Flashback

[wpc691]

Some of you will recall my posts during our delivery trip last Nov. One of the topics was overfilling the water tank and filling the port engine bilge with water. No resolution at that point, and none until today. I've been chlorinating and flushing the water system the past few days, and wanted to run the bleachy water up the vent pipe on the first flush. Water sputtered out the vent, but then stopped. I waited a minute to see if it would start again, but it didn't. Checking the tank in the ER, I found the port engine bilge partially filled with water. I looked everywhere for a trail of water, and couldn't find anything. Looking at the tank, a bell went off. Why are there four pipes coming out of the tank? In the picture, you see the vent elbow just left of center. The pickup elbow is just below and to the right. The fill elbow is above and to the right. And what's that elbow to the right of that? I followed that hose to port, then back around to starboard, up over the shelf holding the overboard waste pump, down into the engine bilge, and back to...an open end in the engine bilge under the transmission. Since nobody mentioned this at the time of the discussion, I'm guessing this "overflow tube" isn't a standard feature...or is it? Why would you want an open tube from your fresh water supply in the engine bilge?

 

[MVCaprice]

Scratching my head on this one!!!

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Good question. On mine, I have a pipe plug taking the place of one of your elbows for a gauge or sender. If I overfill I'll get it out the vent and geysering up out of the deck fill. Maybe there was a spare pump(DC maybe)? Maybe someone rigged it to fill the tank from shore water?

 

[ageless]

My ER has a fresh water supply line on the fwd bulkhead, although mine is attached to a faucet. I will trace mine and see where it originates

 

[SEVEN]

Do you or did you have a water maker? Possible an old tube that was hooked to a water maker?

 

[wpc691]

Do you or did you have a water maker? Possible an old tube that was hooked to a water maker?

You might win the ice cream cone with that call. There's an abandoned seacock behind the port engine, outboard of the engine raw water inlet. That would have been my last choice for location, but who knows? I don't see anyplace back there to put a water maker (CO2 bottle, transformer, electrical panel take up the space), but the numerous empty screw holes on the port forward bulkhead indicate previous configurations different from what's there now, so maybe it was there. No idea why whoever took it out decided to put the open tube in the bilge, but there's a pipe plug going in there this afternoon. Thanks for the responses.

 

[wpc691]

My ER has a fresh water supply line on the fwd bulkhead, although mine is attached to a faucet. I will trace mine and see where it originates

I have a hose bib there, too. It's plumbed off the line going back to the aft head.

 

[SEVEN]

You might win the ice cream cone with that call. There's an abandoned seacock behind the port engine, outboard of the engine raw water inlet. That would have been my last choice for location, but who knows? I don't see anyplace back there to put a water maker (CO2 bottle, transformer, electrical panel take up the space), but the numerous empty screw holes on the port forward bulkhead indicate previous configurations different from what's there now, so maybe it was there. No idea why whoever took it out decided to put the open tube in the bilge, but there's a pipe plug going in there this afternoon. Thanks for the responses.

Florida is a long ways to go for an ice cream. I'll go to the local Dairy Queen and think of you.