light24bulbs
E30+ 1984, San Juan Island, Wa
Hi there, maybe somebody else who has a 30 plus and has messed with the water system can help me out.
My new-to-me boat's water system hasn't been activated in 5 years or so. I'm trying to get it working. I filled up the starboard tank (wow does that make the boat list a bit) and open the valve near the tank. I turned on the pump, but all I get is a bubbling sound and no water.
I thought maybe the pump was no good, so I took the lines off, and I'm getting a ton of air suction/blowing so I don't really thing there's anything wrong with the pump. It should prime with that much suction. Covering the starboard hole with my finger almost sucks my finger in there and slows the pump down a lot.
The pump appears to be sucking air from the starboard side of the boat near the hull and blowing towards the port, in other words towards the middle of the boat. Picture attached with arrows.
So, naturally I should figure out what's going on with the line between the pump and the motor. I look underneath at the "intake" line (starboard side of the pump) and I see it actually goes through a T. Photo attached. One of those old-school gray pipes goes directly forward along the starboard hull. No clue where it goes after that. The other line is flexible silicone hose and goes down into the bilge someplace and it's hard to tell where. Attached is a photo of that T that I labeled.
I'm feeling very skeptical at this point that I'm looking at the "intake" lines, because why would they split like that? Very strange. Both the bow tank and starboard tank are valved and come to a T under the seat just forward of the starboard tank. There's no need for that second line.
Is it possible my pump is actually pumping the wrong direction for some insane reason? Strange mechanical failure? I don't think diaphragm pumps CAN run backwards, I think both positive and negative would go the same way. So I'm pretty confused. It DOES kind of sound like it's blowing bubbles in the tank when it runs. Of course there are no helpful marks on the pump that I can see, and it's not even in the pumps manual. The diagrams just have pipes on both ends of the pump, just...incredibly frustrating.
Anyway, since tracing the lines is super hard, I really just wanted to hear from someone else with my same boat.
Thanks!
My new-to-me boat's water system hasn't been activated in 5 years or so. I'm trying to get it working. I filled up the starboard tank (wow does that make the boat list a bit) and open the valve near the tank. I turned on the pump, but all I get is a bubbling sound and no water.
I thought maybe the pump was no good, so I took the lines off, and I'm getting a ton of air suction/blowing so I don't really thing there's anything wrong with the pump. It should prime with that much suction. Covering the starboard hole with my finger almost sucks my finger in there and slows the pump down a lot.
The pump appears to be sucking air from the starboard side of the boat near the hull and blowing towards the port, in other words towards the middle of the boat. Picture attached with arrows.
So, naturally I should figure out what's going on with the line between the pump and the motor. I look underneath at the "intake" line (starboard side of the pump) and I see it actually goes through a T. Photo attached. One of those old-school gray pipes goes directly forward along the starboard hull. No clue where it goes after that. The other line is flexible silicone hose and goes down into the bilge someplace and it's hard to tell where. Attached is a photo of that T that I labeled.
I'm feeling very skeptical at this point that I'm looking at the "intake" lines, because why would they split like that? Very strange. Both the bow tank and starboard tank are valved and come to a T under the seat just forward of the starboard tank. There's no need for that second line.
Is it possible my pump is actually pumping the wrong direction for some insane reason? Strange mechanical failure? I don't think diaphragm pumps CAN run backwards, I think both positive and negative would go the same way. So I'm pretty confused. It DOES kind of sound like it's blowing bubbles in the tank when it runs. Of course there are no helpful marks on the pump that I can see, and it's not even in the pumps manual. The diagrams just have pipes on both ends of the pump, just...incredibly frustrating.
Anyway, since tracing the lines is super hard, I really just wanted to hear from someone else with my same boat.
Thanks!