Newbie - Water system on 2000 Maxum 2400 SCR?

[Steve Fun]

Hello all,

I'm a new boat owner and have only been able to find a supplemental manual but no owners manual for a 2000 Maxum 2400 SCR so I have some general 'newbie' questions.

I turned on the faucet and only cold water comes out, no hot. The water doesn't flow continuously but spurts out as if there was air in the line. The toliet (hand pump type) is not filling either. Obviously, I think I need to fill the tank (main and holding?) with water.

1. How do I do this and are there any switches I need to turn or valves I need to open?

2. Nothing comes out when I turn on the hot water... Is there something I need to do to get hot water running?

3. Is there a manual or book for 'dummies' about boat systems?

Thanks so much for any help.
- Steve

[ed & inge]

yoho steve...

welcom to this maxum forum.....for the hot water you need a tank filled with fresh water and a hot motor or shore power........

for the toilet......i don't know wich type you have inside, but normally it pumps the water out from the lake and pumps out (flushes) into the lake or in the holding/septic tank installed in your boat. normally there is a handle near the hand pump, you have to turn it to the other side...

but make a picture of the toilet and the hot water system/boiler in your motor compartiment, then you'll get the exact answer...

and for the book,......contact maxum costumer care.....they will send you one

http://maxumcustomercare.com/

greatz, ed

[dronthelake]

My first guess is your fresh water holding tank is empty. Look for a fill cap on the side or back of the boat marked "WATER" and fill the fresh water holding tank.

There could be several other things causing your problems and I'll try to address a few. First, if the pump is original it may be time to replace it. We use our boat year around and we are on the 3rd pump.

I would first check the plumbing by connecting a water hose to the fresh water connection on the back of the boat and turning it on m. Make sure the power to your fresh water pump is OFF.

1. Turn on your boat faucet. Does it run smoothly with steady pressure? YES - then go to Step 2 below. NO - check the screen in the end of the faucet and replace if needed. I found replacements for mine at Lowes.
2. Turn off and disconnect the hose from the boat. Most pumps have a filter screen on their inlet side. Remove the cover and clean. My pump is below the full level of my tank so I have to draw the tank down below the pump inlet before I remove the screen. Otherwise my tank will partially drain into the bilge. Look for a fill cap on the side or back of the boat marked "WATER" and fill the fresh water holding tank.

The inlet and outlet lines on my hot water heater both have shutoff valves. Make sure they are both open. The water is heater when you have the electricity on (shore power or generator) and the Water Heater AC circuit breaker is turned on - or - like most boats the water heater has a heat exchanger inside that uses the hot water generated by your boat engine to heat the water in the tank. Both the supply and return lines going from my engine to the water heater also have valves, make sure they are also open.

[Steve Fun]

Ed, Thanks for the feedback about the toilet. It is a hand pump. However, I can't pump water into it to flush with the switch in the 'wet' position. Initially, I though I didn't have enough water in the holding tank. After filling the holding tank full of water and it still didn't work, you're probably right about it pumping water from the lake. Is there a valve or seacock I need to open?

[Steve Fun]

David & Carol, its great to hear from a fellow North Carolinian. I went to school at NC State and my sister lives in Charlotte! Thanks for the helpful feedback. I filled the holding tank and started the pump. I ran the cold faucet for a while thinking there was air in the lines but it's still spurting out. The water heater is working and the hot water faucet work for a few minutes then stopped putting out water.

I looked for shutoff valves on the heat pump like you said but could only find a pressure relief valve and drain outlet that connect to nothing... I'll try again today in case I missed it. I am connected to shore power and all the circuit breakers are on.

I looked at the water pump and it seems to be working fine. The filter below the pump (or what i believe to be the filter) has a circular, plastic cover on it and I can see the water circulating fine. I'll disconnect the lines and check out the screen. When you had to replace the water pump, what indications did you have? Was it weak pressure or no water at all? I hate to buy a new one and it turns out the water pump I have now is fine.

Thanks again for all the advice.
- Steve

[cunuck]

yes there is a seacock a ball valve in front of the motor with a hose and going through the hull the other end open straight up .you have to be on the water to get water in. My fresh water I use a vacuum on the transom shower to prime the system it seams the easy way to do it . good luck

[rens914]

i have the same boat.
to use the toilet there is a lever in front of the engine.
you have to put it upright to get water in
the little lever (next to the handpump in the toilet) has to be put to the left to pump water in
as easy as that
but close the lever in front of the engine when you are moving around with the boat
otherwhise it could get a bit wet
rens

[cunuck]

I only close my seacock if I leave the boat overnight( just to be safe) some never close it all season but if it leaks it could sink the ship.

[Steve Fun]

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I put the lever next to the engine that said 'head pump in' straight up as well as the little lever next to the hand pump to the left. No joy. My next step is to disconnect the hose that feeds water into the toilet and put a water vacuum on it to make sure the lines are free of debris. If that checks out, then the only thing left is to replace the hand pump since it doesn't seem to have enough vacuum at that point. Thanks for all the help!

[Steve Fun]

Thanks cunuck for the reply. Good advice on the lever. I only need to sink what's in the toilet and not the entire boat!!! Cheers.

[seapuppy]

ok...so...lets start with the owners manual....get the HIN number on the stern stbd side of the step.....look in the general forum here and contact brunswick with that number..they will be happy to send you an owners manual

head...
1) you need to be in the water..
2)the lever on the head pump has 2 positions...left ..wetside...that brings water into the bowl...right pump out..this should pump the waste to the tank...(which later needs to be pumped out at a pumping station....since we don't know where your boating at...one of our members close by can't stop by to help out...
3) of course this is assuming your hull valve is in the open position.
4) if your still not able to draw water into the bowl...you have to remove the pump handle and smear the heck out of it with teflon grease....go to the local boat shop and get a tub of teflon grease....cheap stuff but it works.....pull the entire pump handle assembly out of the barrel....depending on the model it may have a large top plate that is assembled by a screw cap or 4 screws......remove that top cap and smear the shaft, the seals, the huge plunger with teflon grease....
reassemble the entire assembly and try it out....should work fine...you may have to do that each season.....

now for the hot water heater.....check to see if you have a supply and return from the engine going to the water heater....it will only heat the water up when the engine is running or your on dock side power....or shore power.....check to make sure that 1) your fresh water tank and water heater is full....to do that..find the water pump switch..usually at the galley.....turn the power on and see if you hear a pump cycling.....
now turn your water on and see if after about an hr...you get hot water while on shore power.....

if no hot water...check the breaker on the ac panel...
no hot water...if you have any electro-mechanical skills.....turn the pwr off and use a volt ohm meter to check the circuit....see if your getting 120vac...
pwr....no hot water....then it's probably the 2 thermostat;s in the front of the water heater...pull them and match them at your local boat/rv store...

that's it....it's a simple system...the pump pumps water from the water tank to the faucets....thru the hot water heater and out the spigot.....

SP

[ShoreAcres]

Originally Posted by Steve Fun

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I put the lever next to the engine that said 'head pump in' straight up as well as the little lever next to the hand pump to the left. No joy. My next step is to disconnect the hose that feeds water into the toilet and put a water vacuum on it to make sure the lines are free of debris. If that checks out, then the only thing left is to replace the hand pump since it doesn't seem to have enough vacuum at that point. Thanks for all the help!

Don't forget to close the seacock before you disconnect the hose!

[Phat Tony]

I had trouble with the head in my 2400 not pumping correctly last year. If you take the pump handle apart there are a few different rubber pieces, one has 2 magnets on it for the selector switch. All mine took was replacing that magnetic piece and then it worked fine. Also, a couple of drops of brake fluid I have heard will lube everything up and swell the gaskets for a better seal.

[seapuppy]

phat tony,
Welcome to the zoo......you really don't want to put brake fluid into the gaskets....teflon grease would be a much better choice..



SP

[shrew]

Ok, so you really have 2 threads going on here.

1) Fresh Water System.

2) Sanitation System.

Freshwater System: The freshwater tank fills from the deck fill. This goes to the freshwater pressure pump. The pump pushes out water equally to ALL freshwater lines. There is a coldwater in to the hotwater tank. This tank feeds from the top. This ensures if you run out of water, the hotwater tank remains full. This way, the heat element doesn't burn out. When any faucet tap (hot or cold) is opened, the pressure on the line drops. The pressure pump detects the decrease in pressure and starts pumping water out. This goes to all cold lines and the cold in to the hotwater tank equally. You'll see water pressure drop as more faucets are openend simultaneously.

When you open either a hot or cold faucet, I assume you can hear the pump start. This is a good start. You may need to bleed all the lines to avoid the 'spurting you described. This might take some time, however if you leave the pump running long enough it should eventually bleed all the lines and stop the 'spurting'. There is a pressure valve at the top of the hot water tank as well as a drain at the bottom of the hot water tank. make sure both are CLOSED and neither are leaking. If either or open or leaking then you could be introducing air into the system, which is causing the problems you describe. Otherwise, there is a possibility you have a leak somewhere. You could test by simply leaving the water pump shutoff turned ON (This is the red lit switch most likely in the galley). Then close ALL faucets. The pump should stop. Wait a while (possibly an hour or two......find a project). If at any point you here the water pump cycle on, then off quickly, that means it temporarily detected enough of a drop in pressure to turn itself on. That is an indicator that you have a small leak somwhere downstream of the pressure pump. This is most likely in a connector somewhere. Time to start searching.

Head/Holding Tank:

Seacock needs to be open, and the switch on the head needs to be set to WET, in order to pump water into the head. check that the pickup on the hull isn't blocked, the seacock isn't blocked. The boat would need to be in the water to pickup raw water for pumping. It does not draw from the freshwater holding tank. If you manualy fill the head with water, then pump in the dry setting does the water get pushed to the holding tank? You might need to rebuild the pump on the head itself. sometimes the holes around the rim that put water into the bowl itself get blocked, but to get NO water would be a large amount of blockage.

Don't disassemble the head lines while the seacock is open AND teh boat is in the water. Either haul teh boat, or close the seacock. It will be hard to tell if the pickup or seacock is blocked with the boat in teh water.