4600 Hot water

[Aussie]

Hello,

I am a brand new owner as of a couple of days ago. I am ex BaylinerOwnersClub and thrilled to see a similar club for Maxum owners. I hope to become a regular contributor here as I was there.

I have a small problem. My hot water tank appears to leak. The surveyor missed it because no doubt the water tank was empty when he surveyed it. He could only note the corrosion. The leak became obvious when I filled the fresh water.

Anyway, I can easily replace it but in the mean time I have 2 questions;

1. I left the boat with a full FW water tank and a leaky HW tank. Assuming that the FW tank will empty itself into the front compartment, does that compartment feed into the fwd space or engine room where the float pump can clear it?. I am concerned that it may release enough water to cause damage if not pumped out.

2. Is there a tap somewhere on the hose that feeds the HW system? If not I will install one. Can anyone help me identify which hose that would be and the hose dimension so that I can buy the tap if required.

I am currently 2 hours from the boat (relocation pending) so I cannot readily check these things in a timely way in order to purchase the part.

Finally, is the Force 10 75litre unit a direct replacement for the original without any configuration changes? I know that plenty of you must have made this change as the alloy tanks corroded out at about 10 years. Funny I looked at another boat before this one and the HW tank was leaking also.

Many thanks in advance
Wayne

[seapuppy]

welcome to the zoo wayne....I'm hoping one of your cohorts will chime in with thier similar boats....as for being an ex-boc'er...that's ok...I'm still active over there...haha..

SP

[shrew]

Is it the tank itself or the pressure relief valve that is leaking. I've heard of more than one relief valve leaking over time. If so that part is replaceable. I'm not sure about a direct replacement for the tank or the hose sized for that model. I would suspect the hoses are all about the same size, but I don't have one in front of me to check. Turning off the switch to the pressure water pump will prevent the entire water tank from dumping through the leaky hot water heater into the boat. It is a good practice to make sure the seacocks are shut and the pressure water pump is turned off before leaving the boat for an extended period (the week, for example) to prevent possible issues with flooding the boat.

[Aussie]

I am pretty sure it is the tank itself.

It is leaking with the pressure off. In fact the pressure pump is blown, presumably because the former owner left it on and the tank emptied itself and the pump kept running dry.

Thanks
Wayne

[shrew]

I suppose with a failed pressure water pump it will be tough to verify. I would start with replacing the pump first, then see if you can visually verify where the water is coming from before going through the time and expense of replacing the hot water tank. After all, you're going to need to anyway. By shutting off the switch to the pressure pump, you can avoid the same flooding issue the PO experienced. I'd want to rule out a failed connector or leaky valve (drain or pressure relief valve) on the water tank before replacing.

[Aussie]

Solved.

I swapped out the water pump and discovered that the HW tank is a leaker.

For now I have plugged the water in and out of the tank. It turns out the water can run back through the tap mixers and refill the HW tank.

My concern about flooding was unfounded. That compartment drains fwd or aft to a compartment with a pump.

So a new tank is required but that is fine. It was corroded anyway.

Thanks
Wayne

[Madmarp]

I hope that you will post what kind of water heater you choose to install and how it goes. My Atwood is seeping around the bottom ( I was so hoping that it
was the prv or a connection, but no luck- the bottom is rusting out). I have been looking for replacements and need to fix this sometime soon. Love to know what you find and how the replacement goes. Replacing ours looks like it is going to be tight, but the 4600 pump room is probably bigger.
Thank you, M

[Aussie]

I will report when I do it.

I am, looking at a Force 10 75liter. My issue is getting exact measurements. It is a tight fit and they quote including brackets, waiting for the size without them. It is 20mm too big with brackets.

It looks like a job that will fill the swear jar.

Regards
Wayne

[shrew]

Originally Posted by Aussie

Solved.

It turns out the water can run back through the tap mixers and refill the HW tank.

An inline Checkvalve on the outbound side of the new hotwater heater should prevent that issue in the future.