Disconnected my fresh water deck fill hoses today

[Steve Laume]

I have owned Raven for about five years now and have never once used the deck fitting to fill the water tanks. I always send a hose down through the hatch in the main salon and fill each tank through the inspection ports.

After vacuuming out all of the water again this year there was a little bit of grunge on the bottom that I sucked up. My tanks are very clean so where did this stuff come from?

I proceeded to cut off the fill hoses and you can't believe how nasty those ribbed hoses are inside. They are so outta there! I will plug the openings in the ends of the tanks. The deck fill will stay for now but I figure I will tag the inside of the cap so no one decides to fill up the boat with fresh water and sink it. If I ever redo the non skid, I will lose the hole.

The hose runs actually solved one of my concerns. When I insulated the ice box with expanding foam I pretty well glued the fill hose in place. Now cut off at each end it will make a very convenient conduit for anything I want to route through there. The same goes for the other side where the line goes through the dead space under the galley stove.

Overall I am extremely happy with ripping out those hoses. It definitely cleans up the area around my battery boxes.

All of that with only one bloody knuckle. Not a bad afternoon's work, Steve.

[Carl Thunberg]

Steve,

Maybe my fresh water pump is on its way out. I can only prime my fresh water pump when I fill the tanks through the deck fill fitting. I've always attributed it to needing a little extra head to get the pump primed. Like you, I never fill my tanks through the deck fitting, except that first fill in the spring when I need to prime my pump. From that point on, it works fine for the rest of the seaon. Is mine the only one that has this problem? Is there some trick to priming the pump that I should know about?

This is the part where one demonstrates their complete ignorance on a topic .

[Steve Laume]

Carl, my pump will pick up next to nothing in the tank. It even seems to slightly pressurize an air filled line or suck air and then pick up water or antifreeze if I add it. I have never had enough water in my tanks to get up to the level of the pump.

It sounds like your pump might be having some problems, Steve.

[paul marti]

Carl & Steve, Ok this may be a rather simple question, but if you don't use your deck fittings to fill your tanks, do you simply run a hose down and fill through the inspection plates or have you rigged something else to eliminate that process. I've often thought of removing all three deck fittings for a cleaner look but am not sure about the hose below option.
Paul Marti

[Steve Laume]

The hose below has worked very well for me. I can see exactly what the filling status of each tank is before and after adding water. I can always stop before I fill the vent lines.

I now have significantly fewer hoses, fittings and clamps to potentially fail.

Less is more, Steve.

[Gary M]

Attach a short piece of hose to the unused deck fill and plug it with a rubber stopper and clamp.

Better safe then sorry!

Gary

[Steve Laume]

I am the only one who would ever fill the tanks or would at least be present to direct the filling if some one else were to do it. You are right though, a deck fill to the bilge is probably not a good idea.

I considered plugging the bottom of the fill. What I might do instead is make up a blank bronze plate to cover the opening. This would remove all chance of a mishap.

Then there is also the possibility of installing a small rum tank with a tap in the galley. That would have to be very clearly labeled so as not to risk dilution of the ship's stores, Steve.

[Bruce Bett]

I have never filled the tanks through the deck fitting! It's way easier to fill from the inspection ports and there are way too many hoses and wires cluttering up that channel just forward of the engine. I've only owned Malinche for a bit over a year and am far from getting all this stuff sorted out, I'm going to trace those fill pipes, and if they are running anyplace that I need the space out they come. Thanks for the idea.

Bruce

[paul marti]

Steve, Thanks for the feedback, I like the idea of eliminating as many hoses, clamps etc as possible. When you build that rum tank, be sure to post a few photos. Take care and have a Happy Thanksgiving, Paul

[Steve Laume]

I have never filled the tanks through the deck fitting! It's way easier to fill from the inspection ports and there are way too many hoses and wires cluttering up that channel just forward of the engine. I've only owned Malinche for a bit over a year and am far from getting all this stuff sorted out, I'm going to trace those fill pipes, and if they are running anyplace that I need the space out they come. Thanks for the idea.

Bruce

Bruce, I too have been frustrated by the hoses sneaking there way into the bilge from the engine area.

Unfortunately the water fill hoses are not part of that problem. I have bilge pump and holding tank pump out running in that little channel. I want to rig an electric bilge pump in addition to the manual one. Prsently there is not room for the hose.

I plan to build out the base of the engine cover to give me me more room. A bump out at the base is all it would take. Then you could cut away part of the cabin sole to allow for more hoses.

Eliminating the water lines gives you a bit of stowage at the aft ends of the settees and significantly declutters the area just forward of the battery shelf on the starboard bulkhead.

Any space you can gain is good, Steve.

[wsonntag]

I always use the fresh water deck fills, very nice to have them, fine bronze fittings. I don't like to fool around running a leaky dock hose through the hatches into the main salon risking soaking the cabin cushions.

[John Stone]

I pulled the fill hose and removed the deck fittings. I glassed in the holes in the deck. Four less holes to leak and a lot of nasty hose gone. I am about to install three brand new custom welded polyethelene tanks in the bilge. I plan to fill directly to fill caps (not inspection plates) in my water tanks.

[Steve Laume]

One of the nice things about filling tanks directly is that you know when each one is full. With a hose, run to multiple tanks it is pretty hard to know when they are all full. It also forces you to look at them all each time you fill them.

So how nasty was that hose you removed? Although we tend to clean and treat our tanks I have never heard of anyone trying to disinfect the hoses that deliver all of the water to the tanks in a deck filled system, Steve.

[John Stone]

Steve,
I had a separate hose for each tank--four hoses and four bronze deck fills. The hoses were lined with algae like grime. Another problem with deck fills is that you can build pressure on the tank and its fittings and cause it to leak. You would think the tanks would be built to withstand this but in my experience that is not always the case.

[JWSutcliffe]

Perhaps not using the deck fills exacerbates the buildup of crud in the hoses. I use my deck fills and am quite happy with them. I also flush them well at the beginning of the season and pour a mild chlorine solution through them to sanitize hoses and tanks.