If you really start messing around with your water system here are some things that I have learned so far. My new pump, Shurflo, Smart Sensor, 5.7, isn't suppose to need an accumulator tank, but I left the one I had. There is a fitting in the top that leaked a little and I put on a new o-ring and that fixed that. Considering what waterguy said, I guess my accumulator tank is one without a bladder since water was leaking out the top. The water system is made of "1/2 inch CTS". It looks like gray PVC, but is not PVC. The OD measures 5/8" and I buy fittings from Sea Tech. The other common size is 15 mm. Whale also makes the water fittings, but they seem to be only the 15 mm kind. The original fittings on my boat are kinda like barbed fittings with the connecting tube swedged on with aluminum rings. I purchase the Sea Tech parts from Defender Industries when I have time to wait for shipping. If I am in a hurry, I purchase the parts from a local RV supply. The new tubing can be purchased by the foot and comes in red (for hot) and blue (for cold). The fittings push onto the tube (including my old CTS) and have lock rings to keep them in place. I think that 1/2" copper water pipe will work with the Sea Tech 1/2" fittings, but I have not tried it yet. DavidO
--- On Fri, 6/26/09, waterguy <[email protected]> wrote: From: waterguy <[email protected]> Subject: [UnifliteWorld] Re: Fresh water system To: "UnifliteWorld" <[email protected]> Date: Friday, June 26, 2009, 3:01 AM You can also make your own accumulator tank out of some 6-inch diameter Schedule 40 PVC pipe (the white, hard wall stuff). This design can be custom sized and put somewhere it will fit yet be out of the way. First, find some place near a water line that you can mount about a 6-inch diameter pipe vertically, like on a bulkhead or a deck support. The longer the better, but you can get away with as little as a foot or 18 inches Get an approprate length of 6-inch diameter schedule 40 PVC pipe, two six-inch pipe caps, a PVC hose barb fitting, and a PVC hose barb tee. The single barb fitting and the tee fitting should be the appropriate diameter for your water lines. Drill an appropriate sized hole to mount the hose barb fitting in one cap (if you can get a cap with threaded hole in it, so much the better; get a threaded hose barb fitting that will screw into the threaded cap). Glue the hose barb fitting in the hole, or if using the threaded cap and barb, glue the threads and screw into the cap. Glue the caps on to the end of the pipe, That's your tank. Mount the pipe/tank vertically wherever you decided to put it, with the cap with the fitting facing down. Install the tee into your pressure line (if you have copper line, cut a piece out and install the tee using short pieces of rubber hose, double-clamped over the copper pipe). Run a piece of rubber hose from the tee to the hose barb in the tank, and you're done. A 6-inch diameter pipe holds a gallon of water for every 8 inches (actually about 8.16 inches), so a four-foot pipe holds about 5.8 gallons. Plenty for an accumulator tank. Cheaper than buying a tank (pipe, caps, tee, barb, primer and glue should leave some change from a $20 bill), the plastic will never rust, and you can mount a 6-inch diameter pipe to a bulkhead or deck support somewhere out of the way and not have to find space on the sole to mount a commercial accumulator tank. The better commercial accumulator tanks have a rubber bladder so that the water never contacts the air inside the tank; my design and the cheaper commercial tanks don't. Over a long period of time, non- bladder accumulators will lose pressure as the pressurized air is absorbed by the water. The cure is to occasionally pull the hose connection from the tank and drain it; then you're good to go again. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "UnifliteWorld" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/UnifliteWorld?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
