
Date Posted: 03 June 2010 at 17:11
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Hi Mats Yes the hose from the tank does make a U turn over the pump. Your idea to remove the filter and suck to get water through sounds like a good idea and maybe I'll fill up the tank also. I can't wait to try out all the good advice this weekend. Thanks a lot  Ole, |
Posted By: kirkelund
Date Posted: 05 June 2010 at 06:45
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Hi everyone Thanks again for all the advice! I am now getting water out of the taps again. I went through the check list. All seemed OK. - but.. @Mats, I tried to loosen the filter and suddenly a little water ran through to the pump. I fastened the filter again and apparently that did it! I still have a leak at my outdoor shower, which makes the pump continue spinning even after closing the taps. Hopefully that should be easy to fix. Ole. |
Posted By: Don Newport
Date Posted: 07 June 2010 at 21:05
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Sounds as though the problem's fixed now, but for future reference I have found that a very simple solution to curing air-locks in the freshwater system (this is usually the cause of the problem, and typically when the tank has run dry) is to remove the shower-head in the heads and suck on the end of the tube with the tap open and the pump running until you pull enough water through to prime the pump. Then turn the tap off quick before you get drowned! Same process also works on boats where you need to switch between freshwater tanks and an air-lock develops.
------------- Don Newport ENIGMA, Hanse 341 (2003) berthed Hamble. 3 cabin, wheel steering, 1.75m draft, Yanmar 3YM30, Kiwi prop. |
Posted By: kirkelund
Date Posted: 07 June 2010 at 21:30
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Hi Don What a great idea to suck water through the tube to the shower head. I never thought about that (I guess I thought that there was too much air to suck out since it is rather far from the pump / tank - and I would just risk overinflating my ego, if I succeeded  ).Anyway, with your method you dont have to dismantle any of the hoses near the pump to suck out the water from there. As I understand, this means that it is actually possible to suck the water past the FloJet pump. I will keep that in mind And yes, I finally got water through the system. Now I only got to fix a leak at the outdoor shower and one under the tap at the toilet that I had not discovered at first. Well, at least my boat got a good inside wash this weekend  Ole, |
Posted By: Don Newport
Date Posted: 08 June 2010 at 00:58
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Hi Ole I guess every boat is configured a bit differently, but I have used this method ok on a couple of different installations. I know what you mean about thinking you'll be sucking out litres of air, but typically I guess 95% of the pipework is still filled with water and it's usually only just a very small pocket of air which has to be shifted along so that the pump has something to draw on. I guess that's what happened when you unscrewed the filter. DON ------------- Don Newport ENIGMA, Hanse 341 (2003) berthed Hamble. 3 cabin, wheel steering, 1.75m draft, Yanmar 3YM30, Kiwi prop. |
Posted By: samuel
Date Posted: 15 June 2010 at 14:31
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Why not put some electic tape over the freshwater tank vent or get a crew to put 2 fingers over the holes. Stick the dinghy pump hose in the tank with a bit of rag round it to get a seal. pump the pump & presurise the tank .
Meanwhile turn the taps & showers on so the water pump is running.
The pressure in the freshwater tank will push the water through. You do not need a lot of air if the tank is fairly full & you only need minimal pressure.
It works with the diesel tank if there is a bit of slow delivery when changing fuel filters so would work with the freshwater tank
Daydream Believer ------------- Daydream Believer- Hanse 311- No GBR9917T- Bradwell Essex |
Posted By: kirkelund
Date Posted: 15 June 2010 at 17:48
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Hi Daydream Believer Thanks for the tip - yet another one for the list This could absolute work on my Hanse 342 too. In fact it did help to fill up the tank. So I didn't have blow any air pressure into the system. I only had loosen the filter a little to get the water running, but if I won't succeed next time, I am sure your trick would do it Ole, |