31 Albin TE

[irishwake]

Does anyone have any knowledge on the running of the water lines to the stern shower on the 31?

[Pitou]

From my crawling around different 31TE boats and what I saw:

Earlier boats (up to what I believe were 2002's) carried the cold water from the pump to the hot water tank (under the dinette) and branched both hot and cold pex lines down the starboard side through the head to the salon wetbar to the cockpit freahwater wash on the starboard cockpit step and then back and across the transom over to the port side handheld transom shower. Only the galley water lines branched to the port side / outboard of the portside forward stringer.

On my 2006 the stern shower pex lines are both a continuation of the branch offs to the galley sink continuing past the water pump, through the bulkhead into the engine compartment and then turning outboard to port and down the port side to the port side transom shower.

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Hopefully this is helpful and gets you started.
What's going on that you are needing to chase down the water lines?

[irishwake]

Thank you that helps a lot. My fresh water system stays completely pressured yet the pump continues to run. I checked the pressure switch on the pump and that appeared fine. Purchased a new pump and the same thing happened. Then checked the accumulator tank for pressure, it was 0 so pumped it up to 15 pounds and still had the same problem. All my other water outlets are fully pressurized yet the stern shower just gets a trickle out of hot and cold. I am guessing it might have a kink in it at some point. The info you supplied gives me a good start.

[Pitou]

Oh my gosh .. I went on a similar quest just this past late summer early fall to try and get better pressure to my failing transom shower.
Did you get a good hard look at the connections on your pressure switch and its rubber diaphragm?

The only way that I could fully check the switch was to remove and flip the entire Ulta-Max assembly, remove the pressure switch cover and have a good look. My switch had quite a bit of corrosion beyond any reasonable cleanup and the rubber diaphragm had lost most of its pliability compared to a new diaphragm.

I decided to order a new pressure switch kit and replace it / Jabsco 18916-0040. Like anything to do with wiring or o-rings on a boat, I lubed the wire connections with Super Lube synthetic grease / dielectric. This had obviously not been done during Jabsco factory assembly.

After reassembly two things happened:
1). I now have greatly improved pressure at the transom shower. The fixture now has utility!
2). My pump now cycles much less frequently and sometimes never for just short water uses and that has never happened.

Though I had significant corrosion I did have power to the pump and I'm thinking that ultimately the rubber diaphragm was the culprit to the lack of pressure.

If nothing comes to light when you chase your water lines for potential leaks, replacing te switch for roughly $25.00 might be worth a shot.

Here are some pictures:

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Jabsco Switch 18916-0040.jpg

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[irishwake]

I replaced the whole pump with a new one. Still the same problem.

[Pitou]

Just a thought .. Our aluminum water tanks are famous for producing aluminum oxide that slips through the system.

Have you taken the spray head aerator off to check for debris? Even with the filter between the tank and pump unit I've had to clear fines blockage from other fixture aerators on my 31TE.

[irishwake]

Took the spray head off completely so it was just the hose, no difference. I have been playing with this system for over 5 hours and getting nowhere. I guess I will go down and check the lines, then start all over again. Knowing how the lines are run saves me a lot of time. Will let you know how it works out. Thank you

[carolmarie]

Had a similar problem last spring. Turns out that when service winterized the boat last winter they did not reconnect the water lines fully. They fixed it in two minutes (and apologized).
Don.

[carolmarie]

By the way, the connection did not leak so it wasn’t obvious the joint was not seated properly; but it did suck in air!
Don.