Rodd,

Those hidden leaks are a pain. Yours is obviously somewhere downwind of the pump. Check the fittings at the pump and around your water heater first, then at each of the end users – underneath the sink faucets, etc. I sometimes wind up scrunched in the bilge with a flashlight, poking around until I find the telltale dribble of water, which I can then trace back to the leak. More often than not, it’s a connection not a hose.

On this boat, the hot & cold freshwater feed hoses/tubes that branch out from the water heater manifolds are, like yours, 1/2″ OD. I’m not savvy enough to know what “pex-type” means, but that’s probably what I’ve got. They’re stiff and opaque. These appear to be in very good condition in my boat, so I do not intend to replace them. I am merely eliminating the set that run to the forepeak sink (once I figure out which pair they are), since I ‘glassed over that sink drain’s thru-hull last year leaving the sink itself useless. (Really, how many sinks and faucets do you need in a 42’ boat?) The other “pex-type” hose I’m scrapping is the one to the toilet. I’m replacing the old, freshwater VacuFlush unit with a new, manual Raritan that will use seawater. Since I’m setting Silver Heels up as an “island boat,” I won’t want to use freshwater for flushing.

The hoses I am replacing are the 3/4″ ID hoses from the water tanks to the pre-pump manifold, along with the pressurized pump-to-heater hose and some others. Also, all the 1-1/2″ ID sewage hoses. Also cleaning up some of the spaghetti under the galley sink, replacing a bunch of little, 3″ hose inter-connections with solid manifolds, etc.

Of course, all this will stop when Hanna arrives at the end of the week. Oh, boy.

Tor
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Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
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Hi Rodd,

If my experience will help, and I hope it does, it's the hoses to the shower behind the stall – the fittings are awful and sometimes installed incorrectly. By that I mean the little metal ring is on wrong and the thing never seals properly. Also, the hoses outboard of the shower take a very sharp turn that leaves sideways pressure on the fitting. That will make it leak. I've replaced mine with the fittings you can get at Home Depot and they work flawlessly. I also put a opening hatch to use that space for storage on Pete's and Tor's suggestion.

The other leak I had was the fittings under the head sink. Oh, and I don't know if the previous owner did this or one before that but the connections to the faucets were an abomination of tape, slit hoses, hose clamps and an ungodly number of brass couplings, reducers, and whatnot. Check that out, too.

Bob

On Mon, Sep 1, 2008 at 9:30 AM, Rodd Leeds < ([email][/email])> wrote: