SilverComet

Apologies Pete, I did plenty of searching around prior to posting. As I had no idea what part was causing the issue the entire point was I needed help to know what to look up.

Apologies, I always want to list every detail then it ends up confusing. We turn on any tap at all, or flush toilet, and get a 2 second burst of water, which then stops for about 10 seconds before the pump kicks in, it is a constant stream after that. Unless we flick the tap off and on, in which case we have a 10 second wait again. Edit: We have a Johnson 2.9 WPS pump btw, can't see a label on the accumulator. No pressure gauge either, last time I turned it down in quarters until we had a steady stream out the tap.

Hi, After many plumbing issues (PRV, ruptured tank, pump being set too high) we've gotten our plumbing back to normal, that is until we tried the taps, at some point in the 2 month plumbing fiasco we've either gotten an air block or we've had something break. We have water when turning the tap for 1 maybe 2 seconds at what feels like full pressure, then nothing for 10 or 15 seconds till the pump kicks in. It's worth noting the lowering in pressure was weeks before our major issues and was working for a good 6 weeks before everything was turned upside down. Does anyone have any ideas? I've tried raising the pressure, it worked for about 10 minutes then it was back to before.

And now I've realised I'm saying "basin" above and not bowl...it's been a long few days...sorry

Possibly Phil, it's part of why I am suspicious of the rest of the plumbing, as from what I've read it shouldn't smell and there shouldn't be any water at the bottom of the basin unless the fill button is pressed.

Thanks all, if I go for a cassette toilet what brands do people recommend? It can't be wall fixed and rear loaded like others I've seen, I'd need it to be front loaded if attached to a wall as all our walls are huge tiles it would need to be side or front loaded I'll be going to midland chandler's at the weekend so that would probably be where I would get it from. Do people prefer wall fixed or freestanding? For what reasons?

Let me start by saying we have had the boat since July, the boat previously was completely unused although 12 years old. The tank looked fine, and was what appeared to be in good repair. We then started to notice a damp patch around the tank and discovered that the tank had ruptured on the bottom, so was rotting the floorboard underneath it slowly. The tank is so large I am going to need to cut it in to pieces to get it out, it is made of mild steel and since taking some further paint off I can see rust, I am not interested in chasing the seller - I'm interested in the practical aspects right now so we can get back to living aboard! The issue I'm having is, how do I check the rest of the plumbing? in the last couple of weeks I've noticed the toilet basin is smelling (this was before we found the tank issue!) when it didn't before (we haven't pumped it out yet as we discovered the problem a couple of days ago, this is top priority but we've had family emergencies and work so getting back before nightfall hasn't happened...we've just stopped using the toilet, annoying as we only pumped out a fortnight ago!). I'm trying to decide if we should convert to cassette, because.. I'm not sure how big a tank I could get in to the boat through the doors, as ours has a doorway at the bottom of a staircase and the door cuts in at the top. I really don't want to have to cut out another tank. I don't know if I can trust the plumbing. When we were cruising this summer we found with jobs it could be annoying to get the boat pumped out, and in fact had to get someone else to move the boat for us as work commitments changed our plans last minute. I like the idea that if anything goes wrong I can just pick up another toilet cheaply and easily same day with no other fuss. However... I don't like the idea of having to take a cassette up to the elsan point regularly in winter if our marina gets icy I stayed on a friend's boat and the cassette could get a bit smelly, which slightly put me off. I'd have to replace a tile in our bathroom. TLDR: Tank broken, don't trust rest of plumbing, how can I tell if what I have is any good, how do I know a mascerator is working? I haven't even checked that it is installed - just trusted a surveyor, is it normal for a pump out basin to smell? do I just need to stick some chemicals down it, am I better at this point just getting a cassette as ours isn't a straight dump kind (I don't think so anyway...because tank is higher than the basin in the next room). Sods law states if I keep the tank the mascerator will die, if I switch then I'll trip and break my ankle emptying the cassette, but lets just pretend sods law doesn't exist right now!

Just hearing horror stories of the metal ones corroding and such makes me very uncomfortable about it! We have no view hole, it's just a huge metal tank. A sensor isn't a bad idea.

Thanks all. I really like the suggestion of putting the batteries on the correct side, seems obvious now you've suggested it. I recall in the chaos of buying the boat that the previous owner swapped them to the heavy side to avoid the drain (there is a 2 step staircase at the back of our boat). I'll look at improving the drain and then move them. I was amazed just how much draining the tank out and filling with diesel helped, I think if we swapped the batteries that would probably sort the lean to some extent at least. Annoyingly our pump out tank is metal and pretty much impossible to tell when it is full. I think next winter a plastic one is a necessity. Thanks again all.

Our boat was ballasted before we got it, since then a tongue and groove style flooring has been put over the top so I'm reluctant to start ripping up boards. The thing is, before we owned the boat it was fitted out, but empty. Now the calorifier has water in it, the cupboards have pots, pans and cans and the 3 beds have mattresses. The layout of the entire boat almost is completely on one side. We've tried to counter this by putting heavier items we don't use often in to the one spare bed on the "light" side. It hasn't been enough and we have quite a noticeable lean now to one side. My question is this: our spare bed is half way down the boat, almost exactly. If I were to put a layer of bricks under it to add weight there, would I be doing something stupid? How do I know I'm not causing the boat to sit too low? Is it safe? To me it seems the easiest and cheapest solution, with the benefit of being able to remove bricks if, for example we ever got a cassette toilet rather than a pump out. The only issue is I like to stay informed, and when you're fiddling with your life savings on water you don't really want to risk anything! One day I swear I'll answer questions rather than ask them... Thanks in advance.

Thanks all. Think I'll get someone to do it, I'm not incapable at DIY but I also don't want to risk it, it doesn't make sense. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good company/person in the Leicester area?

Another novice question... When the boat was purchased she had a multi fuel stove already installed, the owner had put a fireboard behind tiles all around the sides. It sits with a probably 2cm air gap though on a wooden harth which makes me want to check this is safe before I do anything with it - anyone had this issue? It seems weird to me after all that to put it on something made entirely of wood.

It's good to see you're all pretty much confirming my suspicions, makes me feel like less of an ape with a wrench. The pump as far as I can tell can't be altered, so I guess a new one is required? Spent today trying to find a new PRV just to cover all bases and a gauge - no luck. It's worth noting the system drips when cold - one person suggested it was when heated only which was my original suspicion but it appears not. Have put tissue around it all day and it has been wet every time I have checked and replaced. So definitely the source of our problem I think.

Our boat has always had the pump come on occasionally, and I thought little of it assuming it was normal. Our hot water doesn't last long and after finding our calorifier cupboard very wet I decided to take a better look. I discovered the pressure relief valve was not connected to the skin fitting and was potentially causing the issue. I put a new pipe on and attached that to the skin - I kept an eye on the pipe and all seemed good. Today I took another look and saw it was dripping. So I took the pipe off and refixed it again. I decided to leave it off at the calorifier end and sure enough when the pump came in it fired aist of cold water out of the relief valve. Our calorifier is rated for 3 bar shell, 3.5 bar coils. Our pump (a Johnson WPS 2.9) is prefixed at 2.8 bar. The relief valve is 3bar (1/2 inch thread) I'm scratching my head a little as to why it should have failed, am I missing something? Where do people generally get replacements from? We're in the Leicestershire area, your shops like b&q don't seem to do them, I want to add a gauge on too so I can tell if it is overpressured or just a faulty valve.

Thanks all, I'm now relieved to say we've got ourselves a slot at a lovely marina we went to see. Really excited now, it's all starting to come together.