How to drain the fresh water tank?

[David Morton]

Got a real newbie question. Is there no drain plug at the bottom of the water tank on my 25D? I have access to the top cover thru the quarter berth, but sucking water out the top seems a little awkward.

[ch.ocallaghan]

I disconnected the water hose from the bottom/side of the tank that leads from the tank to the two sink pumps and replaced it with another hose that went down to the bilge. The water drained down there and was pumped out by the bilge pump.

[Stan W.]

sucking water out the top seems a little awkward.

That's how I do it (with a wet/dry shop-vac). It's really the only way to get all of the water out without removing the whole tank.

[tjr818]

Aboard Slainte we use our Graybeard electric pump when we want to clean out the tank, it works like a charm. We let the pump run while we do other chores.

[Bruce Barber]

Siphon it to the bilge through the top access and pump it overboard. That'll give your pump a good test too.

[NateHanson]

I disconnect the hose from the sink pump, and put that hose down in the bilge to gravity drain the water tank.

[rtbates]

Not trying to be a smart alert, but I turn on the facets and wait. IF you need to get 100% out use a shop vac for what's left.

[David Morton]

"turning on" the faucets in Wielewaal means pumping until your arm falls off!!! Ahhh, pressurized water, a luxury I am yet to indulge in. Fortunately, my brainfart is only transient. I can easily access the hose from the tank as it T's into the water hoses to the two sinks from the engine compartment and drain it into the bilge. Foot pumps are going on my todo list today!

David

[David Morton]

Speaking of "pumping until my arm falls off", I noticed that the forward sink only pumps air from the galley sink! Methinks the t connection for the two sinks needs to be positioned low, below the bottom of the water tank, in order to keep it filled and not allow one sink pump to pump out the other! Am I right about this? And is the tank vented so as not to create a vacuum as water is removed? and where is the vent? Curious minds want to know...

David

[Joe Myerson]

"turning on" the faucets in Wielewaal means pumping until your arm falls off!!!

David,

I was going to suggest just pumping the tank dry through the galley and head-compartment sinks.
That's the way I do it. But I have replaced both of those stupid Jabsco pumps, which makes it much easier to empty the tanks this way.
WARNING: Replacing the galley pump can be a real pain, as the space is pretty tight. After working with a bare hacksaw blade for what seemed like hours to remove that pump, I finally bought a Fein Multimaster. However, I had already cut through the nylon base of the pump.

Installing a higher-capacity hand pump wasn't easy, either. But it was well worth it. A foot pump would have been better, but where would it go in the limited space?

Good luck!

--Joe

[David Morton]

Joe, what did you install to replace your Jabsco pump?

[Klem]

Siphon it to the bilge through the top access and pump it overboard. That'll give your pump a good test too.

This is exactly what I do if there is much water left in the tanks at the end of the season. If there isn't much, then I just pump it out through the sink.