I have a problem with the freshwater system on our 1987 E-34 that we bought 2 years ago. I'm hoping that someone may have heard about or run into and solved the problem.
Our E-34 has three solid polypro water tanks. One is forward under the v-berth, the second is under the starboard cabin seat, and the third is under the port settee seat immediately in front of the galley counter/icebox. The vent lines from each tank run along the bottom of the hull and merge under the galley counter/sink. A single merged vent line runs up to a spigot in the sink which I believe is standard.
The problem is that when filling the tanks water invariably enters and fills the vent line(s). The result is that when water is pumped from any one of the tanks a vacuum is created in the tank due to water in the vent line(s) blocking the air flow that would equalize the pressure or lack thereof.
Initially we get reduced flow from the spigot but I think we actually ruined a freshwater pump before we discovered the problem. I'm thinking we could actually collapse a tank if the pump didn't fail first.
The way I've combatted the problem so far is to open the on-deck fill cap slightly to allow air into whatever tank we are using when at anchor. There is always a surge of air entering the tank as I loosen/remove the fill cap if we had been pumping water. We generally try to avoid pumping much water while underway. But this is not a good long-term solution. I asked the former owner about it and he said he never noticed a problem. But he also said he had never used or filled the forward tank and apparently seldom used much water on the boat.
There is a short tail-end hose coming off the merged vent lines under the galley counter with a plug on the end. I've tried draining the vent lines with that tail but it's difficult/impossible to the drain enough water to resolve the problem. The drained water also runs in to the bilge which is not preferable. I figured I might be able to use that tail to pump the water out of the vent line(s) but it would be a lot of trouble to go through every time we filled the tank(s). It would also reduce the total amount of water we could store for longer cruises in remote areas with limited access to potable water.
I've thought of somehow attaching/inserting a small vacuum release valve to each tank that would allow air in but no water out if that is possible or if they even exist. I've tried to do a little research on that but have come up empty so far.
Has anyone heard of or encountered this problem and resolved it? I'm open to solutions.
Sorry about being long-winded.
Our E-34 has three solid polypro water tanks. One is forward under the v-berth, the second is under the starboard cabin seat, and the third is under the port settee seat immediately in front of the galley counter/icebox. The vent lines from each tank run along the bottom of the hull and merge under the galley counter/sink. A single merged vent line runs up to a spigot in the sink which I believe is standard.
The problem is that when filling the tanks water invariably enters and fills the vent line(s). The result is that when water is pumped from any one of the tanks a vacuum is created in the tank due to water in the vent line(s) blocking the air flow that would equalize the pressure or lack thereof.
Initially we get reduced flow from the spigot but I think we actually ruined a freshwater pump before we discovered the problem. I'm thinking we could actually collapse a tank if the pump didn't fail first.
The way I've combatted the problem so far is to open the on-deck fill cap slightly to allow air into whatever tank we are using when at anchor. There is always a surge of air entering the tank as I loosen/remove the fill cap if we had been pumping water. We generally try to avoid pumping much water while underway. But this is not a good long-term solution. I asked the former owner about it and he said he never noticed a problem. But he also said he had never used or filled the forward tank and apparently seldom used much water on the boat.
There is a short tail-end hose coming off the merged vent lines under the galley counter with a plug on the end. I've tried draining the vent lines with that tail but it's difficult/impossible to the drain enough water to resolve the problem. The drained water also runs in to the bilge which is not preferable. I figured I might be able to use that tail to pump the water out of the vent line(s) but it would be a lot of trouble to go through every time we filled the tank(s). It would also reduce the total amount of water we could store for longer cruises in remote areas with limited access to potable water.
I've thought of somehow attaching/inserting a small vacuum release valve to each tank that would allow air in but no water out if that is possible or if they even exist. I've tried to do a little research on that but have come up empty so far.
Has anyone heard of or encountered this problem and resolved it? I'm open to solutions.
Sorry about being long-winded.