Install fresh water wash down

C

curioustraveler

New member
Hello C-Brats,

I'm curious if anyone has any input on this idea. I'm thinking about installing a freshwater wash down pump on my 22 Cruiser.

I keep her in the water in my neighborhood marina. We don't have water or electric at the slip. This past summer I picked up a raw water pump and stuck it in one of the lazarettes. I simply throw the intake hose overboard and use it to wash down the boat. It's brackish water, so this isn't the best option, but it works to get rid of anchor mud, bird crap, etc. But I'd really like to have fresh water to wash off the salt after a weekend trip.

I'm thinking of somehow running the intake hose to my freshwater tank. Keep in mind my skill level is about 2 out of 10 and my choice of tools is whatever I can fit in my toolbox in my 1000 square foot house. Rather than trying to access the water tank (Would have to cut up the rear seat) and somehow connecting my hose to the tank, what do you think of installing it in the galley cupboard and "T"-ing the intake hose off of the water line that's running to the foot pump? This seems like a pretty simply solution? I imagine I'd have to install some type of check valves. I could install a hose connection for the sprayer on the bulkhead.

Thoughts or suggestions?
 
- With a 1 out of 10 level, you can stick a suction hose down the fill port then pull it back out when your done!
- With a 2 out of 10, the T-should work just fine, however you're adding another failure spot for water to leak inside the cabin. Just something to monitor if you choose to go that route.

Good luck!

R/
John
Scallywag
 
A better solution is to put an rv demand style pump in under the sink, install a short line to the gunnels for a quick connect washdown hose, and put a real faucet in the sink. The method you are proposing will suck air from the faucet you have through the foot pump and will cavitate. You will not be happy. You method/idea will work through if you put a valve on the sink line so your washdown pump won't suck air through it.
 
If you're talking about using your potable water for the washdown, you will find that 20 gals doesn't go far! Also you take the chance of contaminating your potable water. Seems like the system you have now works. :) Colby
 
I put in a fresh water electric pump, as well leaving the manual pump in line in my last 22, by ''T" in the galley. Easy to do. Why not just make the entire system pressurized? You replace the galley spout with a faucet? In my case, I had a momentary pump, and left the foot pump faucet in place. The foot pump has check valve already on its intake--so you install before the foot pump.

OK that is easy to do. But you only have 20 gallons of water. That goes rapidly. Where do you refill the tank, if no water in the marina?

I saw TR Bauer's post after I started mine...He is correct. Check valves really don't work well.

I am not sure where you would want to put the line out for the pump--but I would put it in the cockpit, rather than on the gunnel. I believe that Curious Traveler wanted to put "on the bulkhead"

For the anchor, we just leave it in the water, just below the water, and back down unit the mud is gone. No reason for a hose on any of our C Dorys. We have also had to use brushes on stubborn mud.
 
Like Colby mentioned, with my washdown pump(3.5 GPM) it'd take 5.7 Minutes of running to drain my tank.

I personally don't drink or cook with the water from my tank and if needed could filter it, so running a line to my washdown for end of the day cleaning is on my to do list as well.

Bob, not sure the pressure out off a standard pressurized system. (too much for a sink, too low for the hose?) I would imagine it would carry a few extra steps Curious may not want to take...

There are quiet a few threads on this already if you search freshwater washdown.

Happy tinkering,

R/
John
Scallywag
 
Bob, not sure the pressure out off a standard pressurized system. (too much for a sink, too low for the hose?) I would imagine it would carry a few extra steps Curious may not want to take...
Click to expand...

The standard marine system is about 35 PSI--and you need this much to have an effective spray. Pumps have a pressure switch--some are adjustable and lower PSI ones can be fitted if necessary. The hoses in the C Dory should all be able to handle 35 PSI--no chance of contamination with a standard water pump; they have back flow valves, or they would not work.

Easy to install--easier than a house. A few feet of new hose, a few hose clamps, a faucet and fittings. Tighten the hose clamps and wire up the pump. I don't leave fresh water systems on when I am not using the pump.

Another method of getting rid of salt, and washing down we have used for years, is a hand pump garden sprayer: 2 gallons goes a long ways with the wand to wash off salt, bird poop, or even mud on chains. Out of several dozen larger boats we have owned, only one had a freshwater wash down (A 42' trawler, at the bow) and we never used it. Even boats where we had a water maker we just used the spray container to wash the salt off railings where there was SS or varnish.
 
Brewkid, I actually thought of sticking the intake down the freshwater fill hole but thought you'd all think I was crazy!

I hadn't done the math yet but if my pump is 3.5 gpm, then this whole idea might not work. You're right, I'll empty my tank pretty quickly.

Bob, I would fill up when we stay in Marinas on our weekend trips. This would just be to wash down when back at our slip.

A garden sprayer may be a better and simpler idea.
 
Isn't the 3.5 gallons per minute a theoretical free flow rating? I think I remember reading that you get nowhere near that in practice. Is this true?
 
T.R. Bauer":3q3118db said:
Isn't the 3.5 gallons per minute a theoretical free flow rating? I think I remember reading that you get nowhere near that in practice. Is this true?
Click to expand...

Yes, the flow rate will depend on the amount of lift the pump has to do, the distance it has to pump, number of restrictions in the plumbing, etc. Also, if it is building pressure for a spray nozzle the flow rate will be less.
 
The fresh water pumps will put out pretty much the advertised flow rate, depending on the size of end fixtures and length of hose etc. Current selections are most diaphragm pumps, and not subject to as much limitation as vane pumps. For example most non sealed vane bilge pumps are way over rated.
 
thataway":2838nne0 said:
Current selections are most diaphragm pumps.....
Click to expand...
Given how diaphragm pumps work, they have the additional advantage that water can't flow in either direction if the pump isn't operating. Check valves and such are not necessary when using diaphragm pumps.

BTW, I suspect nearly all CD fresh water pumps are diaphragm.
 
I just did a test on the water pump in our Winnebago RV for giggles - it's plugged into the wall in a 65 degree garage so things should flow as well as they are going to. And it's a small basic 24 foot class "C" RV, so I suspect it has a 3-4 gpm pump, but I don't really know. As a note, it will run 2 faucets at once without issue with no noticeable loss of flow or pressure, but pressure is reduced some when trying to power 3 faucets. The results:

kitchen faucet flowed 1 gallon in 52 seconds

shower flowed 1 gallon in 68 seconds

There are a LOT of variables here, but you probably have 18-25 minutes of flow potential out of your washdown pump if plumbed to your tank going through the nozzle.
 
That would certainly be enough for a quick rinse. Now to complicate things further, I could rig it with a through-hull to wash with brackish water, then switch over to rinse with fresh.

Nope.
 
I recently added a fresh water wash down in my CD22 that seems to work well. When I bought the boat it had a non-functioning raw water wash down system, the sea cock was not marine rated and the handle had corroded away. The pump was mounted low on the transom between the two gas tanks, it had suffered from salt water intrusion and was shorted. A broken filter (on the outlet of the pump?) was mounted on the underside of the splash well. The hose line was kinked due to its twisted path. I ripped all that out, kept a filter on the underside of the splash well but on the inlet side of the pump. I moved the pump to the splashwell above the port gas tank where it remains dry. The switch and outlet are on the stern end of the shelf in the port gunnel. I added a freshwater line from the water tank through a tee near the tank outlet. This passes through a check valve and exits the cabin just below the port gunnel. This goes through a valve then tees into the inlet of the pump. With that valve closed the system is supplied by raw water. The check valve also prevents raw water from entering the freshwater system. Closing the seacock and opening the freshwater valve feeds the pump from the freshwater tank.
It all work well. I have presurized freshwater when I need it and I can empty my freshwater tank easily after loading on the trailer and rinse the trailer brakes at the same time.
 
Back
Top