Water Heater leaking?

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Capt. Sam's picture
Capt. Sam
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Joined: 2/22/10
Posts: 322
Water Heater leaking?

I've got a leak in the fresh water system on my 1994 C36. And its been moving around. First, the check valve at the water heater intake was dripping. Replaced that. Then the joint at the hot water sink fawcit dripped a lot. Fixed that. Now everything is almost dry, but still that nagging pump comes on in the middle of the night three or four times. And the bildge gets water in the back area after I leave the pressure on for a few hours. The only place I can see moisture coming in is from under the wooden box that the water heater in mounted on. I really can't figure it out. If the water heater has started leaking, then the water would have to be comingout of the water heater tank and seeping through the wood box. That seems unlikely and I'll have to uninstall the whole heater and remove it to find out for sure. Any chance that anyone else has had this issue?
Thanks for any words of advice.
Sam

Capt. Sam Murphy
1994 Catalina 36, Hull 1327
Shoal draft, two cabin model.
Panama City, Florida

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bakerha
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Joined: 7/23/10
Posts: 267

Sam: Just a thought as I have a similar problem with the pump running when the pressure is left on. I plan to bypass the water heater to see if that cures the issue. If it doesn't - then install valves in the hot and cold water runs to help isolate the problem to an area of the boat before ripping into the plumbing. Having the bypass installed will help in the winterizing next year anyway and the valves can be reused in the future to isolate leaks too.

_____________
Harold Baker
S/V Lucky Duck
Duncan Bay Boat Club
Cheboygan Michigan - Lake Huron
1989 C-36 mkI TR/WK M25XP

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stu jackson c34
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Posts: 1270

What is the condition of your pressure relief valve? Often the seats on these valves get gunked up with hard water or debris, that even repeated resets on the small handle will not clear. The solution is to buy and install a new one.

Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)

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Capt. Sam
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Posts: 322

I'm not sure where the pressure relief valve is, but I'm not seeing any apparent leakage on any of the valves on the side of the tank (Port side).
The water is coming from under the tank, apparently through the box it is mounted on.

Capt. Sam Murphy
1994 Catalina 36, Hull 1327
Shoal draft, two cabin model.
Panama City, Florida

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