Conditions under which fresh water pump should run?

Charlesoceanone said:
I have the same issue but I have no leaks. I have been looking for 3 years now and no water anywhere. I’m assuming it’s my pump but it’s been working fine for 3 years.
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Could be your pressure relief valve on your hot water heater or could be the check valve in the pump itself.
 
mdolesh said:
What type of bit?
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A very *short* one...

Joking aside, notice that the pump shown is mounted to an area that is a structural member (with several inches of depth/thickness). It's not mounted directly to the (relatively thin) hull side in other words. There are plenty of pics on the net where "what's on the other side" isn't considered until water begins to come in through the new screw hole.

Depending on your boat, there may be similarly convenient mounting locations. In contrast, the pump in my 310 was mounted atop the water heater on a 3/4" piece of marine plywood (no danger of drilling hole in the hull). If drilling into glass, a pilot hole sized for your (stainless) screws would be recommended. Applying a small amount of silicone/3m4200/insert-favorite-sealant here to the screw holes will keep any extraneous moisture at bay.
 
Little Ducky said:
Quick question.

If you turn off the pump and leave the boat for a few days is there still pressure left in the lines when you return?
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I will have to check this. You just looking for evidence of a leak between the pump and a fixture?
 
Chris-380 said:
I had this happening and it ended up being the wash down spigot in the aft locker been bumped enough that it had a drip.... so simple, but took a little while to find
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I had the exact same thing happen this past season. One of the bumbers I store there rubbed against the spigot, loosened it and a very small drip started. Took awhile to find because I never use it.
 
Little Ducky said:
Quick question.

If you turn off the pump and leave the boat for a few days is there still pressure left in the lines when you return?
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Four or five days off the boat with the pump off and zero water pressure upon return.
 
Atalla said:
Four or five days off the boat with the pump off and zero water pressure upon return.
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Unfortunately, that doesn't tell you anything more than what you wrote in your original post. It still comes down to either a leak somewhere in the system (dripping faucet, leaky toilet valve, ice maker, pipe fitting, TP valve, corroded water heater tank), or the pump's check valves aren't doing their job. If you can't find anything obvious, then you're down to isolating sub-systems. I'd start by capping-off right at the outlet of the pump. If it short-cycles, it's the pump. If not, then move on down the line and cap off at the next branch. At some point, the pump will begin to cycle again, which tells you it's in that branch. Slow and tedious, but better than a water leak.
 
'Something else that just came to mind; with the pump on and the system pressurized, check the shore water fitting where you'd screw the hose into. They contain an internal check valve, and I've had one go bad before (on an RV) and push water back out on the ground. On a boat, it might not be as obvious that water's leaking out the side.
 
do you have the ability to isolate zones on your fresh water manifold?
If you do, you could close all but 1 zone at a time and see if you lose pressure.
 
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