[C320-list] Water supply line size

[Jeff Smith]

Does any one know the size of the water supply lines? I am trying to use a
1/2” shark bite. It fits the valve coming out of the tank but I can’t get
it in the water hose. It is in a hard-to-reach spot (hence the shark bite),
so I don’t know if it is the angle or the diameter of the hose?

This is the supply line coming from the aft tank to the water pump.

Thanks,
Jeff
‘94, #121

[Jon Vez]

The hose is 15mm (Whale), slightly different than 1/2” but not sure if that’s your problem. Usually the 1/2” ‘fits’, but tends to leak at the fittings…

Sent from my iPad

> On Aug 15, 2021, at 1:09 PM, Jeff Smith <svsailm...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Does any one know the size of the water supply lines? I am trying to use a

[ART HARDEN]

The water lines are metric in size. Threaded portions are National pipe thread.

Sent from my iPhone
Art Harden
Catalina 320 "Tortuga" E-62
937.885.9380 (o)
937.477.5544 (m)

> On Aug 15, 2021, at 1:09 PM, Jeff Smith <svsailm...@gmail.com> wrote:
>

> Does any one know the size of the water supply lines? I am trying to use a

[Jeff Smith]

Jon,

Thanks. That is the information I need. I did have a new 15mm whale fitting
but it is leaking as well. I would just replace the hose but it disappears
under the engine pan. It sounds like I can’t use 1/2”. I guess I will try
cutting a small portion of the hose and getting a clean edge for the new
whale fitting.

Thanks,
Jeff

[mark]

Jeff,

It sounds like the aft tank and supply line you have are in the same place as my 1995 model. (Water tank under berth in aft cabin, and water line runs under the engine pan and galley floor to the pump under the sink in the galley.) If I were trying to replace that water line (and assuming the line is mostly intact) I would try running an electrician's fish tape through the old water line, until it came out underneath the sink. If the fish tape was too big to slide through the old water line, you might be able to use 1/8 inch galvanized wire rope from Home Depot. Whatever you use just needs to be narrow enough and stiff enough that you can push it through the old water line.

Once you get your fish tape or wire rope to the galley, pull the old line out from under the sink, and feed the new line in from there as well. You might be able to just slide the new water line over the fish tape or wire rope as a guide, to get it to follow the same path as the old one. Or you could use the tape or wire rope to pull the new water line back through to the aft water tank. But if you do that, be sure that your connection between the water line and the fish tape or the wire rope is solid, because if they separate you've lost the ability to track back through the same path.

If you do replace the line, let us know what worked, as I may have to actually do this myself one day, and actual experience beats the heck out of guesses about what I would do if. . . .

Mark Seyler
S/V Reality,
Catalina 320, #232
New Orleans, LA

[Dave Hupe]

My 1994 (hull #32) has regular 1/2 inch I.D. reinforced water hose and hose clamps on all  .....  no whale clamps.  I do not have an aft water tank.  I have a water tank under the v-berth and the 2nd under the port cabin sofa (just forward of the navigation station).  Last season I saw a water leak that first looked like a keel bolt leak (water seeped up around the bolts).  After looking everywhere and finally draining the water tanks and sopping up the water, I observed the water go away,  I finally determined that one of my water lines from the galley pump area to the head sink was leaking within the structural grid (so it looked like a keel bolt leak).  I was unable to pull these hoses out to run new lines,  So, I wound up routing new hoses through the bilge area.  I drilled holes in the structural grid side walls at the base of the galley and on the opposite side near the waste tank to route the hoses.
Dave Hupe
1994 C320 (#32)
Holland, MI  

[Troy Dunn]

If you don’t have proper tubing cutters you can use a single edge razor
blade. It will give you a nice clean cut. Make sure you get a nice
right angle. When you seat the tubing give it a bit more push than you
might think is needed, the whale fittings can sometime have a false seat on
first push. 1/2” fittings won’t work unfortunately.

Good luck

Troy Dunn
Hull #514

[Jeff Smith]

Mark,

Thanks. After cutting the hose at the fitting, I think I did not have a the hose fully inserted in the new whale fitting which is why it was leaking. I may need to run new hose. If so, your method sounds more reasonable than what I was going to attempt (duct taping the new tube to the old, assuming the obvious risk of the two separating while being pulled). I should be able to run the new tubing over the electrician’s fish tape.

My current dilemma is trying to decide if it is worth it to just convert to shark bites and the appropriate size pex tubing (1/2”) as I need to replace hoses and fittings. I could also use crimp rings but there is probably a safety reason that I am not considering not to switch to crimp rings plus that might be hard to execute in certain spots. Availability of material is the main reason to switch. I know I have a leak either in my forward water tank or line. That has been dumping all of my forward tank water into the grid below my bilge.

I will let everyone know if I decide to run new lines, etc.

Jeff
’94, #121