Need some plumbing advice and diagrams please

[Jamie 10017]

I have a 87 Wellcraft gran Sport that I am rebuilding the PO didnt do all the right things on the plumbing aspect. The holding tank was rigged to empty itself when full....you wouldnt believe what I found... I have removed all the BS from the boat. It has a head with a maserator pump and shower ,two 35 gal fresh water tanks ,a galley with a sink ,a transom shower, a deck wash down system and will get a new holding tank with larger vents. It has the hook up for dockside water also. I need some advice on the best way to hook it all up correctly. I will be replacing all the lines and faucets etc, I want to do this one time and do it right so any ideas, advice would be great. Thanks Jamie

 

[shrew]

Re: Need some plumbing advice and diagrams please

Jaimie,

You really have two, seperate, unrelated systems there. The freshwater system and the head/holding tank system. Unless the head is a vacu-flush, they shold be comlpetely seperate from one another and addressed as seperate systems. IT is unclear what you mean by the systems were done incorrectly, so you tore them out. Also not clear why you need a larger vent system. Since we don't have a schematic of teh boat, diagrams are not going to help much, however both systems are fairly simple.

Water tank -> Pressure Water Pump -> cold faucets as well as the water IN on teh hot water tank.

Water OUT from teh hot water tank to all hot water faucets.

You will find the connectors at a Home Goods store cheaper than an RV store. Likewise the connectors and line at an RV store is frequently cheaper than a marine chandler. SEA Tech is teh most common brand of connectors and hosing. Get a good hose/tube cutter for clean, square cuts on the tubing.

Typically, you're looking for the 35 series of fittings:

http://www.seatechinc.com/Products/.../35_Series___High_Performance_Thermal_Plastic

3515; 3517; and 3510 connnectors are the most common. Make sure you size the connector properly for the size of teh tubing you're using. I can't recall, but I think 1/2 is what is the most common tubing.


for Sanitation line, make sure you put a 'loop' before going into the holding tank. The is basically a reverse of a trap that you would see under a sink. Instead of dropping down and rising back up again, the loop goes up, then comes back down to the holding tank. remember to use teh fitting at the top of the holding tank to connect teh run from teh head to teh holding tank, and use the fitting at teh bottom of the holding tank to connect the line from the holding tank to the pump-out fitting. The smaller connector at the top fo teh holding tank is for the air vent.

I hope this helps.

 

[Jamie 10017]

Re: Need some plumbing advice and diagrams please

Sry I wasnt clear on the explanation the PO had the holding tank set up to when you flush the head it just dumped overboard to make that simple. The fresh water system had most of the system disconnected hoses broken etc, just a real mess so I want to replumb the whole boat, The larger vent from the holding tank is from Peggy Hall to stop any odors from the head hope this clears up what I did to do, Thanks for the reply Jamie

 

[shrew]

Re: Need some plumbing advice and diagrams please

Put an inline filter in the vent line to stop head odors. As you pump into the tank, air needs to be displaced. The same when pumping out. however when pupming out, the vent draws air IN, while 'flushing' vents air OUT. The inline charcoal filter will stop the vented air from being funky when you flush. Dometic makes a great inline filter that is very easy to install. Yes, direct discharge is no longer legal, unless you are outside of the "NO Dumping Zone". Typically this is 3 miles, unless published otherwise. Pumpouts stations are located at almost every gas station and many popular anchorages and harbors will have pump out boats that will come right to you, even while anchored. (This is really more in saltwater, though since your current setup is a direct discsharge, I assume that is where you're located). Most pumpouts are free, so there is little need to discharge any longer.

Peggy Hall knows her stuff, so she is a good reference for this type of info.

 

[25thmustang]

Re: Need some plumbing advice and diagrams please

Prior to my response, I hear rumors that the older 34 Grand Sports had issues with the stringers and bulkheads seperating. If you have the systems out, might be a good time to check and cure it if found. With that said...

I agree, you have two different systems to contend with. The fresh water system is straight forward as indicated above. As far as drains from the sinks, these should simply be plumbed overboard. At least on my three previous cabin cruisers, both sinks simply plumb to a thru hull fitting and dispense into the water. The shower sump, if this is part of your research, should have a bilge pump type pump with a direct overboard discharge. Once again, this is how I have seen it set up, although I'm unsure how much different your boat may be.

The sanitation lines are something I am far too familiar with. How my set up works is simple, but complex (due to the length of hose runs etc).

The toilet is fed river water from a seacock in the bottom of the boat. This is plumbed into the toilet pump at its base. This is used to fill the toilet to help with removing the "debris". On my boat this is a heavy black hose, with two stainless clamps on both ends. From the pump at the bottom of the toilet, a large 1.5" sanitation hose runs down directly to the top fitting of the holding tank. From the holding tank bottom, a 1.5" hose runs to a Y-valve. This valve either sends the waste directly to the pump out fitting, located on the topside of the boat, or it directs it to the macerator, and then to a thru hull seacock. As it stands I have the Y-valve locked in the pump out position per law.

As to whether or not the Grand Sports had this set up, I'm unsure, but this is how it runs in my boat. There are different kinds of sanitation layouts though, and I would say, however you do it, think about years down the road and access to all the parts and pieces.

Here is a photo of my current mess of hoses in the bilge. Right around 40' of 1.5" hose is snaked through my 29' boat.