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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 250 Specific Forum

12 Gal H2O tank....

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cwstrang
1st Mate

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USA
78 Posts

Initially Posted - 02/10/2010 : 12:45:28

Fellow 250 owners:
Greetings from soggy St. Helens Oregon!
Does anyone have any tips on how to effectively drain the on board water tank? I bought my boat last May and didn’t think to ask the owner how long the water had been in the tank but it has an unpleasant taste when used for coffee or tea.

Edited by - on

piseas
Former Treasurer

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USA
2017 Posts

Response Posted - 02/10/2010 : 13:00:48

Craig, I too have experienced wet weather but my SoCal forecast now says sunny for at least the next couple of weeks. Yea!
Re draining tank, you might want to do a search as this has been a topic. As I recall, if you use nothing additional, the hard answer is to use one or both sinks and pump, pump, pump. That size of a tank should take about 10- 15 minutes.
Good luck and hope wet weather soon behind you.
Steve A

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cwstrang
1st Mate

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USA
78 Posts

Response Posted - 02/10/2010 : 13:23:17

Steve:
Thanks, I was hoping for different solution! My 14yr old mate was not too crazy about pumping for 15mins! We had a beautiful Monday & Tuesday up here but the rain has settled back in.

Edited by - cwstrang on 02/10/2010 13:29:03

John Russell
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3444 Posts

Response Posted - 02/10/2010 : 14:00:11

I was wondering what would happen if you pressurized the tank from the fill opening with something like the blower end of a shop vac. Would that force the water out the taps without damaging the pump? My mates have also lost the charm of manually pumping them.

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zebra50
Captain

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USA
408 Posts

Response Posted - 02/10/2010 : 17:51:27

I also had this problem for the first couple of years onn my '98 C250 WB #370. Check the tech tips for the wash down tip on Cyana. I did this upgrade and it works great for draining the fresh water. Many other uses also such as washing the deck by drawing water from over board, as a cool down poor mans shower, I have even hooked it up to a "mister" on real hot humid days to keep the cockpit cooler.

sorry I do not have a picture of the diverter under the sink, but there is one in the tech tips.

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frog0911
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1349 Posts

Response Posted - 02/10/2010 : 19:21:01

Harbor Freight has a small 12V pump for about $35 that will pump 500 gallons a minute. It has male hose connections on both sides. With a couple of sections of old garden hose you could empty the tank very quickly.

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Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 02/10/2010 : 20:34:23

A question about these blaster pumps. Do they stop pumping when the hose is closed? For instance if you are using it to wash down the deck and you turn off the nozzle does the pump stop?

I'm thinking about mounting a blaster on a piece of HDPE and putting a cigarette-lighter end on its wire so it can be plugged into a 12V receptacle. That would make it portable.

John, we once filled our water tank and left the hose on too long. It had the effect of pressurizing the tank and the water did indeed flow out of the galley and head faucets. No damage. I'd be careful not to over do it though with a shop vac or something.

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Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2980 Posts

Response Posted - 02/11/2010 : 04:52:13

Randy, yes... the blaster pumps have a pressure switch and pump only on demand.

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frog0911
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1349 Posts

Response Posted - 02/11/2010 : 09:05:06

The pump form Harbor Freight is not a blaster pump and does not have a pressure shut off switch. You would need to unplug it when finished.
Arlyn, did not mention it, but if you go to his web site you will find a very nifty hook up for a blaster pump that serves many functions. I did it on my boat and it is great. Thanks Arlyn.

Edited by - on

zebra50
Captain

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USA
408 Posts

Response Posted - 02/11/2010 : 10:54:46

I got my blaster at West Marine.

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Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2980 Posts

Response Posted - 02/11/2010 : 19:18:36

One word of caution about the blaster pump... in order for the pressure switch to work, it must have a supply of water. If it starts drawing air from the tank getting empty, it will stay running.

The good news is that the pump seems fairly resilient about running without pumping water. I can't recall the circumstances any more, but mine ran for an hour or so once with no water supply to pressure up and cut out and it survived with no evidence of damage.

Edited by - on

cwstrang
1st Mate

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USA
78 Posts

Response Posted - 03/08/2010 : 13:12:42

Thanks for all the information, I did manage to get my son to pump the tank out this weekend but as he was doing so there was some white scale coming out in the sink. I want to flush out the tank before I refill it. Looking at the tank it looks like it would be pretty easy to remove, flush and install. Has anyone attempted this?

Edited by - cwstrang on 03/08/2010 13:54:37

Dave Brown
Navigator

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USA
174 Posts

Response Posted - 03/08/2010 : 17:09:53

Craig,
Some times people don't answer the question. But in there own way they try.
I, as well would like to drain the water tank "dry". I have found that no mater how you do this, There's always some left in the tank.
And it goes stale. You can pump all you want, not all the water will come out. Now If you take it out and shake it, Then cut a hole in it and wipe it down, well, you get the picture.
I, for one, have chose not to use the water tank. We sail 3 times a week in the summer, and only use, maybe 2 gallons a week. So we just carry on a 2 Gal. water Jug. "It sits in the sink" If we plan to spin the weekend I'll pick up a few Gal's of bottled water.
This works for us. The waters always good, and the tanks always dry.
And that Dry locker in the bathroom holds a lot of water if you need more than that.
Good luck and let us all know if you come up with another solution.
Dave B.
____________/)_____________/)___________/))))___________________
.

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JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 03/08/2010 : 17:58:21

On my C25 I took a big saw and cut the tank up and threw it away. I got lots of storage. I carry an extra anchor, chain, and rode there, plus all the bottled water, soda, beer, and juice you would ever need.

After 30 years, the tank was still very clean inside, but the hoses were black and the pump on the sink didn't work.

In 5 years of ownership I never used the water in the tank.

I save gallon bottles that cranberry juice comes in and use those on the boat for carrying water for washing, coffee, etc.

Edited by - on

britinusa
Web Editor

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USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 03/08/2010 : 20:11:41

We're going the other way from Jim. We're going to replace the existing tank with a larger one.
Currently we have a flexi tank plus the original white tank. So we carry about 40gals on board.
That allows plenty of showers, but we still carry bottles of water for drinking.

The tanks do improve the line of the boat on the water, but I think we can do better with a single tank and some bags of stone.

But Jim puts more hours on his boat than any that I know. It works for him.

Paul

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