WASHDOWN PUMP

[jimmydj]

on my new tom cat the wahdown pump does not work

i can hear pump operating but no water flow.

toggle switch has ligt but does not come on.

galley and head water functions ok.

any ideas?
thanks
jim

[Jeff Brigner]

On my 25 there is a valve inside the cabin door under a step that must be opened to allow water to flow through from the thru hull. My wash down pump does not use water from the storage tank. Dr Bob, Thataway a Tomcat also stated in an earlier post that his wash down pump had a lose clamp and got salt water all over cloths he had stored in his locker. I would assume then that your's is also a thru hull and you just need to locate the valve.

[Alasgun]

On our 25 ft'r the galley and head are two seperate systems. the head and wash down system are fed through the sea cock(Salt Water) requiring the boat be in the water to use either one. If your wash down system is using out of your fresh water supply, I think I would be sure water has made it's way to the pump. (ie check prime) Oh yea, I almost forgot, our wires were crossed at delivery and nothing would work until that was rectified. Mike on Huda Thunkit

[thataway]

Look in the hanging locker on the aft port side. There is an inspection plate in the floor. Open this inspection plate, and you will see the handle for the thru hull valve. Be sure that this is open. The pump is self priming and should pick up a 4 foot prime easily. The other possibilities are some obstruction in the thru hull, or line--I have seen fish, jelly fish, mud, sea weed etc get into thru hulls thru strainers and clog intakes.
If the thru hull is OK and open (the handle in line with the hose), then check the wiring to be sure it is not reversed--the pump will only run one way.

You can take the hose off, but it is very stiff sanitary hose, and not easy to get free--it is double clamped at the thru hull properly--and should be double clamped in the other places if possiable.

If these things don't resolve the issues, give a shout.

[jimmydj]

thanks for all the help from all.

bob, i will check that plate for sure.

have had boat only a few weeks and have no factory manuals.

boat is on lift but i thought water was from onboard tank.
understood there was no through hull supply.

best regards
jim

[JamesTXSD]

Two types of washdowns: fresh water (out of your tank) and seawater (whatever the boat is sitting in). If you don't specify, the factory seems to assume you want a seawater washdown. Since your boat is on a lift, take a peak under... if you have a strainer, that answers your question (seawater).

For those of us who live by saltwater, if you want to wash down yourself to get the salt off, a seawater washdown is relatively useless. If you intend to wash fishguts out of the cockpit, then a seawater washdown doesn't drain off your fresh water tank. Both have their place, but the intended usage determines what you should have.

With a freshwater washdown, there won't be a valve (or a thru-hull). Hope this helps shed some light.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

[thataway]

There would not be a separate pump for fresh water wash down, it would use the galley/head fresh water pump. To my knowlege there are only one or two TC 255's with more than one water tanks (I had requested a second tank--and the factory would not install it--said that they had only done than on an early boat because of the delays the owners had sustained. I do have the tank, and will have to take the furniture out and cut the floor to put the second tank in this winter.

Another very important function of the raw water pump is to wash mud off of the anchor and anchor chain/line.

The intake is on the inner side of the port hull, and there will be a strainer over the intake thru hull.

For fresh water rinses, we installed a fresh water hot and cold shower--this hose will reach most of the cockpit area, if we need to rinse off any salt etc. incidently you will get plenty of salt in the boat from spray, unless you have a full camper back.

The boat should come with complete documentation of systems. I have most of the manuals for the systems, but like most boats, there is no "boat manual" as you might find in a car--because the electronics and many other parts of the systems are different in each boat. We have a binder plus a multi section file which we keep onboard for the various manuals and instruction sheets.

If your boat was on the lift, I would suspect that you were not getting water because the thru hull was clear of the surface. You don't want to use any stagnet water for washing, for it will sour in the system. Use only clean sea or lake water for the washdown--or if you have to use the system in a poluted area, rinse it well with clean water as soon as possiable.

[Jeff Brigner]

I also make sure to keep this valve closed except only when in use..

[thataway]

I would agree with Jeff when the boat is in the water, but on a lift or on a trailer, I keep mine open, so any water in the intake will drain out. (hopefully).

[drjohn71a]

thataway... along those lines, do you think opening the thru hull when the boat is on a lift will prevent freeze damage? Should I run the pump a bit too?
John

[thataway]

Drjohn,
Yes, I keep our sea cock open and the water drains out. Running the pump should get most of the water out--and it would have much less chance of freeze damage. We don't have that cold weather, so I don't put in the "pink stuff" but I will drain the water tank, and blow out the lines if we get really cold weather for a couple of days.

[jimmydj]

on my new tom cat the wahdown pump does not work

i can hear pump operating but no water flow.

toggle switch has ligt but does not come on.

galley and head water functions ok.


above problem solved.
dropped her into water and bam- full water pressure.
thanks for all the help