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As far as pressure, the pumps you get with the kits aren't going to be high gpm pumps. I used a 4 gpm rv pump. I think the standard is a 2.5. So from what I gather, you have cold water flow and hot water flow but no in between. I usually turn the pump on then the cold all the way and then slowly and incrementally turn the hot up untill you get the desired temp. The valves are tricky especially with a lower flow pump. It just takes longer for the temps to change and when they do you've likely gone passed the sweet spot.
Once you have the temp set, leave it alone and dont touch it except to make very minor adjustments, but only on the hot side... even when it's off. Just make sure the valve on the showerhead is off and the switch is off.
I installed one for a guy here about a month ago and the hot side wouldn't flow at all. turns out the bottom side of his block had sand in it and had plugged the mixing valve.:confused: That cost him an extra hour of labor!:D Be sure your hoses are all clear.
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We used it this weekend mostly to warm up after being in the water. Also the second person in used it to warm up the used life jackets. The wife has been begging to go camping. I need my morning shower and my morning coffee. The plan is to camp by water and I now have a warm morning shower available.
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Lots of request on this so back to the top. I reloaded all the photos that were missing.
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I followed this install last fall. Worked great. We use it all the time for warming up wetsuits and cleaning off feet. Thanks for the write up!!
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Good to hear. Gald it helped!
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Is there any kind of fuse or reset on the pump? I was out on Saturday in the crappy weather. Turned on the shower once and all worked perfectly. Tried to turn it on a bit later and use it, nothing. Light on the switch is coming on and power is working, just seems like the pump died.
It has been in the boat less than a year and only used a dozen times or so. Thought I would check here first for any possible troubleshooting.
Thanks!
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I don't recall there being any sort of reset or fuse on the pump body itself. On my install I put an in-line fuse on the power to the pump just to be sure if something were to get sucked into the pump, it would pop the fuse before destroying everything.
One thing that comes to my mind is possibly a clogged mixing valve, much like Newty was talking about above with a buddies hot water not working. I'd pull the hoses off of the back of the mixing valve a take a look. Then, if that's clear, check the hoses coming off of the pump, maybe something did get stuck in there.
When I winterized this past year, I noticed that there was some buildup of debris on the hot-side screen of the mixing valve. Since I've got the hot water coming from the block (I assume you do as well), that tends to have some debris in it from corrosion inside cooling jacket of the engine. Not a big deal, just a likely culprit for low or no flow.
That's all of course after checking the in-line fuse that you put on with your install - if you put one on that is.
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Checked the wires, checked the fuse. The pump died. I ordered a new one and was able to slap it back in and am back in business again. Figured I would send the old pump in and see if it can be serviced or not. If so, then I have a spare on hand.
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Here is my pump install. Pretty much the same as all the previous posts. I used a 4.4 GPH RV pump and it has fantastic pressure. It shoots probably 25-30 feet. I pieced the thing together vs. buying the kit to save money. I did order the heatercraft control valve and switch from their website for about $39. Other than that it was several trips to Lowe's for all the brass fittings and other parts. Into it about $195 vs $400-500 for the kit. Attachment 19819Attachment 19820Attachment 19821Attachment 19822Attachment 19823
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Looks good!
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i wanna build one this week. beej, where did you get your pump at? my buddys a plumber so we can mount everything, i just need a pump. im assuming a 12v 4gph pump.?
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Got the pump from RV Upgrades it's a REMCO pump. Here is the link.
http://www.rvupgradestore.com/Power-...66-1e1-80a.htm
I ordered the valve/switch from Heatercraft:
http://www.heatercraft.com/flush-mou...e-with-switch/
Then Lowe's for all the brass and nylon fittings, hose clamps, hose, wiring, and shower head (used a fireman's style garden hose head for $3.50)
The only issue I encountered yesterday at the lake was it kept popping the 10 Amp fuse when I left it armed. The pump is an on demand so it tends to "bump" when it's armed but not running. I upped the fuse to 15 amp and havn't had any more issues after a whole day on the water. The heatercraft website said to run the 10 amp, but the pump instructions said to run 15 so I'm not too concerned about overloading the wiring based on that. I ran 12 and 14 ga. wire for the whole system. Ran the pump ground and positive wires straight to the orange and black alternator leads which keeps the pump turned off when the boat is off.
Water was 58° yesterday and the novelty of having hot water in the suit before I got to surfing was awesome. I'm also really pleased with the pressure from the pump. It's more than enough to shoot some water to neighboring boats this summer or fill balloons or whatever.
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sweet. thank you. im planning on going out this coming weekend and we have a half suit to wear so this will be a plus when we get out of the water.
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Beejwest, where exactly did you tap in for the hot water lead off the engine. The pic you have shows the brass fittings and shutoff valve but I can't make out where on the engine it is... Port/starboard, was there just an existing plug? Also, could you use galvanized pipe fittings instead of brass?
Thanks
Steve
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I tapped the block plug on the starboard side of the engine, so it's closer to the pump. It's a brass plug about 1/3 of the way from the front to the back below the spark plugs, right on the block. There are pics of it in the winterization sticky on this forum. I use a shop vac when I pull the plug to suck water out of the block so it doesn't pour into the bilge. Then take that plug into a plumbing store and match the threads. I don't know why you couldn't use galvanized, but I'm not for sure. Maybe someone else can comment on that? I used brass because it's soft and I knew it wouldn't screw up the threads in the block if I cross threaded/over tightened. Plus that's what Newty used. I was copying lol.
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https://forum.moomba.com/showthread....ith-pics-by-Al
Here is the link with pics from Al. He has some pretty good shots of the plug hole, with wrench sizes.