learned a lesson today

[gonesail]

I was filling up my water tank and let it overflow on deck. I assumed the air vent would drain overboard thru the hull with no problems. Wrong. Cape Dory vents the water tank behind the settee .. so water was all over the floor. Won't make that mistake again. Guess I need to install a sender and gauge

[Steve Laume]

I finally glassed over the deck fill for my water tanks this spring. I had disconnected the fill hose and plugged the deck fill and tank, years ago.

When I first got Raven, I tried filling the water tanks with the deck fill. I could never tell if both tanks were full and would add a bunch of fresh water to the bilge each time I tried to fill the tanks. Being a pretty fast learner, in this case, I just started to fill the tanks from their inspection ports. Then I got rid of the nasty old fill hose and so on. There is no way to know where the water is going if you use the deck fill. It is a nice idea but it doesn't work.

You don't need to complicate things with a gauge or spotters. Just open the hatch and send the hose right down to each individual water tank. Fill them up and be done with it. That fill hose makes a nice breeding ground for some nasty stuff, so rip it out and plug the tank opening. The hose is just one more thing to leak and you don't want to use it to fill the tanks anyway.

This is one area where it is easy to simplify things, Steve.

[jbenagh]

Christine C ('83 CD30) is all plumbed to drain to the cockpit. I do hear an ominous sound just before it's time to turn off the inflow!

After fixing some tank cracks this summer (thanks John Ring!) I don't have any water inside the boat from the tanks.

Jeff

[John Stone]

I removed all the deck fills on the Far Reach save one—the dedicated shower tank because that tank is on a shelf in the port cockpit locker and a deck fill with 6” hose was the best access to the tank.

We fill all the other tanks via a homemade Baja filter and 3 micron filter bag. We stow the 14’ long hose in the boom. We run all potable water to include rainwater through the Baja filter regardless if it’s source is a hose or five gallon jugs. This has worked exceptional well for us.

[bottomscraper]

On Mahalo the vents were designed to drain into the bilge. Unfortunately the poor design used flexible PVC hose which over time collapsed and since the hose coming from the tank was just stuck in a larger hose that was going to the bilge, effectively it just drained behind the settee. I think the idea was to provide a cheap vented loop to prevent any chance of a syphon forming. Good idea, very poorly executed.

I have since replaced all the hoses and used real vented loops. I used PEX tubing rather than soft hose wherever possible. I really don't mind it draining into the bilge, a little fresh water down there keeps things fresher and tests my bilge pump and switch on a regular basis.

[Neil Gordon]

LIQUIDITY's water tank is unvented. When filling to capacity, the air pressure bubble in the water tank pushes water into the galley sink, maybe a quart's worth. Never been a problem.

More often than not when cruising, I top off the tank from a 5 gallon ju

[Neil Gordon]

Continuing... from a 5 gallon jug. The deck fill is the easiest access, since the jug is stored on deck.

[John Stone]

LIQUIDITY's water tank is unvented. When filling to capacity, the air pressure bubble in the water tank pushes water into the galley sink, maybe a quart's worth. Never been a problem.

More often than not when cruising, I top off the tank from a 5 gallon ju

Neil
How does the tank work without a vent? Seems like it create a vacuum in the tank as the water level is drawn down.

[Neil Gordon]

How does the tank work without a vent? Seems like it create a vacuum in the tank as the water level is drawn down.

Good question. I sometimes "burp" the tank after filling, by loosening the cap on the top. It bleeds a fair amount of air when I do.

I suspect there's insufficient low pressure to overcome the pump, and that the system itself is not quite air tight. I've never seen a pressure difference when opening a less than just filled tank. (There may be a clogged vent... I'll check in the Spring.)

[kerrydeare]

... I just started to fill the tanks from their inspection ports ... There is no way to know where the water is going if you use the deck fill ... Just open the hatch and send the hose right down to each individual water tank. Fill them up and be done with it ...

This is really the only way to get it right and not complicate one's life.

[Carl Thunberg]

Maybe I just got lucky on my former CD30. I did fill from the deck fill and my wife watched from below. I guess it's the best of both worlds. I never had an overfill. Thanks for the visual on the nasty crud in the fill tube, Steve.

[Jim Walsh]

I use the deck fills and the inspection ports directly on the tank.....whatever is most convenient at the time. The crud hasn’t gotten me yet.

[Kickin Bears]

I also run a hose directly to the tanks by leading a hose through the companionway. I just wanted to see the tank filling up and know when to stop (plus I make sure to add regular Clotox to the tank @ 8 drops per gallon to disinfect / keep the tank from developing mold)

I didn’t even think about the junk thats likely growing in the deck fill line, which was luck really. Makes me think I need to shock treat the line this spring by pouring a strong solution of Clorox through the line that will be the correct dilution when it gets to the tank to hopefully kill off some of the bio growth in the deck fill line

This thread has been really interesting!

[Steve Laume]

"The crud hasn’t gotten me yet."

How can you be so sure?

I removed all of the old fill hose, except for the section that went under the ice box. I kept that piece to act as a wire way or hose run for smaller water lines. Otherwise, that area is filled with spray foam.

I still have crud in the tanks sometimes but a screen and charcoal filter take care of it, Steve.

[Paul D.]

I open the inspection ports and fill from the deck fill. Now my kids are old enough to work the hose but if solo I just run up and take the hose out when filled. This allows me to check the tanks frequently. Simple, and I never over fill. I use the same philosophy by pulling the spinnaker halyard down in the fall so I get to go up the mast in the spring and check it all out.