Fresh Water System Leak-Lesson learned!

[Jim lanza]

During a four-day cruise, we stopped at a marina and while we usually hook up to electric and water, this time I only hooked up the electric. My wife asked why we weren't hooked up to city water, I replied that I wanted to use the water from our fresh water tanks (On our Albin 40, we're supposed to have two 55 gal water tanks under the aft berth.). While washing dishes, I noticed that the fresh water pump continued to run, even after the faucets were closed and demand stopped. We continued to use the water from our tanks for the duration of our cruise, and during a periodic check of the bilge, I noted that we had about 10" of water in the forward bilge. This was disconcerting as I pumped the bilge dry prior to the cruise. Utilizing the 'taste test', I discovered that the water was fresh, not salty (upsetting, but not nearly as upsetting as if it was salt water). I checked the water tanks, and noted that we had 'used' over half our supply. On our last 8 day cruise, we used less than 1/4 of our fresh water supply, so I knew there was a leak in the system.

After returning home, I expected a long, drawn out search for the leak, BUT FIRST, I thought to check the Albin Owners Group for some insight. After reading through approximately 70 posts, I found a 'hint': Connect to city water, charge the system and listen and look for the leak. What I assumed would be a three-day search for the leak was accomplished in less than 1/2 an hour!

The culprit was a 30 year old plastic drain fitting on the Seward hot water heater that simply expired of old age, and was spraying water all over. The fitting had to be cut out (carefully as not to cut the threads in the heater) and after only an hour and a $7.00 brass water heater drain, the fresh water system maintained pressure with no leaks.

The purpose of this long message is two-fold. Take advantage of the wealth of information available from other Albin owners, even if it involves an hour or two searching the web site, it will be worth the effort, and two, periodically check your bilge! Had I attached Encore to city water, it's likely that she would have sunk at the dock, as the average 1/2"-3/4" hose uses between 9 and 17 gallons per minute. That's over a 1,000 gallons per hour. Considering we were away from Encore for upwards of 3 hours, that works out to almost 25,000 pounds enough to overcome the total displacement of Encore.

Happily, Encore continues to float on her designed lines, the bilge is relatively dry, and I learned a lesson that I hope to pass along. If you do connect to city water, turn off the water when you leave your boat at the dock!

[Pitou]

The purpose of this long message is two-fold. Take advantage of the wealth of information available from other Albin owners, even if it involves an hour or two searching the web site, it will be worth the effort, and two, periodically check your bilge!

I learned a lesson that I hope to pass along. If you do connect to city water, turn off the water when you leave your boat at the dock!

All great advice and glad you decided to run off of your on board tanks!

[jleonard]

I am surprised you only hold 110 gal of water. We have double that.
And we never hook up to dockside water. Fill the tanks, use the water, repeat.
We've had leaks a few times sometimes emptying the tanks, but all that does is shift the ballast a little.

[rebuckley]

We also have 220 gallons on board - one of the big jokes when we are anchored out with our buddies.
Great advice on the water system - in particular with the city water potential for issue. Turning off the city water when not using it - is the best advice!!! - BoatUS ran an article that 69% of boats sink at the dock - - while some of that is a different reason - high pressure water hookups are a big part of that. Many of the leaks I have found seem to be on the hot water side - as they used rigid pipes in places (some hard to get to) and the older connections are leaking.
The one good thing about not using city water - - if you floated with the water in the tanks - you will still float with it in the bilge....

[RobS]

...if you floated with the water in the tanks - you will still float with it in the bilge....

Well said!

Sort of like going on a boat trip and eating all the food and drinking all the beer and the boat's "laden weight" remains unchanged!

[WillieC]

Hmmm... How big is that holding tank?

[DougSea]

I use a Melnor quick-switch disconnect for my dockside water. You just grab it and pull to disconnect, push it back on to reconnect. And the best part is that you can leave the hose pressurized. No need to shut off at the dock. (This assumes your water inlet is in the cockpit so that if the hose failed the water would drain out the scuppers) They have a small valve in them that shuts the water off when disconnected.

When I step off of the boat I take 2 seconds to disconnect. And 2 more when I get back on. Great piece of mind.

You can get similar fittings in fancy brass, but the plastic holds up really well, and I haven't seen brass ones with the valve. Plus if your dockside inlet is poorly located (like mine!) the plastic should give first if you step on it, saving your regulator. (Don't ask how I know...)

Available all over the place.

melnor.jpg

https://www.amazon.com/Melnor-Connect-S ... isconnects

[hetek]

We were staying dockside on Block Is. when I heard the bilge pump kick on in the middle of the night. 20 minutes later I hear it again. I investigate at 2 am and find my water heater fitting was leaking. Yes, the dock water was left on. Never again!

[hetek]

A friend was replacing the fuel tanks in his 40' Pacemaker and had a hose on board to assist with the cleaning. He was a live-aboard. In the middle of the night he gets up only to find he's standing in 6" of water! After a frantic search he found that the hose he had been using was turned back on and filling his boat!

But how? There was no way he left it on.

Well, his dock-neighbor had returned to his boat after spending the night in the bars and thought he was turning on HIS water hose. Wrong hose! Ended up almost sinking the Pacemaker.

[jleonard]

At our marina, the water pressure is 80 psi. Not too many hoses that are left 24/7 pressurized in the sun make it thru the summer before they leak/burst/whatever.
On my ex boat I kept there, I put in a brass pressure regulator right on the dock hose faucet. At 40 psi it won't heat the hose enough to burst. It also won't break a fitting on the water heater.

[DougSea]

At our marina, the water pressure is 80 psi. Not too many hoses that are left 24/7 pressurized in the sun make it thru the summer before they leak/burst/whatever.
On my ex boat I kept there, I put in a brass pressure regulator right on the dock hose faucet. At 40 psi it won't heat the hose enough to burst. It also won't break a fitting on the water heater.

Good idea Jay! I've always put the regulator on the ships side - can't believe I never thought of putting it on the dock end. Thanks for that!

[Jim lanza]

I read with interest all the comments and suggestions and they made a lot of sense. One thing that bothered me was the previous owner said that they had 110 gal of water in the two tanks. Jleonard stated that he had twice that, and When I checked the specifications in McKnew & Parkers Buyers Guide to Motor Yachts & Trawlers, the specs on the Albin 40 Trawler & Sundeck stated that the water capacity was 220 gallons. I decided to verify for myself and measured the two tanks under the queen berth in the aft cabin. The tanks measured 4'x15"x16". That worked out to 9.333 cubic feet. Each cubic foot contains 7.48 gallons of water. Simple math (the only kind I'm capable of performing) 9.333 X 2=18.666. Times that by 7.48 and you get 139.62 gallons. Allowing for 6 gallons in the hot water heater, you still only get 146 gallons.

Did I get short-changed, or are there additional water tanks that I haven't found in Encore (Not counting the water in the bilge!). I'd love for someone to either verify my math or prove me wrong, I'd LOVE to have another 75 gallons of fresh water to use.

Thanks,
Jim Lanza
M/V Encore
Albin 40 Sundeck

[jleonard]

I don't have time today, but I'll measure my tanks.
I never did. I "assumed" the specs and survey were correct.
I get a different result from your measurements. Using either cu ft or cu in (231/gal) (my reference because you eliminate one possible error) 100 gallons (rounded off).
(I'll double check the math again tomorrow)

[WillieC]

What's a decimal point among friends? Jim, I like your simple math. Even I can do that, exactly what I did on my A25. Since it all adds up to about 25 gallons total on the WillieC, I'm with you. I sure could use another 75 gallons! HA! (Oh, and a water heater while we're at it.)

[Jim lanza]

MATH SUCKS!
When I read Jay's post, I started to doubt my math (not uncommon, math was my worst subject, French being my best, but there's not a lot of call for that in everyday experiences).

So, I went back, and converted the feet to inches and re-calculated. Here's what I got...
48"x 15"x 16"= 11,520 cubic inches
11,520 divided by 1728 (cubic inches in cubic foot)=6.666
6.666 X 7.48 (Gallons in 1 cubic foot)= 49.86
49.86 X 2 (number of tanks)=99.72

So, now I'm not looking for an additional 75 gallons, but I'm lamenting the loss of 45 gallons that I thought I had. See, that's why I think math sucks!