[C320-list] Fresh Water Pump

[Rick Sulewski]

Ian,
You will need to prime the pump by removing the line feeding the pump that
goes into the filter on top of the pump. Suggest that after you refill the
tanks that you remove the filter first and clear out any debris before
spinning it on the pump and then pour some water into the filter before
reinstalling the feeder line.  When you ran down the tanks you may have also
pulled some debris from the tanks into the filter.

It may take a couple of primes to clear out the air. Repeating the prime
cycle process is what we experienced the first time we ran the tanks & pump
dry. Now when I clean the filter before spring launch we can usually clear
the air after one prime. The problem is the pump may be at the same height
or higher than the water level in the tank and the air must go somewhere (
out of the galley faucet before pulling the water from the tanks, so keep
the galley faucet open when you restart the primed pump. 

We use one tank at a time and whenever we begin to hear the pump begin to
change its sound & speed before it runs completely dry we switch tanks and
avoid having the prime the pump. Also. Adding a couple of capfuls of bleach
to each tank refill does a great job of keeping the water smelling fresh. We
do not drink the tank water.

Hope this explanation is helpful.
Rick
1995 320 #277

-----Original Message-----
From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
[mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Ian Davis
Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2013 6:35 AM
To: C320-List at catalina320.com
Subject: [C320-list] Fresh Water Pump

I needed to clean out the water tanks on my 1993 C320.  So I turned on all
the faucets and ran them until the fresh water pump was just pumping air and
the tanks were almost empty.  I then turned off the pump, cleaned out the
tanks and refilled them to the top.  I then turned the pump on again and all
it does is continue to pump air.  It seems incapable of pumping the water
from the tanks

 

Now I know the boat is twenty years old, but that's surely not an excuse for
Catalina back then to install a NON self-priming pump!!.

 

Has anyone else experiences this and/or have a solution.  

 

Ian Davis - Wind Star - #18