Multiple Fresh Water Tanks on Hunter 410

JohnEh

.
Jun 7, 2004
76
Hunter 36 Baton Rouge
I recently acquired a 2000 Hunter 410. The boat has three fresh water tanks with three deck fills and a tank monitor for three water tanks. All of the tanks feed into a central line which then branches off. I believe there are valves for each tank. Should all of the valves for all of the tanks be open at the same time or one at a time?
 

Nodak7

.
Sep 28, 2008
1,256
Hunter 41DS Punta Gorda, FL
Just open the valve for the tank you are using! Rotate the tank usage so the water does not get stale! If you pull off all three tanks together it will take forever before you have to refill.
 
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Likes: sail sfbay
Feb 10, 2004
4,084
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
And in addition, if you pull from all three tanks at once, you have no reserve when you do run out.

I would also think that when one tank runs out first, the pump will pull air from the empty tank before pull in water from the still-full tank. Then I would expect that you would air-lock the pump and get nothing.
 
Jan 12, 2016
271
Hunter 410 Ladysmith, BC
Also on the H410 be warned...the bottom of the aft tank sits several feet higher than the top of the other two tanks. If the bottom (port and starboard) two tanks are empty, and you fill the aft one and leave all the valves open, you will slowly gravity transfer much of your water. Make sure you keep the aft tank valve closed when filling your water system up. Don't ask how I learned this lesson.:)
 
Feb 10, 2004
4,084
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
JohnEh - you haven't asked, but I will give you an easy way to keep track of which tank you are using, which tanks are empty or full, and in what order you might want to drain them.

I expect that you have a water manifold with three valves. Open one and keep the others closed. I have four tanks on my h40.5 and I devised a simple method to code the tanks. Rather than trying to remember (which hardly ever works well 'cause I'm old), I sewed some rings of red and green lightweight webbing or ribbon. Green on one side and red on the other. A band with the green side out means the tank is full. And red side out means the tank is empty. No band on a valve indicates the tank currently in use. And if you use the tanks in the order of the manifold valves you will know which one to use next. As you change tanks, just flip the band inside-out.

Also when you refill, you can look and quickly determine which tanks need to be filled.

So easy a caveman could do it.

Water Manifold.jpg
Red & Green Bands.jpg
 
Jun 10, 2022
1
Hunter 40.5 Bluewater bay marina
Where can I buy parts for this manifold? It is the same manifold I have on my 97 Hunter 40.5. Leaking at the fwd tank valve from the valve side of the street elbow in the bottom of the valve.
 
Feb 10, 2004
4,084
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
I bought an exact replacement valve on eBay a couple years ago. Search on eBay for "Qest QV3500" or "Zern QV3500" and match up the results with the size you need.
These also appear to be used in the RV industry, so you might check RV part suppliers. If they have them I would expect a better price. I think I only paid $8 in 2021. It was a Qest In-line Globe Valve 1/2" MPT x 1/2" MPT Compression Fitting Grey QV3500
 

msin99

.
May 27, 2018
5
Hunter 460 PCYC
JohnEh - you haven't asked, but I will give you an easy way to keep track of which tank you are using, which tanks are empty or full, and in what order you might want to drain them.

I expect that you have a water manifold with three valves. Open one and keep the others closed. I have four tanks on my h40.5 and I devised a simple method to code the tanks. Rather than trying to remember (which hardly ever works well 'cause I'm old), I sewed some rings of red and green lightweight webbing or ribbon. Green on one side and red on the other. A band with the green side out means the tank is full. And red side out means the tank is empty. No band on a valve indicates the tank currently in use. And if you use the tanks in the order of the manifold valves you will know which one to use next. As you change tanks, just flip the band inside-out.

Also when you refill, you can look and quickly determine which tanks need to be filled.

So easy a caveman could do it.

View attachment 177847View attachment 177848
Awesome, thanks for sharing. I have 5 tanks on a 460 that I just purchased. This will work well, I might use electrical tape instead, since I can't sew !!
 

msin99

.
May 27, 2018
5
Hunter 460 PCYC
I bought an exact replacement valve on eBay a couple years ago. Search on eBay for "Qest QV3500" or "Zern QV3500" and match up the results with the size you need.
These also appear to be used in the RV industry, so you might check RV part suppliers. If they have them I would expect a better price. I think I only paid $8 in 2021. It was a Qest In-line Globe Valve 1/2" MPT x 1/2" MPT Compression Fitting Grey QV3500
Question: How do you recommend I fill the tanks? I have 3 fill spots, port (two tanks), S/B (two tanks) and FWD (two tanks). Do I just open all the valves and fill from the FWD tank and all 5 tanks will fill ?