A/C and Head Raw Water Hose size's in R 21's

[No Worries]

Off to my R21 - EC "No Worries" tomorrow or Saturday and thought to ask before I go if anyone knows what size the hoses are that service the Air Conditioner and Head with Raw Water. In my 2009 there is a seacock for each system and I want to get a couple of "T" fitting's that will also accomodate a garden hose. Similar to the setup for the Engine's Raw Water System.

I'd like to pick them out before I go to the marina. If no one know's off hand that is cool. I'll look when I get there.

Why you may ask ???? :mrgreen: Well I adapted my Sink faucet to accomodate a garden hose so that I can use the onboard water for a fresh wash down or to flush my raw water system in the engine box. In addition, I could do the same thing with the AC and Head systems but I also have an ace up my sleeve.

For winterizing, I can fill the fresh water tank with enough of the Potable Anti Freeze so I can easily connect to and pump antiFreeze into all 3 systems. It would make the winterizing so easy that it screams for me to do it.

 

[No Worries]

Well I went by my local ACE hardware store and picked up a few essential's. They had, 1/2, 3/4 and 1 inch T fittings with the necessary adapter's to fit a garden hose connection. I know 1/2 inch is probably too small for the incoming Raw Water Hose aft of the Seacocks so I bought both 3/4 and 1 inch. I'll use Teflon tape for the garden hose adapter where it mate's to the T Fitting's and double clamp the hose ending's that will fit over the T fitting inserts. Once that is in place I'll pressure test the connection's with the seacock closed and water pressure applied to the system using the onboard fresh water pump. Any tightening I may need to do at the connection's will be done immediately and then I'll contune to winterize the system's with trhe PINK potable antifreeze rated for -50 degree's with a slush point of 11 degree's F.

Here is a link to a picture of the proposed interface .....

 

[rt11002003]

Carl,

It has occured to me that you should check out each system's pressure capacity that you intend to put city water into, along with determining the city water pressure. City water at my home meter connection is in excess of 150 psi. I had my step down pressure regulator fail and blew about five weak connections (one at a time) in the house before determining the regulator was faulty. :x

Flushing the raw water system probably isn't a problem because it is likely open. If clogged, it could present a problem if pressure builds up. The same situation could exist with AC, head and freshwater systems, if they're closed or clogged they must be able to withstand the city water pressure.

I pump antifreeze with the engine raw water pump. I shut the seacock, insert the end of a hose into the antifreeze container, connect the other end to the raw water fitting, start the engine and let it run until I get pink out the exhaust. I have a small electrical AC pump for the rest of my pumping/flushing needs.

I'd be careful in connecting any of the systems to the fresh water system. The wash down hose probably isn't a problem, but all of the other systems contain contaminated water/fluids and any feedback could present a problem.

Gene

 

[No Worries]

Great point's Gene. Thank you for the excellent insight's. :idea:

I'll be staying away from the city water at the marina. It is also very high pressure. Sure don't want to break any seals anywhere. :idea:

To protect the onboard Fresh Water system I'll add a one way check valve to my output hose to prevent any reverse siphoning. I have just the right one in mind that I have used in other applications. As a matter of fact I use a one way checkvalve in my hose at the house when using any kind of sprays for lawn and garden work to prevent the very same potential problem.

I'll start off with a slow feed of water from the fresh water system to see if I get any leaks around the T fitting and start the A/C up so it pulls the A/Frz until it comes out the the overboard outlet.

I may just skip the head system since I already drained the holding tank and pushed A/Frz in to it using the normal manual flush method. I just have to get the hose that feeds the toilet from the raw water at this point which should be pretty easy in and of itself.

Thanks again for the great advice.