A while back we were constantly hearing the bilge pump come on intermittently - not often enough to convince you that the hull has been breached, but often enough to wonder where the water was getting in. As it turned out, we found the culprit to be a "T" connection in the hot water system to the hot tank that had been added when the boat was commissioned. The culprit was a plastic fitting and it had cracked sufficiently to produce a leak that would eventually put enough water in the well to trip the pump.
Let's fast forward to yesterday and hearing the bilge pump go off occasionally the previous night and I get up to have a shower only to discover a sputtering shower and my asking my wife if she knew what might be up with this. Apparently the night before, our son had noticed the tank gauge indicating just over half a tank when he had just filled it. That explained hearing the pump come on.
So after some sleuthing by Explorer Yacht Services, we find that the culprit this time is - yes - a plastic fitting that had totally failed. We promptly replaced fittings on the hot water side with brass fittings. Come on Island Packet, this is a no brainer. Having the fresh water system empty by the bilge through a failed cheap fitting is not consistent with the quality of these boats. Had this happened at sea, well - OUCH.
Let's fast forward to yesterday and hearing the bilge pump go off occasionally the previous night and I get up to have a shower only to discover a sputtering shower and my asking my wife if she knew what might be up with this. Apparently the night before, our son had noticed the tank gauge indicating just over half a tank when he had just filled it. That explained hearing the pump come on.
So after some sleuthing by Explorer Yacht Services, we find that the culprit this time is - yes - a plastic fitting that had totally failed. We promptly replaced fittings on the hot water side with brass fittings. Come on Island Packet, this is a no brainer. Having the fresh water system empty by the bilge through a failed cheap fitting is not consistent with the quality of these boats. Had this happened at sea, well - OUCH.
Many IPY owners have rebuilt their plastic water tank fittings to brass. You might also want to look at the water pump there nearby us a water manifold. I think it too is plastic. These usually don't fail like the water heater because the wh has more temps.
ReplyDeleteHayden
Thanks Hayden. I will be doing just that. I just found this a little odd when you consider the overall quality of the boat and the costs. We bought ours new and "they ain't cheap" - as they say. hell of a way to keep testing if the bilge pump works - LOL!!!
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