[C320-list] Water Heater Bypass

[warren updike]

I did a WH bypass this year.  Bought a kit at our marina store for about $20
that includes a bypass hose and two 2-way valves. The valves go into the in
and out on the WH and the hose connects the two valves for the bypass.  The
valves are brass/bronze and seem well made.  Of course, there is so little
room between the WH and the cabinet, and everything is so tight around the
front of the WH that it was a painful and time consuming job.  With lots of
sweat, grunt, and Teflon tape, I finally got it in and connected.  I should
take pictures.  A thing of beauty it ain't.

My original plan was to replace most of the 17 assorted clamps and many of
the hoses with a manifold.  SeaTech makes just such a device that will fit
behind the drawer cabinet under the galley sink.  I had a bear of a time
finding a source who could sell it to me.  SeaTech would not.  Finally, I
pressured SeaTech to tell me the retail price: about $250, not counting the
array of other SeaTech fittings I would need.  I was not planning on using
the PVC hose; but, standard clear hose with appropriate SeaTech fittings.
It would have reduced the number of connections and made a cleaner
installation.

So I stuck with 15 of the 17 clamps; and, now, for the first time in 4
years, we have a dry bilge.  Oh, and the water pump no longer burps every so
often.  (I also had to replace all the "O-rings" in the stern shower
fixture.)

Warren & Pattie Updke
Catalina 320, #62, "Warr De Mar"
Middle River, Chesapeake Bay



-----Original Message-----
Seatech (WM carries the brand) sells a mimic of the Whale 15MM QC fittings.

I have 5' of the tubing you're after; could ship some of it to you free if
you like.

Bob
Intuition # 906

On Jun 5, 2008, at 4:54 PM, BAdams3491 at aol.com wrote:

> With these Whale 15mm quick connect fittings on the water system, it's 
> hard to find similar products to use for a bypass.  I've been on the 
> Whale site,
> it's not much help.  The WM catalog has no quick connect   
> fittings...Boater's
> World has them, but wants to sell me 50' of tubing, which is  about 
> 49' more than I need.  What does everybody else use?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bert
> At Ease
> #442