Hunter 27-3 No Hot Water Pressure

[VT Fitz]

We have finally found time and congenial weather here in New England to recommission our new-to-us, 2007 H27-3, Skaði. We bought her late last fall and got to know her a little, but coming from the relative simplicity of the trailerable H23.5, we still have much to learn about her systems.

Anyhooo... I winterized the fresh water systems myself, and I'm pretty sure I had pressure on both the cold & hot sides at that time. However, as I have been flushing out the red antifreeze today, I only have pressure on the cold water side.

I think I drained the hot water tank last fall by opening the little drain faucet at the bottom. There is flow coming out of that now when I test it. Looking at the flow path from the water tank to the heater and on to the faucets, everything is connected. But when I open the hot side now, I get a trickle or nothing. There also seems to be rotten eggy smell too.

Thoughts? I'm guessing I'm missing something obvious. Any input would be much appreciated.

Another side issue, the galley and vanity drains seem a bit slow. Has anyone experienced that too? Is that normal?

 

[Skipper]

Did you let the heater refill?
If it's stinky only on the hot side, I'd suspect there was still water in the heater.
Drain again. You may need to shock the system with bleach. Search the forums for the process.

If the heater won't fill, it's probably a stuck check valve. Rusted closed. Look for a part like the one pictured. Remove and clean out, or replace. The check valve is to keep hot water from back-flowing into the water system.

 

[Skipper]

Or since your boat is a later model, might be a plastic valve like this one.
Look for anything in the line between the pump and the heater.

 

[VT Fitz]

Skipper, thanks for the reply. Following up on your suggestion, I looked closer at the plumbing, and while I didn't find an inline check valve, I did more investigation of the flow path.

What I found is water is definitely going into the heater. Water with good flow is coming out of the drain valve. But when I disconnected the mixing the valve, that seemed to be the choke point.

I removed the discharge side, and when I put pressure on the system, it was that trickly "flow." I tried to remove the mixer entirely to see if I could get flow before that point, but I can't get either nut for the input sides -- hot or cold -- to budge.

As you can see in the picture, I removed the entire threaded connector for the discharge side because I couldn't figure out the push/compression connector. While I see how it works now, the ring for that output connector is missing, and when I put it back together, wouldn't you know I have a trickle-leak coming out of there now! <smh>



I am already disinfecting the whole system with a bleach solution, per the owner's manual, so I hooked up a hose to the drain cock & let it flow until I smelled the chlorine mixture coming out. I'll let it sit for a while.

So does it seem likely that the mixer valve is clogged?

 

[Skipper]

Skipper, thanks for the reply. Following up on your suggestion, I looked closer at the plumbing, and while I didn't find an inline check valve, I did more investigation of the flow path.

What I found is water is definitely going into the heater. Water with good flow is coming out of the drain valve. But when I disconnected the mixing the valve, that seemed to be the choke point.

I removed the discharge side, and when I put pressure on the system, it was that trickly "flow." I tried to remove the mixer entirely to see if I could get flow before that point, but I can't get either nut for the input sides -- hot or cold -- to budge.

As you can see in the picture, I removed the entire threaded connector for the discharge side because I couldn't figure out the push/compression connector. While I see how it works now, the ring for that output connector is missing, and when I put it back together, wouldn't you know I have a trickle-leak coming out of there now! <smh>

View attachment 136807

I am already disinfecting the whole system with a bleach solution, per the owner's manual, so I hooked up a hose to the drain cock & let it flow until I smelled the chlorine mixture coming out. I'll let it sit for a while.

So does it seem likely that the mixer valve is clogged?

Ah, you've got a mixer. Fantastic. Great for temperature safety after running the motor, or a failed thermostat.
You'll have to back off the large nuts. As you know. Just put wrenches on both simultaneously, and turn in their opposing directions. Like backing off a stuffing box. You may have to soak it in break free or something.
It may be that there are little check valves and/or filters in the short pipes where the nuts are, and they're clogged. Or the diffuser is clogged inside. The stoppage is almost definitely inside that valve assembly.

 

[Craig Cook]

That mixer now lives on a shelf in my workshop. I went through this a dozen times on our 27-3, there is a filter screen that clogs so if there is anything in your lines it shuts down the hot water. I our case we believe the previous owner used the fizzy tablets to treat the fresh water tank, there was some sediment in the hot water tanks itself and once the PO lost interest in the boat the fresh water system got really skunky. I finally got so frustrated that I re-plumbed the water lines and removed the mixer completely. I understand the concept, safety and so forth but 1. It wasn't worth the frustration of cleaning the screen every 30-40 seconds so 2. The hot water side was mostly out of service anyhow.

After re-plumbing it took several flushing sessions to get everything out of the fresh water system, that project was documented here several months ago. It may not have been the correct solution but it works for me. If the water gets too hot coming out of the faucet, I add more cold.

 

[VT Fitz]

Thanks, Craig.

My post here is almost exactly like your initial post on the thread at https://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/odd-fresh-water-issue-thoughts.174433/

I looked at several of your other previous threads but I'm having trouble finding your posts on re-plumbing to fix this. Or were you referring to dealing with the odor?

 

[Craig Cook]

Although that thread did touch on the mixer issues it was not the one where I had enough and removed it. I think we talked about the PEX tubing and connectors in that one because I posted a picture of the little C-clips that hold everything together. When you look at your water system make sure those clips are in place on all the fittings or they will leak.