Water Distribution Manifold

[tkwhalen]

My boat has the wine frig option which has a low temperature designed for wine and not near cold enough for the way i prefer my beer. So I am thinking of replacing it with the ice maker option. Does anybody know what brand and model ice maker Hunter originally installed in the 49? It would mean running a water line but there is a spot on the water manifold for an ice maker which is open on my boat. So first thought is that a water line will be easy. However this is a boat so nothing is easy. The shark bit like connections on my water manifold have had trouble holding on to pipe connections recently. Over the last two years three have lost grip and will no longer hold the connection together under pressure so I have held them in temporarily (for 2 years now) with wire ties. I'd like to replace the manifold or find out if the is some way to fix the connectors before I start adding more pipes. Which brings me to my second question has any one else had this problem and what did you do about it? Also, does anyone know who manufactured the original manifold? I thought it was Seatech but if it was their new manifold looks way different. Lastly what size are the pipes in our boat I'd swear mine are metric which seems really strange to me.

 

[Georgedoyle]

15 mm pipe. My connections are dry. I recently added a filtered drinking water faucet to my galley next to the sink and didn't have any trouble with the fittings. You have to make sure the tubing is pressed all the way into the fitting. They will leak if you don't. Check the online store on this site for the manifold. I think I saw it there some time in the past while browsing.

 

[tkwhalen]

Georgedoyle

15mm that's what I thought...it just surprised me they were metric ... The pipes are seated all the way in and they don't leak when they hold however surges in water pressure such as shutting off the faucet cause them to pop out and you know when it happens immediately as the pump goes crazy spraying water under the trash can all over the back of the small fridge. I have been wondering if it is scratches in the pipe ends that cause the connects to be weak and let go. I thought of cutting off a 1/2 inch of pipe and putting therm back together but haven't tried it. Don't know if it would work or not I was hoping one of you smart people out there in hunterowner land would have it all figured out for me.

Do you have the wine fridge or the ice maker?

 

[Georgedoyle]

No I don't. The only experience I have with the fresh water system is adding a filtered water faucet and a deck wash.

 

[artboas]

Ok, so it is the ver. 1 Seatech manifold.
You have a few options:
Firstly, I would try chopping off 1/2” as you said, and really shove it in tight.
You can replace the whole manifold with a ver. 2 Seatech. It’s a bit of work to do this.
I actually bought spare Seatech valves a few years ago. If you want to discuss, pm me.

 

[senang]

From the picture it looks like the pex tubing between the manifold and the 90° bend is not long enough, resulting in insufficient insertion, resulting in leaking. I would start by replacing the existing short pieces of pex by new lengths of pex with 2“ extra to be sure it is long enough. Really press it in hard. This should solve your problem.

 

[tkwhalen]

The pipes are in the connectors all the way. I have no water leaks. The problem is the connectors letting go. There are currently no leaks and they are staying connected because the wire ties hold the pipe into the connector. They have been faithfully doing that job for 2+ years.

I think I will try trimming the pipes first and if that doesn't work I'll bite the bullet and replace the manifold.

I am surprised no one else has or had this same problem many of us have the same Sea Tech Manifold.

 

[artboas]

The pipes are in the connectors all the way. I have no water leaks. The problem is the connectors letting go. There are currently no leaks and they are staying connected because the wire ties hold the pipe into the connector. They have been faithfully doing that job for 2+ years.

I think I will try trimming the pipes first and if that doesn't work I'll bite the bullet and replace the manifold.

I am surprised no one else has or had this same problem many of us have the same Sea Tech Manifold.

I added a really neat trick to my water manifold.
There is one unused valve on the cold side.
Basically, the cockpit shower feed shares its cold line with the stern dock water input. In other words, the stern dock water branches into the cockpit shower cold, and then that line runs to the manifold.
You can turn off your dock water by turning off the cockpit shower cold valve on the manifold.
So, here’s what I did:
If the dock water is connected, then the cold feed on the manifold is pressurized.
I connected the spare valve to the input of the water pump, (with a T fitting) which Is of course drawing from your water tanks equally.
When I’m on dock water, I turn off the water pump at the panel.
I then run the dock water at the galley tap for a few minutes to ensure the water is good & fresh.
I then open the spare valve.
What this does is now fill all 3 water tanks from the dock water, without having to fill them all separately on deck
Watch your water guage, and be sure to shut the valve off just before the tanks are full. This is important.
This is an amazing handy way to fill your tanks.

 

[Georgedoyle]

Apparently I have the same problem now with my pex pipes slipping out of the manifold. I recently changed pumps (5gpm) and added an expansion tank. This might have cause the pressure to spike. Has anyone tried trimming the pipe to expose fresh plastic yet? If that works, it would be great. Looks like the store has a replacement manifold that will work also. Or I could use the zip tie fix.

 

[dlochner]

Apparently I have the same problem now with my pex pipes slipping out of the manifold. I recently changed pumps (5gpm) and added an expansion tank. This might have cause the pressure to spike. Has anyone tried trimming the pipe to expose fresh plastic yet? If that works, it would be great. Looks like the store has a replacement manifold that will work also. Or I could use the zip tie fix.

PEX fittings can be reused if they are not damaged. The ends of PEX tubing where fittings have been used, should not be reused. Cut off the section that was originally on the fitting. If the tubing is not long enough, splice in a piece using a connector.

 

[Georgedoyle]

Turns out the failure was not on the pex tubing. It was the black fitting where it pushes into the manifold. a couple of these fittings slipped out of the manifold during a recent trip. It looks like there might be enough plastic on the fitting to trim it short and then push it back in. I used the zip tie method for now instead until I hear from someone who has trimmed these fittings.

 

[American_Mainsail]

I've noticed on these Shark Bite fittings that it's helpful to fully seat the PEX pipe, then pull back on it in order to get the "teeth" to engage the pipe. Check out this diagram. When the release collar isn't pressed against the Grab Ring, the teeth engage with the pipe to lock it into place.

I have some fittings that are getting problematic about leaking. They don't last forever. New fittings aren't seriously expensive and can save some headache by replacing them when they start to fail.

 

[artboas]

The manifolds are from Sea Tech
Here is my suggestion
Always clean trim the end with a very sharp pex (or similar ) cutter
Then, put a small amount of Teflon grease on the end of the tubing (on the outside wall)
This makes inserting the tube all the way “home” much easier.
The way that people damage the 15mm Whake fittings is by jamming in rough tubing.
By taking a bit of care to prepare the tubing surface, you save wear on the fittings