Crown Head - Water Pressure?
Posted: October 11th, 2018, 4:46 pm
So I'm having some issues with my forward head. It's a Crown vintage 1995. Electric macerator style.
When I bought the boat it had very little water flow when flushing. I figured I would buy a rebuild kit and put a new impeller in along with some new gaskets. I did this, and now I have even less water flow.(Before the impeller change you could barely see water even if you ran the head for 20 seconds, but there was a little) I traced the supply water line and found that it taps in BEFORE the water pump for the entire boat.
It seems weird to me that that little impeller would be able to suck water from under the bed, all the way up to the bow of the boat.
Here's another facet to my issues. I notice that randomly I get a couple inches of clean water in my forward bilge. Not enough to trip the bilge pump, but water none the less. The shower/AC sump is working well and that box never fills up, so I know it's not that water. I've been looking for leaks in the water lines, but not seeing anything. We also get air in the water lines for a long time after sitting. The faucets spit and sputter for awhile even on city water. Knowing how the head is plumbed I would think this is caused by the head being plumbed in front of the pump and that water line being empty. (because the impeller can't seem to pull that far)
So here's my question. Can I tap the water line to the head in AFTER the pump so the water pump supplies the water pressure and the impeller just helps move it along?
Is there a good way to pressure test my water system? For the record I leave the pump on all the time on weekends and I don't ever hear the pump randomly kick on. I'm thinking my forward bilge water somehow is tied to the head feed line. I was thinking I could disconnect both ends of the head feed line and apply air to it, but is there some gauge I can buy to do this?
I'm not opposed to buying a new head if I need to, in fact we've been leaning that way because these Crown heads are pretty dated, but first I'd need to make sure I can get water to the front head reliably.
FWIW I did call Carver and got the water line drawings for the boat. They are pretty generic and don't align with how mine is set up. It shows the feed line for the head go along the outside of the boat and mine runs right up the middle and is very clearly factory and matches the rear head plumbing. (white sanitary lines buried in sealant when it passes through a bulkhead).
When I bought the boat it had very little water flow when flushing. I figured I would buy a rebuild kit and put a new impeller in along with some new gaskets. I did this, and now I have even less water flow.(Before the impeller change you could barely see water even if you ran the head for 20 seconds, but there was a little) I traced the supply water line and found that it taps in BEFORE the water pump for the entire boat.
It seems weird to me that that little impeller would be able to suck water from under the bed, all the way up to the bow of the boat.
Here's another facet to my issues. I notice that randomly I get a couple inches of clean water in my forward bilge. Not enough to trip the bilge pump, but water none the less. The shower/AC sump is working well and that box never fills up, so I know it's not that water. I've been looking for leaks in the water lines, but not seeing anything. We also get air in the water lines for a long time after sitting. The faucets spit and sputter for awhile even on city water. Knowing how the head is plumbed I would think this is caused by the head being plumbed in front of the pump and that water line being empty. (because the impeller can't seem to pull that far)
So here's my question. Can I tap the water line to the head in AFTER the pump so the water pump supplies the water pressure and the impeller just helps move it along?
Is there a good way to pressure test my water system? For the record I leave the pump on all the time on weekends and I don't ever hear the pump randomly kick on. I'm thinking my forward bilge water somehow is tied to the head feed line. I was thinking I could disconnect both ends of the head feed line and apply air to it, but is there some gauge I can buy to do this?
I'm not opposed to buying a new head if I need to, in fact we've been leaning that way because these Crown heads are pretty dated, but first I'd need to make sure I can get water to the front head reliably.
FWIW I did call Carver and got the water line drawings for the boat. They are pretty generic and don't align with how mine is set up. It shows the feed line for the head go along the outside of the boat and mine runs right up the middle and is very clearly factory and matches the rear head plumbing. (white sanitary lines buried in sealant when it passes through a bulkhead).