1984 Catalina30 House water pump??

[csharp]

I recently purchased a 1984 Catalina 30. The overall condition is very good. However, I can not get the House water pump to work. No water comes out of either the galley nor the head faucets. There is plenty of water in both the forward and starboard holding tanks. It did work during the survey which was conducted only one month ago. Is it simply a matter of turniing on the house battery switch and the water pump switch at the navigation panel? The fuse is good. I have two house batteries which are fully charged.Does it need to be primed? If so, how do I go about doing that? Any troubleshooting techniques woul be much appreciated. Thanks so much for any advice.

[Vasco]

If the pump is not making any noise first check to see if you have any power at it. Batteries on, breaker (switch at panel) on. Use a multi meter and see if you have power at the pump. If you have power and the pump does not work, the pump is faulty. That's the first step.

[jeepbluetj]

You should definitely hear it if it's running. Mine is very loud (1980 C30)

It's powered when:

* The Battery selector switch connects the house to either battery
* The switch labelled "Pressure Water" is on
* The fuse isn't blown
* There is no build-up of pressure in the water lines (i.e. there's somwhere to pump to)


The suggestion to check the voltage on the pump is correct - it's not too hard to get to on the port side. No voltage there - track back to the panel.

[Mike Vogdes]

Originally Posted by Vasco

If you have power and the pump does not work, the pump is faulty. That's the first step.

Not necessarily... Could be as simple as cleaning the inline filter.

[jeepbluetj]

The filter won't cause the pump to not run audibly - just not to actually pump water. Just like there was no water in the tanks.

The pump is plenty loud to know when it's running.

Oh and to the OP - no, you don't need to prime it. It'll come back pretty quickly after you run it dry.

[Mike Vogdes]

OP didn't say if he could "hear" the pump running or not... If you can hear the pump running and you have water in the tank, you should check the filter.

[jeepbluetj]

Indeed you are right - if he can hear it but no water there's a problem with the water. Cannot hear it is a problem with the electrical (as Vasco said)

[Tellie]

Check to make sure the supply valve is open.

[csharp]

Thanks to all who responded to my house water pump problem. I will head out over the next couple of days to try some of your troubleshooting suggestions.

P.S. there definitely was no noise comimg from the pump itself.

[joe-fran]

Having just gone through a similar experience
If you can hear the pump running and no water coming out the faucets, try this.

Turn pump off, disconnect the output hose from the pump, bucket under the pump and turn pump back on. If you get a good water surge from the pump, the pump is OK and the problem is downstream.
If nothing coming out, the supply side is the issue - check supply side valves etc.

If downstream, could be an air leak preventing the pressure to build up.

good luck!!!

[csharp]

Thanks again to all who responded. The problem was not the pump but a faulty switch on the navigation panel. My next question is does this 1984 Catalina 30 have a house water filter and if so, where is it located? I followed the hoses but couldn't find one. Also, the water that came out of the faucets smell extremely bad. As I said, I just the bought the boat so I don't know how long it's been sitting there. Tanks are near full. Should I pump them out? Is there a sanitizer I should use? Thanks for the help!

[Sailmonkey]

Pump them out, pour in a lot of bleach, fill them back up, wait an hour or two, pump them back out and fill them back up.

[jeepbluetj]

I'm pretty sure they didn't come from the factory with a filter - so if you have one it's been added on by a previous owner. (edit - there may be a strainer on the pump, but not what I would consider a water filter)

Your line from your tank (likely) runs out from the bottom of the tank in the V berth, down the starboard side (where it tee's into the other tank) and then under the nav station - then runs over under the galley where the pump is. If there's a filter, you'll find it along the line.

And yup - bleach does it. My tank (I only have the one under the V berth) has a very large cleanout on the top - if yours do you can actually scrub any crud out of them. If not, bleach, flush, bleach, flush... until the water is fresh.

[brutb]

I notice you said your holding tanks were full, I hope you mean water tanks. HOLDING tanks are normally used for your head in this part of the country. Now that you have fixed the pump switch/breaker drain all the water out of all tanks. ADD (lots of) bleach and let sit for a day or so, drain again, fill again and see if water tastes okay, if not drain tanks again and add more bleach and water to overflowing, let set several days. Keep doing this until water tastes okay. It will take a while if the tanks have been setting a long time to remove the bad taste and smell. Buy lots of bottle water and use it while sailing. Enjoy your NEW BOAT.

[csharp]

Originally Posted by jeepbluetj

I'm pretty sure they didn't come from the factory with a filter - so if you have one it's been added on by a previous owner. (edit - there may be a strainer on the pump, but not what I would consider a water filter)

Your line from your tank (likely) runs out from the bottom of the tank in the V berth, down the starboard side (where it tee's into the other tank) and then under the nav station - then runs over under the galley where the pump is. If there's a filter, you'll find it along the line.

And yup - bleach does it. My tank (I only have the one under the V berth) has a very large cleanout on the top - if yours do you can actually scrub any crud out of them. If not, bleach, flush, bleach, flush... until the water is fresh.

I noticed the tank in the V-berth has a shut-off. Does the system work on gravity flow in that the the v-berth tank will fill the starboard saloon tank when needed?Therfore can I also shut that the v-beth tank off completely if I so choose?