Thank You for Bilge Pumps

[RicM]

Spent the weekend installing a salt water washdown. What should have been a simple job took the better part of 3 days and almost sunk me. I teed off the through hull that feeds the AC near the batteries. Worked great after I replaced the hose fitting (outlet in the sternward starboard gunnel ) that was apparently defective. Nylon & brass adaptors both leaked under pressure from the threads, even with tons of teflon tape. New hose fitting worked perfectly. By chance we decided to spend the night on the boat. At 4 AM I woke up to the sound of a bilge pump running every 10 minutes. Opened the hatch and found a river running through it! The SW washdown produces about 60 PSI. The AC side was apparently not plumbed to that standard. One of the AC hoses blew off and was pouring water into the bilge! Yikes! Easy fix but it sure was scary at 4AM!

[chiefrcd]

Heck of a way to clean out your bilge.....very lucky indeed....

[JackK]

That's pretty scary. It's a good thing you were on board.

It may be a good idea to open the bib and release the pressure after shutting off the washdown pump.

Jack