water tank hoses

[Victoria Y]

Has anyone replaced the water tank hoses and/or the tanks themselves on the CD 36? I have reseated the deck fills and extended the truncated air hoses but still my bilge pump comes on after filling the tanks.

Also, has anyone just taken those space consuming tanks under the settees out and replaced then with something custom made?

Again....many thanks for you thoughts.

Victoria aboard Malie

[Tom in Cambria]

Nobody seems to be jumping in here so let me take a shot at it. Water in the bilge has to come from somewhere and you should be able to trace it. If you're sure it's not just the overflow from the air vent hose, then the chances are it's the fittings where the hoses connect or a leak near the top of the tank. If the tank were leaking near the bottom you'd have water in the bilge all the time. Since this only happens when filling to the top, try filling the tanks only three quarters full and see if you get water in the bilge. You can do this by opening the inspection plate in the top of the tank and watching the water level as it fills. Shut it off before it's full up and see if your pump starts. If not, it probably means the leak is near the top and the only things up there are the hose fittings. It's common for the plastic hose bibs to crack where they meet the tank body and a casual inspection might miss hairline cracks. There's lots of info on repairing plastic tanks in the archives. If the pump starts when you're only three quarters full chances are it's your fill hose. If it's tight at the deck fitting, check the hose body along its length and especially where it connects to the tank.

As far as removing a tank I've been tempted to do it because of all that delicious storage space it would make available, but so far I've felt that I need the water more than the space. It depends on the type of sailing you do. If you don't cruise for long periods you can probably get by on one tank, but don't throw it away. Store it somewhere so you can put it back if you change your mind or if you go to sell the boat some day and the new owner wants the tankage which is a selling point on a cruising boat.

When you figure it out let us know. My best guess is that you're overfilling the tank and water is coming out the air vent and running down to the bilge, but it sounds like you've dealt with that. Second most likely is bad fittings or hose connections on the tank itself.

[Cathy Monaghan]

Hi Victoria,

Since the water tank vents on most, if not all, Cape Dorys empty into the bilge, you need to keep an eye on things while you're filling the tanks.

On our CD32 we don't even bother with the deck fills. We fill all of our water tanks via the inspection port on top of each tank (use only your own hose!). Using this method we never overfill any of the tanks but this method means you could have a water spill down below due to a leaky hose or spray nozzle but that's eaily cleaned up.

On our CD32 we also installed check-valves in the vent hoses at a point just before they make the loop and head back down, up near the deck. This way air can still flow through the hose, but when the boat heels (rail in the water), we don't have to worry about emptying the water tanks into the bilge.

By the way, if you decide to install check-valves in the vent hoses, only fill the water tanks from their inspection ports.

Fair winds,
Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

[Parfait's Provider]

The fill hoses are not of high quality; you can probably replace them, but using the inspection port is pretty easy if you have a valve at the end of the hose. I did have to cut into the port setee base a bit to reach the inspection port, but the others are rather easy to reach and the tank fills quickly when you can get a full flow from the hose. You won't believe how much time you save when you aren't trying to squeeze that water down those corrugated hoses that probably have been breached.