Water Leak - Need help

[Jims380DA]

I found a water leak that I can't stop. My tech. bypasses the HWT when he winterized the boat and when he reconnected the hot line back inside the plastic coupler, it now leaks. Had this problem in the past and all i did was remove the plastic clip, removed the water line and reinstalled it and it usually does the trick. Not this time. I only noticed that it was leaking when the aft cabin was flooded with 10 gals of water! Any advise? Thanks

 

[Henry Boyd]

Jim,

A couple of things to look at:
The plastic coupling goes over a bit of copper pipe/tube that is attached to the hot water heater/tank. Over the winter if this is exposed it may begin to corrode (blue green patina), If you clean that off with a bit of emery cloth before installing the compression fitting they work better,

These couplings also have to be seated completely,

They are also temperature sensitive, warm them up before assembling,

Check to see if all the parts are there,

Henry

 

[skolbe]

You may want to install a bypass kit for the future. For $20 - you no longer have to remove fittings and risk a leak. I installed one on my 320. I had to remove a nipple from the heater on one side to make the kit work - and I had to add a fitting on the other side. But - it eliminates the problem for the future. You may need to just mess with the fitting to insure it is tight or just replace it.

 

[osd9]

The HWH on my 2002 380DA had a mixing valve to regulate the temp of the HW. It did that by introducing cold water into the hot water circuit....

You can't just add a standard Westmarine type of a bypass kit to these HWHs. Int he pic above, I made a bypass from two elbows, a 'T' and a few short pieces of tubing.

As mentioned above, you have to make sure that the tubing is ALL THE WAY INTO the fittings...eblows, 'Ts', etc. and that the Fittings are ALL THE WAY ONTO the HWH brass connections and tubing.

Use a tissue to see if you can isolate where the leak is and then remove, clean and push and pull until you are certain that the fittings are competely fitted.

After you get the leak to stop....get a sharpie and draw a ring around the tubing as a set point where it joins to the fitting. That way, when you remove it again, you won't have to guess if it's back on all the way. I do the sharpie thing everytime I break a plumbing connection and it has helped me many times.

I hope this helps...

 

[Jims380DA]

Thanks for the help guys! Dom, My hot water lind is leaking where the plastice pipe goes into the brass fitting to the right of the mixing knob. its threaded brass on one end and the pemale end has the plasice compression insert. Any ideas on where I could find a replacement? I got the leak down to a small drip but still is not right. there is no sump in the aft compartment where the HWT sits and I dont want ant water buildup. I already flooed the carpit in the aft cabin! thanks again.