Recommissioned the Tartan 3800 plumbing after sorting out some very poor plumbing practice which included gobs of silicone sealant in attempts to seal leaks, and a weird mixture of brass, bronze, plastic, and nylon fittings - as if they did this with assorted spare parts. Not Tartan, but previous owners.
So, I have polybutylene-type tubing and Parker® O Ring/Grab Ring Tube Fittings all the way through, save a brass adapter and ball valve on the expansion tank (accumulator). This is the way Tartan plumbed it originally. They used polybutylene tubing, I think, and for new tubing I used LLDPE.
My water heater is in the port cockpit locker, and mounted high up in that locker is a secondary coolant pressure tank with pressure cap, and a coolant overflow tank. This is in addition to the primary cap on the exhaust manifold tank and its nearby overflow tank. I spoke with Bob Hansen at Hansen Marine (a Westerbeke distributor) and he confirmed this practice, as it's difficult to bleed this kind of system; the primary pressure cap is at 14 psi, the secondary 7 psi ("but check the caps!").
I had hot water in the fall. I didn't make any changes to the coolant, or open anything.
The secondary overflow tank is low on coolant. It was this way in the fall, too.
Now I have no hot water. I have water pressure from the hot taps, but it's not hot, at all.
Any ideas? Could it be that I have some kind of bubble in at the top of the coolant circuit that doesn't cause the engine to overheat, but prevents making hot water?
Thanks!
jv
So, I have polybutylene-type tubing and Parker® O Ring/Grab Ring Tube Fittings all the way through, save a brass adapter and ball valve on the expansion tank (accumulator). This is the way Tartan plumbed it originally. They used polybutylene tubing, I think, and for new tubing I used LLDPE.
My water heater is in the port cockpit locker, and mounted high up in that locker is a secondary coolant pressure tank with pressure cap, and a coolant overflow tank. This is in addition to the primary cap on the exhaust manifold tank and its nearby overflow tank. I spoke with Bob Hansen at Hansen Marine (a Westerbeke distributor) and he confirmed this practice, as it's difficult to bleed this kind of system; the primary pressure cap is at 14 psi, the secondary 7 psi ("but check the caps!").
I had hot water in the fall. I didn't make any changes to the coolant, or open anything.
The secondary overflow tank is low on coolant. It was this way in the fall, too.
Now I have no hot water. I have water pressure from the hot taps, but it's not hot, at all.
Any ideas? Could it be that I have some kind of bubble in at the top of the coolant circuit that doesn't cause the engine to overheat, but prevents making hot water?
Thanks!
jv
