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Posted by Cornelius Goos (194.196.97.1) on May 29, 2000 at 00:43:45:

On #654 2cabin Diderot I have problems using the Starboard watertank, although all (to my knowledge) valves are open I cannot get water out of the tank, the waterpump starts to pump air the moment i open the vave underneath the sink, and will take along time (up to 2 mins) before i get water out of the other tanks after closing the sb valve. If the sb valve remains open I do not get water at all in spite of other open valves. Does anyone know the source of this problem or a solution to it?

Posted by Ernie April (151.198.134.22) on May 31, 2000 at 10:01:55:
Hi, Cornelius--

I'm not sure that I completely understand your situation completely, but a few thoughts:

1. First the obvious. By the nature of the water manifold, water can be drawn from only one tank at a time. (If one of two connected tanks is empty, the pump will draw air from the vent of the empty tank.) All other valves should be off.

2. After the water pump loses prime, it has to be re-primed before it will draw from the sub-sole tanks. On the 3-cabin model, the aft tank is located higher than the pump and manifold. I briefly draw from the highest (aft) tank until the pump is primed then switch to a sub-sole tank. It always works. For this reason, the aft (highest) tank should be the last to be used. What good are two full sub-sole tanks when you cant get a prime?

3. If neither work, you may have a plumbing problem. There may be a loose or popped fitting or a broken hose so that you are drawing air, not water. Your vent may be blocked or the vent hose crimped so you may be trying to draw against a vacuum. It is also possible that the tank is empty - maybe the fill hose became crimped so it seems the tank is full when its not or (as happened to me last week) a loose threaded hose fitting at the bottom of the tank may be draining your tank dry into the bilge where it is efficiently and unnoticably disposed of t\by the bilge pump. Strange things can happen.

Let us know how you solve it.