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fresh water supply issues for a viking 44 motor yacht

Discussion in 'Viking Yacht' started by noxbisi, Aug 17, 2010.

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  1. noxbisi, Aug 17, 2010
    #1
    noxbisi

    noxbisi New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2010
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    Location:
    Port Moresby Papua New
    i am new to this forum, i recently bought and had sailed a viking 44 (88 build) from Queensland to Port Moresby Papua New Guinea (about 3000kms) where i am using it as a live aboard. its still the honeymoon period and i am trying to work out some of the issues that the manual is not so clear on. primarily i am trying to work out the freshwater connection to the boat and after hooking up the hose to the dock supply i did not notice any improvement in the very poor water pressure in the boat and i also noticed what looked like an outflow on the starboard side which commenced and ceased when the water supply was both connected and disconnected. my questions are, firstly is a trickle water pressure common in these boats and secondly, is there some switch that has to be turned to re route the dock supply of fresh water so that it doesnt immediately outflow from the boat. grateful for any advice
  2. K1W1, Aug 17, 2010
    #2
    K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    Hi,

    I am not familiar with your exact boat but have to ask if there is a filter in the normal pressure line that might be almost completely blocked?

    This might also be inline when using dock water and what you see going over the side might be an over pressure relief.

    You should also never leave your boat unattended while hooked to shore water, a pipe or other component failure will allow the dock water to fill her up.
  3. Pascal, Aug 17, 2010
    #3
    Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Miami, FL
    on an older boat, manuals need to be taken with a grain of salt because over the years they are often modified.

    if you get low pressure out of all the faucets both on tank and shore, then start checking for a filter somewhere. chances are it was added on at some point and not in the manual

    sometimes folks add a set of valves to fill the tank using the shore water connection, maybe the water you see overflowing when you connect shore water is the tank overflow?

    another possibility is a partially closed valve past the pump and past where dock water taps in the system. sometimes a 1/4 turn valve can be moved by just bumping into it. i've seen it happen.

    fianlly as K1W1 mentioned, never leave the boat with the shore water hooked up! many boats have sunk that way.

    plus using the fresh water tank means that you will be refreshing it regularly keeping them clean. The only downside as a live aboard is that the pump may be failing prematurely. depending on what kind of pump you have, some parts like diaphragms have a limited life, on a non live aboard they may last 5 or 10 years but only 1 or 2 on a LA. I have added a shallow well pump on my boat which is used at the dock on shore power. I can switch to the DC pump if needed at any time. shallow well pumps are under $200 here in the US and have hard impellers that last almost forever.
  4. DougH, Feb 13, 2018
    #4
    DougH

    DougH New Member

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    Sep 7, 2017
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    Location:
    Punta Gorda FL
    The filter I have dockside between shore water and our water intake port aboard our Viking 44 MY was full of gunk. I hadn’t thought to look there because it was well before the suggested lifespan for the filter. I replaced it with a spare I had, and water pressure returned to normal immediately. You may have to cut the expected life span of your filters by a third depending on the quality of your shore water.
  5. MBevins, Feb 13, 2018
    #5
    MBevins

    MBevins Senior Member

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    Windsor On. Canada
    Thanks Doug, but I suspect that the issue is long past as the post is almost 8 years old.