Dockside water inlet

[Steve W]

Three summers into using my new-to-me '97 376 I just discovered the little water inlet located on the transom of the boat above the swim platform. My question is what does it feed? I get the part of being tied to a dock and attaching the shoreside hose to it so I don't have to use ship's water. My question revolves around the fact that I haven't a clue what it ties into?

Does it tie into the on-board system somewhere before the water pump? Or what comes out of the faucets have pressure from the shoreside hose?

Does it, somehow, also find it's way into the hot water heater?

We're not at any dock all that often (we prefer anchoring or being on our mooring) but I figured it might be a nice 'benefit' to have for those rare occasions when we __are___ at a dock.

TIA for any insight into this...

Steve

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

The pressure reducer you see on your transom allow shore water to connect on the pressure side of your water pump thereby eliminating the need to run it and your tank(s).



more than you wanted to know:

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...1151&catalogId=10001&page=Fresh-water-Systems

 

[kloudie1]

Don is right on.. It connects to the pressure side of the system downstream of the pump; when ya open a faucet, it goes thru the whole system, including the hot water side.. Couple of notes.. if ya decide to use it, it is best to use the white "drinking water rated" hose so ya don't get a big shot of vinyl in the water (the note from West Marine says this as well).. and .. before ya use it, ya probably want to locate all the connections between the fitting and the system and make sure they are tight and leak free..
It does not normally refill the tanks, but some folks pipe 'em up so you can do that by opening a valve and closing it when the tank is full..

 

[Steve W]

Thank's kloudie1 and as usual, Don comes through!!! That illustration explains everything. Since I've at a disadvantage since I can't access all the piping under the floorboards (without unscrewing a lot of cabinetry and I'm not THAT curious at this point!), I think I'll have to do some sort of dock-side test.

If I'm "piped" correctly per Don's illustration, then in theory and hopefully in reality I should be able to attach the hose to the inlet (and plug in to shore power to keep the water heater element cooking), run the faucets - especially the hot water side - and not see the tank indicator gauge needle move toward E.

If that needle does go towards E, then maybe I'll deal with it over the winter - if I really, really feel motivated - or just ignore it and continue doing what I've always done dock-side. Use the water from my tank and re-fill as necessary.

More to come after my dock-side test....

Thanks,

Steve

 

[Sailgunner]

A word of caution. I have a similar hose hook-up but have not been using it and thankfully so. Last week I ran out of water and did not know why. I refilled one of my tanks and the punp never shut off. I found a water line came loose in the head sink. If I had a hose connected to the boat no telling how much water would have been in the boat.

 

[BrianH]

I have the same set-up on my boat and never use it. I prefer to keep the water moving through my fresh water holding tanks. If I hook up to the shore water, then the water in my fresh water tanks just sits and gets stale.

 

[faisond]

You might consider a simple pressure test to determine if you have a leak in this system. (This won't work if you have leaking faucets aboard.) Connect your drinking water hose to the shore connection and dock faucet. Be sure there are no leaks at either end of the hose. Pressurize your water system using the dock water, open a faucets on board one at a time to expel all air. Once you are sure all air is expelled, close all faucets and then close the dock spigot. Now have a cocktail or two while reading Chapman's. After an hour, open up a faucet. if you have good pressure to start with when you do so, then you're reasonably assured of no leaks. If your faucet dribbles as if it had prostate trouble, you're leaking.

 

[noprob2]

Caution on using inlet

Two issues to adress:
Boat does not necessarily have a pressure reducer valve so unless you want 40# ++ town water pressure to blow every fitting in the boat, put one in the line. You can get one that just screws on to the hose bib on the dock.
I keep an extra one on board for those trips to another marina.
They are very cheap.
NEVER leave this connected if you are not on the boat.
Just turning off hose not enough. Disconnect it from the boat. Some other person turns on the water to your boat instead of his etc and you are home, and a fitting blows your bilge pump will never keep up with that big tank up above town on the hill!!
The boat will sink... Period.
This is a great feature but like many conveniences it comes with risks.

 

[Steve W]

Thanks to all who responded! I was able to get to the boat this morning, brought it to the dock and connected the dock-side hose to that inlet fitting. IT WORKS AS ADVERTIZED!!

After I tied up and hooked up I shut off the water pump breaker, tested each faucet and no pressure, no water. Then leaving everything "as is" I connected the hose from the dock, turned it on and looked for leaks. Nothing. Then I tried all the hot water faucets (3) and after a little spitting evacuating the air I got good pressure for all three faucets. Then I tried the cold water faucets, same results. Then I shut the faucets, and did some boat projects for an hour while leaving the shoreside water connected. No leaks. So evidently when Hunter built the boat for the PO, they installed everything correctly. The only thing I couldn't check (can't access the water pump without removing some cabinetry) was whether they installed a check-valve which Don's sketch calls for.

But after disconnecting the shore water, I turned the pump breaker back on and all appears to be functioning correctly.

At my marina, I know they've put a pressure reduction fitting on the main connection to the town water so the pressure at the dock is "reasonable". But as Noprob2 points out, I plan on getting my own reduction valve for "just in case" when we travel to other marinas and the Admiral decides she wants to be plugged into a slip. I wouldn't bother with it for just an overnight but if we're going to be in a slip for 2 days or longer then I'd hook up to dock water.

Thanks for everyone's input!