How does the fresh water system work?

chuckrace6

I have a 2005 FV 270 and have a question about the fresh water system. I turned my galley switch on and you could hear the pump run. It seemed like it kept running the whole time I had it on. Is this how it should work or once it reaches a certain pressure it turns off? Also does this system feed the water to fill the toilet up also? Thanks

skennelly

Yes it should run for a few minutes until pressure is built up and then shut off.  If it's running continuous you might have a leak somewhere.

The toilet is not fed by the fresh water system...it has a thru hull in the aft sump that's under the stairs.  You also have the AC thru hull / pump and shower sump located there.

chuckrace6

THANKS, I'll look into it.

TonyG13

As @skennelly said it should run until pressure builds up.

Besides a leak, another common cause for it not building up pressure is not enough water in the tank. This can cause the motor to run continuously since the volume of air in the tank is too great for the pump to pressurize. That's what happens with mine. It keeps running if the water level isn't high enough - I'd say at about the 1/4 full level.

Also, not sure about your specific model, but water for the head can come from either the fresh water tank or directly from a seacock (the water your boat sits in). You can trace your lines back to see or hopefully someone with your make and model can chime in.

skuter99

I have an 04 FV 270 and my toilet is feed from seacock in hull

diggin2day1

Also check that the drain for the hot water heater isn’t open... this will keep the pump running as well while not being able to fill up the 6gal water heater. 

chuckrace6

If the drain on the Hot water heater was open, wouldn't that run into the bilge area and kick the bilge pump on?

Dream_Inn

chuckrace6 said:

If the drain on the Hot water heater was open, wouldn't that run into the bilge area and kick the bilge pump on?

Yes, it should.

diggin2day1

Not if your bilge float doesn’t work... ask me how I know this.... lol

dcaffrey

My 2004 270 water pump would run and run without totally pressurizing so I replaced the pump instead of playing around with it.  It was a gamble, but it worked.  I've enjoyed pressurized water all season.  I believe that it was just tired an could have been rebuilt, but replacement was very simple.  It works with tank level between 1/8 and totally full.
The manual pump head draws from a seacock next to a/c.

Spyderweb

Water pump ran continuously this spring.  Couldn't find any leaks, so replaced pump.  New one ran continuously.  Marina techs couldn't figure it out.  Fellow boater at marina took a look at it and discovered heat exchanger in water heater was shot.  This was discovered by hooking up to shore water.  Despite no faucets on, we could hear water continually running.  Pressure from shore water would push water through heat exchanger, into engine, and then out cooling system in drive.  Bypassed the heat exchanger and problem solved.  I now have a spare pump.

Ian

Also it won’t pressurize if there’s a lot of air in the lines after coming out of storage. I have to open my taps and let it pump for awhile bleeding off the air. 

chuckrace6

I found the problem ! Me, I have to have a little more patients and give the pump time to pressurize the system. I let it run another 40 seconds longer and it stopped. Water came out real nice and it turns back on and off as it should. NOW, to drain all the SMELLY water out and treat it. Thanks for all the info from everybody! Great forum and what makes that are the great people on it ! Thanks again everybody. 

Stodge

@chuckrace6 At the beginning of the season I dump a quart of bleach into the water tank.  The ride from the storage marina to my seawall shakes it up nicely so it's ready for a flush and re-fill when I'm tied up.  

GMSLITHO

vinegar also works well 

aero3113

I broke up a three inch chlorine tab from my pool, I try to put a piece in every time I fill up. Now that my new pool is salt water, I’ll probably switch to bleach when I run out of the tab pieces.

Willhound

Another important tip is that when winterizing the water system disconnect the hoses and bypass the water tank so no pink anti freeze gets in the tank. That stuff reeks forever. A drained tank can't freeze anyway.

aero3113

Anyone blow air through the system? I’m thinking about doing that this fall. Tired of having to flush the lines a couple times to get the smell out.

diggin2day1

I used to blow out my camper every year... never had an issue. Not sure why I haven’t done it to the boat!

Willhound

Would there be any residual water in the pump to worry about?