Water Heater Hose

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Mike Fralen

The hoses from my engine to my 5 gal. water heater sprang leaks. I tried to change the hose by duct taping one end of the old hose to the new and pulling through. That didn't work. I tried pulling a line through with the old hose. That didn't work. I'll try heavy wire next time. It seems there is a bend the hose needs to get around under the lining in the bilge. Anyone have a successful way of feeding this hose through? By the way, in my attempts I did pull both old hoses out and have put 2 short bypass hose loops, one on the Yanmar engine and one on the the water heater.
 
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Peggie Hall/Head Mistress

Buy a male-male connector and...

Some PVC cement. Put both the new hose on it, butting them tightly enough together to create a smooth surface across the join, using the PVC cement to glue them to the connector. Give the cement time to dry before pulling. However, the bend may be too tight to pull anything through...in which case, you'll have to get TO the bend to get past it with the old hose...and unless you can pull the old hose through that bend, you're wasting your time trying to pull the new hose through with it..
 
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Mike Fralen

Tried that

Thanks, I tried that approach, sort of, and the hoses pulled apart under the lining. Now I have to feed them through without the benefit of the previous hose still in place. Any suggestions here?
 
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Peggie Hall/Head Mistress

Duct tape won't hold the hoses together, Mike

You have to have a male-to-male connector, and you have to cement the ends of both hoses onto it. You also have to butt the two ends together tightly, so that there's nothing the connection can get hung up on...the two hoses must be a continuously smooth surface. Properly done, they will NOT come apart! However, whether you can pull the new hose through attached to old depends on whether you can pull the old through. If there's a bend that the old hose can't be pulled around, or if the boat builder "considerately" C-clamped it to bulkheads every few feet, you won't be able to...and if you can't pull the old hose out, obviously you can't pull the new hose through either.
 
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Mike Fralen

I know

I agree with everything you said. Through my folly I now have both old hoses out and no new hose in. I ran a small hose from the engine outlet to the engine inlet so I could run the engine. Any suggestions on how or where to run the hose without the benefit of the old hose still being there? I understand the male-male glue part but there is nothing to glue the new hose to anymore.
 
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Peggie Hall/Head Mistress

Can you run a "fish tape," Mike?

If you can, use a line that *will not break.* (This is easier to show than describe...) The idea is to run the tape, secure it to the end of the new hose, and pull the tape back through. Securing it to the hose is the tricky part...you can't just tie it around the hose, and duct tape won't hold it either. My advice would be to cement a plug in the hose...drill a hole all the way through the end of it...run the line through the hole and double it all the way back--so you're pulling two lines, and can jockey one side or the other. Don't try to stand and one end of the total run and pull it all the way through from the other end...use the fish tape only to pull through areas you can't reach. Push it through where you can. Or...you COULD just call the local yard and turn the whole thing over to them. There does come a time when that's the most economical--and quickest--way out. Which reminds of a sign I saw in a repair shop: LABOR RATES Regular: $ 10/hour 25/hour if you watch 50/hour if you help 150/hour if you tried to fix it yourself first
 
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M. C. Fraln

Thanks

I'll try your suggestion of the "fish tape" my next try. After that, it's $150 dollars an hour. Thank you for your time in coaching me along. I've used your other postings as the best info on head maintenance I can find. Enjoy your boating season.
 
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