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E38-200 shower faucet leak

ddoles

Member III
I've discovered a small leak in the shower faucet on my 38-200. It seems the leak is coming from behind the faucet, possibly at the hose connection. The problem is there is no access to the rear of the faucet. As best I can figure, I will need to remove the starboard bulkhead where the faucet is mounted, then remove the faucet to get to the connected hoses. Has anyone had to tackle this and can offer some words of wisdom before I start tearing things apart?

Thanks
Dave
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Misery. The bleedin' faucets are often hard to get to.

There exists a standard tool ( a basin wrench) that might help. Or not.

husky-plumbing-wrenches-80-546-111-64_300.jpg
 

Pats

Member I
I've discovered a small leak in the shower faucet on my 38-200. It seems the leak is coming from behind the faucet, possibly at the hose connection. The problem is there is no access to the rear of the faucet. As best I can figure, I will need to remove the starboard bulkhead where the faucet is mounted, then remove the faucet to get to the connected hoses. Has anyone had to tackle this and can offer some words of wisdom before I start tearing things apart?

Thanks
Dave


did you manage to get behind the faucet ,

currently having some leaking problems from the feed hose . Might need to replace . If I decide to tackle this .

really not happy with the way they installed the shower and sink , seems like they thought it would be fine and no one would ever need to repair anything .
 

ddoles

Member III
No, I haven't started the job yet. I've been procrastinating and finding more interesting projects. It seems I will need to remove the bulkhead section where the faucet is mounted. Might not be too bad, but there are always surprises. And I'll probably just replace the faucet while I'm at it.
In the past I did replace my head and galley sink faucets. The head sink was hard to reach inside the small cabinet, but it was accessible and I managed it with no major issues. At the same time I fixed a number of small leaks at the hose connections. I didn't replace the hoses, just put on new tape and tightened everything and its been fine now for about 6 years.
Your comment is well taken. It seems a habit for boat builders to build with the idea things will last forever, or at least beyond the original owner.
 

Pats

Member I
Oh man that sink is a pain , spent a couple days fixing a leak there . Ended up removing the sink because I couldn’t reach up to the problem or do everything one handed , and then of course I couldn’t find any parts for the old gray hose (forget what it’s called ) , but I managed to fix it after some thought . Replaced the tap while I was there and put a shut off valve and different hose ,so if I have to do anything with the shower in the future it’s one less step . On to other projects now , recently discovered my Dorade box is Leaking In front of the mast, drying it out now .
 
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nquigley

Sustaining Member
Yes that seems to be it , but everyone called it something different here in Richmond bc at any plumbing stores I went to , qest was not one of the names .

Another name for that stiff gray plastic plumbing hose might be 'Pex'. That's what it was called in the SE.
It was prone to expansion cracking and eventual failure (the sound of gushing water behind walls in your house is not what you want to wake up to in the middle of the night).
There was a class action law suit that provided free re-plumbing of whole houses ... of course, the date-limit for making claims was about 5 years before the Pex in our house failed ... it's rather expensive to re-plumb a whole house ... guess how I know.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
There are adapters in the world of Pex, Qest and Sharkbite--and confusion. It's hard sometimes to know the identity of what you've got.

As far as I know--somebody correct me--the '80s boats used Qest exclusively.

Since Qest fittings are still available, I keep a small inventory of them. They fit and work great, in my small experience.
 
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Pats

Member I
There are adapters in the world of Pex, Qest and Sharkbite--and confusion.

ah yes , pex seemed to be what they called it . I went to three plumbing supply stores and even my local marina and a marine supply Store , basically got the same story , nothing available or that will work .

I live on my boat so it was a little time sensitive to fix it . Family needs the shower, lol . I figured it out , not leaking now , just ended up finding some barbed adapters and got everything hooked up . Maybe one day I’ll tackle It , replacing and making it better , but for now it’s working .

thanks for the reply’s,

sorry Dave for hijacking your thread ;)
 

ddoles

Member III
Update on the shower faucet repair. I jumped in and opened up the bulkhead in the shower to get at the faucet. Here are some photos of what I found.

IMG_1612.jpg

Shower stall starboard bulkhead and shelf underneath with the trim pieces, mounting screws and faucet handle removed as needed to remove the bulkhead.


IMG_1613.jpg

The back side of the faucet and the hose connections I need to get to.


IMG_1614.jpg

The damp, moldy wood on the back side of the bulkhead. Nasty stuff that will need to be replaced with a new bulkhead to be custom built from scratch.

IMG_1617.jpg

What else is back there? A bunch of hoses, including hoses to and from the holding tank. While I've got it opened up, might be a good time to replace these 31 year old sanitation hoses.

So a simple quest to fix a small leak will become bulkhead removal, re-fabrication and replacement, faucet replacement, sanitation hose removal and replacement and finally, fix the leak. The boat is hauled for the winter, so this will be a good winter project.

Dave
 

supersailor

Contributing Partner
I used Trident 101 when I replaced my sanitation hoses. I'm totally satisfied but it was a real challenge to replace them. I had to pull the black water tank to add a 90 bend at the bottom. The original hose had been forced into a 90 and there is where it failed.
 

ddoles

Member III
I haven't yet figured out how to get at the holding tank connections. I'm not expecting it will be easy. More to come.

Dave
 

supersailor

Contributing Partner
I had to pull my tank up to get at my lower connections and route the lower lines. Empty it was not difficult to remove once all the clutter and the shelf above it were removed. I imagine the 38 will be close in design. I did need to put a 90 degree elbow at the bottom outlet. The previous installation had bent the hose in a tight 90 and thats where it failed.
 
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