Just bought a Hunter 410! So many questions

[stackwalker]

Just bought a ‘99 hunter 410. I’m new to big boat ownership. I didn’t get any kind of handoff on systems so I know almost nothing

I’ve got a few thousand questions but I’ll start with a couple that I have since we’re staying on it all this week.

How long should the water pressure pump take to charge the system? I’ve left it in for 5-7 minutes and it doesn’t stop running.

for the vacuflush system, I’ve been switching it on when we use the toilet and the turning it off right after at the panel. Should I be leaving that on or is it appropriate to turn it on only for use?

is there a way to isolate the house batteries from the starter battery when off shore power? I have a switch for draw from inverter which I understand the purpose of. But on my older boats I had a switch that I could isolate just bank 2 and leave the starter battery charged and out of use.

Those are the pressing ones for the moment. I got a good lesson on all the engine servicing I have to do today from the yanmar guy in town so that should be interesting.

thanks for any info you can offer!

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

How long should the water pressure pump take to charge the system? I’ve left it in for 5-7 minutes and it doesn’t stop running.

it should be almost immediate.

for the vacuflush system, I’ve been switching it on when we use the toilet and the turning it off right after at the panel. Should I be leaving that on or is it appropriate to turn it on only for use?

I leave it on.

is there a way to isolate the house batteries from the starter battery when off shore power? I have a switch for draw from inverter which I understand the purpose of. But on my older boats I had a switch that I could isolate just bank 2 and leave the starter battery charged and out of use.

Depending on how it’s wired, switches may or may not isolate from a charging source.
The boat should have a means of isolation when not being charged, typically a relay ACR or similar. If not, add one.

 

[stackwalker]

The water pump stays running and the tanks are full so I’m guessing I have a leak somewhere? The faucets run so and the pump kicks up a notch when a faucet is on

The vacuflush makes a repetitive noise most audible in the aft stateroom behind the bulkhead. The toilet flushes but that noise doesn’t go away when left on

lastly my tank indicators don’t seem to work. Where is the holding tank on this beast? There’s a tank in the aft port lazarette but I think it’s the diesel tank of if I followed the hoses right. I’m going to need to empty the holding tank sooner than later as my partner has a tiny bladder and has been using the head a lot over the past few days

 

[Stu Jackson]

The water pump stays running and the tanks are full so I’m guessing I have a leak somewhere? The faucets run so and the pump kicks up a notch when a faucet is on

If you have more than one tank, there should be valves to isolate them. Do not leave both valves open at the same time. Opening both valves is usually the cause of pump running as you describe. Otherwise, you have an air leak somewhere in the system.

 

[marcham]

Did your survey pick up issues with the plumbing??

Do you have the original owners manual?

It might be worth while to pay a captain or mechanic for 3 or 4 days to go over all the systems...

 

[DidierRacoupeau]

Since one year i am a French owner off a 2002 Hunter 410.
I know very well This boat but i can reply only in french if interesting…

 

[feudalkaos]

Hello

I have a 2001 Hunter 410 and lived aboard for 5 years so I can probably offer some support.

You're water system is almost certainly leaking. The water pump should only be on for a few seconds at most unless a tap is open. One of the most common, and worst, places for a water leak is actually immediately underneath the forward head floor. We recently had this leak and it was a pain to deal with. The best way to find it is to open the forward most floor panel in the main saloon area. This should be where your depth/speed sensor is mounted. If you have a water leak forward of this point, this is where the water will pass by. It may only go past the weeping hole and so you would have to look into that hole or feel around for water. Ultimately, the water will always end up in the bilge.

For the holding tanks, the 410 is designed with 2 entirely separate systems, one forward and one aft. You should have a single 25 gallon tank in the aft immediately under the bed right next to the 5 thru hulls. You should have a second 25 gallon tank immediately under the forward bed. This one is in the forward most postion under the bed and only has an access panel so you can get to the top of the tank.

I cannot say much on the vaccu flush because our 410 only has standard manual pump heads.

For the electrical, you should have either 1 or 2 battery switches. If one, it should have 3 positions, "house, start, both, off". Setting to house or off with disconnect the start battery from the main system. Alternatively, you may have 2 battery switches, one on the aft side of the nav station and one on forward side. If this is the case, then one is for house bank and one for start and you can just shut off the start battery with its switch.

The small solar panel built in to the top deck is connected to a controller then directly to the start battery to keep it trickle charged.

I have attached the complete manual for the Hunter 410 which covers most of what I mentioned.

 

[BigEasy]

With regards to water pump continuously running, yes it’s possible that you have a-water leak as evidenced by having water in the bilge Or air in the system. You may also have a pump diaphram or pressure switch problem. Was having same problem with my Jabsco pump running & not shutting down. The model pump that I have has an internal adjustable pressure switch; making pressure adjustments didn’t help. Not sure whether the problem was the diaphram or pressure switch. Replacing both was 2/3 the cost of a new pump. Pump was 12 years old, so I replaced the pump; problem solved.
congratulations on purchasing your new boat!

 

[Benny17441]

The water pump should pressurize the water lines almost immediately after the valves are shut off. Failure to do so will indicate a leak or lack of water in the tank to start with. For example we once had a line disconnect from the cockpit shower fixture and the tank was emptied into the inside of the hull. We realized it when the bilge pump started discharging water non=stop.

 

[marcham]

There could also be a pressure tank in the fresh water system. With a torn or under inflated bladder, it could lead to longer cycle time for the fresh water pump.... Or there could be a leak (or more than one) and a faulty pressure tank.....

 

[stackwalker]

Ok I've figured out a bunch of things. Thanks to all of you for the insights. Found the manifolds for the water tanks. One of them wasn't shut all the way and when I closed that one completely the pump now turns off after a couple of seconds. The pump still kicks on for like 1 second every couple of minutes. I'm not sure if this means I have a leak or if that's just standard.

For the batteries, I found that we have the inverter draw switch at the back of nav station seat and the start battery switch at the front. Since we are sitting in our slip on shore power I've switched the start engine switch to "Off" and the Inverter draw switch to "Both". I'm assuming this allows the batteries to be charged from shore power. It also appears to draw from batteries when my girlfriend runs her electric tea/coffee water heater thing. I'm assuming I can switch that inverter draw switch to "Off" when she wants to use that to avoid that coming off the batteries and then switch it back to "Both" when she's done? We had been running with that in the "Off" position for a couple days which I'm guessing means we've just been slowly draining our house batteries until today.

Another question I had was about the heating/cooling systems. My boat seems to have air conditioning. Does this also imply that I have heat? There are no thermostat controls anywhere in the cabins so I'm guessing not. I have switches on my panel for "Air Cond FWD", "Air Cond AFT", and "Air Cond RELAY". I assume this means Air Cond. is an on/off situation and not a temperature control thermostat. It sure would be nice to have heat aboard though as it's been chilly this week.

Lots of engine work to do. So far I've changed the engine oil, changed transmission oil, replaced the stupid orange plastic dipstick that goes in the tranny, changed alternator belt. Next projects are fuel filters, new fuel/lift pump, new impeller, new float switch in the bilge and I have to replace a bunch of rusty hose clamps on the forward seacocks.

 

[Tally Ho]

The pump should not cycle. Indicates a leak somewhere or something wrong with the pressure switch.

Also, many Air conditioners also provide heat. Check your system. Usually an electric heater strip in the unit for heat.

Greg

 

[BigEasy]

If your boat has onboard air conditioning, it is usually a reverse cycle air conditioner / heat pump. As @Tally Ho mentioned, some have electric heater strips.
And, there should be a thermostat control-display for each air conditioner unit, one forward & one aft……keep looking!

 

[feudalkaos]

The switches on your breaker panel showing AC do not mean that it has AC for sure. Those are standard breakers that are there even if it did not include the AC units.

If you do have them, then one should be located under the port side seating area under the forward most cushions. The standard unit here is a MarineAir 16k BTU. This can be replaced with a Dometic ECD 16k BTU as a mostly drop in. The aft AC is located behind the aft cabin wall. In the middle of the back wall you should have a vent and behind that is the AC unit. This originally would have been a 7K BTU unit and cam be replaced with a Dometic ECD 6K unit. The controls for the forward AC are on the side of the galley counter. This can be seen in the lower right corner of the first image attached.

In the second image attached you can see the vent in the aft cabin that the AC is behind. The controls for this AC are on the back side of the standing closet in that cabin. In the image attached it would be about where you can see the red fire extinguisher mounted on its side.

The sea water pump for both ACs would be under the galley floor board in the same space the the galley sink thru hull is. I don't have a good image of this on hand but can get one if you need.

The standard AC units are reverse cycle so they do heat as well.

 

[mermike]

How long should the water pressure pump take to charge the system? I’ve left it in for 5-7 minutes and it doesn’t stop running.

It's not necessarily a leak. Do you have a pressure accumulator? If so, turn off the pump breaker and release all pressure from the system by opening a tap. Once the tap completely stops flowing, close it and turn the breaker back on. The pump will turn on and build pressure in the system within 2-3 minutes, or maybe more depending on the size of your accumulator.

 

[Windpilot]

I also have a 99 410. It takes time to go through a learn all the systems. Spent 10 years getting to know (fix) the boat.
Took it to Hawaii and back to CA, now I'm sitting in Cabo, waiting for better weather to go back to CA from the Sea of Cortez.
Great Boat!
Vacuflush is awesome imho, but you'll really need to dive deep into getting to know how it works and how to keep it working. It could stay on, the vacuum pumps should only turn on after flushing, stop after 20 to 30 pumps.
Starter battery is isolated from both house banks.
Use one water tank at a time, start with #3 aft tank, valves behind the water heater.
Water leaks, drawing air somewhere or even a bad water pump could cause the constant running.
Again, take your time, study and think about what's happening to really understand the systems, takes me years....
You'll have plenty more things that need looking at, even when you think you got them all. It's a commitment.

 

[stackwalker]

Ok I broke something else - my float switch was bad for the bilge pump. I swapped it out thinking I could do it without disconnecting the battery. While stretching for a wire that was too short the hot crossed the negative and I'm sure I blew a fuse somewhere. Now my bilge pump doesn't work at all....

I'm guessing those wires for the bilge go directly to battery. Where would I find the fuse I blew if that's what happened?

 

[feudalkaos]

Ok I broke something else - my float switch was bad for the bilge pump. I swapped it out thinking I could do it without disconnecting the battery. While stretching for a wire that was too short the hot crossed the negative and I'm sure I blew a fuse somewhere. Now my bilge pump doesn't work at all....

I'm guessing those wires for the bilge go directly to battery. Where would I find the fuse I blew if that's what happened?

The fuse for the bilge pump is actually on the battery switch. There should be a small fuse holder that you can open to change the fuse.

 

[stackwalker]

The fuse for the bilge pump is actually on the battery switch. There should be a small fuse holder that you can open to change the fuse.

Both those fuses look good in the battery switch

 

[stackwalker]

Both those fuses look good in the battery switch

I checked that fuse on the house batteries... the little clear plastic cube and that fuse also looks fine