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38-200 tankage question

lpd

New Member
Hello,

I joined the EYO forum recently because I'm thinking about buying an Ericson 38 in the near future. I've recently gotten interested in a listing for a 1989 E38-200. The brokerage listing says water tank capacity is 60 gallons and fuel tank capacity is 52 gallons. The sailboatdata.com site for E38-200 says tank capacity is 97 gallon for water and 54 gallons for fuel.

The broker says the numbers he posted for tankage came from a book. Did Ericson offer tankage options for water and fuel back in the day? Is the broker right about tankage or is sailboatdata.com correct?

Thank you,
Louis
 
Last edited:

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
The E38 models fuel tanks are usually listed somewhere between 50 and 55, the numbers never agree. If it's the original tank it's somewhere about there. I haven't heard that the 38-200 fuel tank is different from mine, , but our members who have them will know.

Water tankage varies depending on whether an optional bow tank is installed. My bow tank is about 30 gallons and the main cabin tank about 40.
 

lpd

New Member
Mr. Williams,

Thank you for the reply to my question regarding E38 tank tankage. I also queried the listing broke via email referencing the numbers I found at sailboatdata.com. He replied that upon further investigation the E38-200 in question has a 96 gallon water capacity--this is significantly better than 60 gallon capacity listed originally. Fuel capacity is still said to be 52 gallons, which is in line with the range you provided. I plan to have a look at the boat this weekend and will be able to verify whether or not she has a bow tank.

What sort of motoring range have you obtained with Thelonious II and her 50-odd gallon fuel tank?

As an aside, I finished reading Alone Together about a week ago. I found your story and the messages contained therein to be compelling, enthralling and inspirational. I enjoyed reading every word of it--thanks.

Respectfully,
Louis Dehner
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Hi Louis,

The usual estimate for our four-cylinder diesels is 3/4 gallons an hour, or a little less. Returning from Hawaii in the E381 I faced doldrums and motored for several days. I kept to five knots to stretch the fuel aboard and the fuel burn was .5 gallons/hr. With four 5-gallon jugs on deck I figured I had a range of 700 miles.

Water is heavy (8+ pounds per gallon). 100 gallons on an Ericson seems wrong. Watermaker if heading off far with crew.

Glad to hear you read Alone Together. See below for the video and book starring the Ericson 38.

Cheers
Christian
 

driftless

Member III
Blogs Author
Hello and welcome Louis!
I've owned a 1989 E38-200 for a little over a year now, and here's what I think I know:

The listed capacities for freshwater tankage in the E38-200 factory manual are:

Starboard: 22 gals.
Port: 40 gals.
Forward Vee Berth (optional): 35 gals.

For a total of 97 gallons if you have the forward tank.
If not, the manual lists the total tankage as 60 gallons, so I'm not sure where those 2 extra gallons go?!?

My 38-200 has the optional forward tank, but we don't fill it in order to keep all of that weight out of the bow (280 lbs!). I like to know we have it though for the planned extended cruises we hope to do. We would just draw down that tank first. There's a very nicely assemble manifold system for switching tanks under the sink in the galley.

One note is that on our boat the manual freshwater footpump is plumbed directly to the port tank, not the manifold. I'd like to change that so the manual pump is pulling from the selected tank, but I don't know if plumbing that in to the same system might conflict with the pressure water pump. For now we always start by drawing pressure water from stbd first and manual from port.

Out boat came with half a tank of "gas" and after 3 months of weekend sailing went on the hard with 3/8 a tank. We haven't refilled it yet so I can't verify the capacity. The owner's manual states 59 gallons in the tankage specs (or 58.8 in the engine specs section).
E38200tankage.jpg
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
While I do not know exactly why, there are consistent reports over the years about problems with the foot pump when it's plumbed into the pressure water line to the tap. Hopefully someone can discuss the specifics.
Our model did not come with a foot pump, altho we wish we had one at times. Nice to have it as a backup, and it's also a great way to make water users personally aware of just how much they are using -- makes the supply last longer.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I exercise the two foot pumps every visit, to keep them limber but mostly because the salt water foot pump develops a bad smell from organic matter in the hose. Same as a head plumbed to salt water wash.

One quirk: the footpumps sometimes admit air when bleeding the system after the tanks have been run dry. All it takes to cure that instantly is a few pumps of each.
 

lpd

New Member
While I do not know exactly why, there are consistent reports over the years about problems with the foot pump when it's plumbed into the pressure water line to the tap. Hopefully someone can discuss the specifics.
Our model did not come with a foot pump, altho we wish we had one at times. Nice to have it as a backup, and it's also a great way to make water users personally aware of just how much they are using -- makes the supply last longer.
Hello and welcome Louis!
I've owned a 1989 E38-200 for a little over a year now, and here's what I think I know:

The listed capacities for freshwater tankage in the E38-200 factory manual are:

Starboard: 22 gals.
Port: 40 gals.
Forward Vee Berth (optional): 35 gals.

For a total of 97 gallons if you have the forward tank.
If not, the manual lists the total tankage as 60 gallons, so I'm not sure where those 2 extra gallons go?!?

My 38-200 has the optional forward tank, but we don't fill it in order to keep all of that weight out of the bow (280 lbs!). I like to know we have it though for the planned extended cruises we hope to do. We would just draw down that tank first. There's a very nicely assemble manifold system for switching tanks under the sink in the galley.

One note is that on our boat the manual freshwater footpump is plumbed directly to the port tank, not the manifold. I'd like to change that so the manual pump is pulling from the selected tank, but I don't know if plumbing that in to the same system might conflict with the pressure water pump. For now we always start by drawing pressure water from stbd first and manual from port.

Out boat came with half a tank of "gas" and after 3 months of weekend sailing went on the hard with 3/8 a tank. We haven't refilled it yet so I can't verify the capacity. The owner's manual states 59 gallons in the tankage specs (or 58.8 in the engine specs section).
View attachment 35789
Tyler,
Thanks for taking the time to put together your informative response--it's much appreciated. I'm driving up to the lower Chesapeake tomorrow morning to look at an '89 E38-200.
-Louis
 

footrope

Contributing Partner
Blogs Author
While I do not know exactly why, there are consistent reports over the years about problems with the foot pump when it's plumbed into the pressure water line to the tap. Hopefully someone can discuss the specifics.
Our model did not come with a foot pump, altho we wish we had one at times. Nice to have it as a backup, and it's also a great way to make water users personally aware of just how much they are using -- makes the supply last longer.
My fresh water foot pump is plumbed into the pressure manifold and draws water from whichever tank I am using. Two quirks about this arrangement, neither of which are a problem.

The foot pump can't/shouldn't be used when the electric pressure pump is running. The pedal becomes very hard to pump. I'm not sure why this happens, but when the system is re-pressurizing I wouldn't recommend forcing the foot pump to operate. The foot pump is a rather complex device and it is relatively expensive to replace.

When the water system pressure is up and the electric pump stops operating there is a small burp of water from the freshwater foot pump spigot. It happens almost every time.
 

David Grimm

E38-200
Mine is the same as Footrope. Except something must have gone wrong with the internals. I have to tape off the spigot in order for the pressurized system to work.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Perhaps the foot pump is admitting air, common with ancient foot pumps. Or the connections. A finger over the spigot is one of the tips for bleeding air out of a system. Usually once the prime is regained the finger is no longer necessary.
 

ddoles

Member III
To the question on tank capacity, I have the same listed tank capacities for my e38-200 as noted above. However, this season I undertook a project to replace some hoses and install a tank monitor and this necessitated removing the housing around the holding tank and port water tank. Doing this I was able to read the tank model number markings and check the specs with the tank manufacturer. What I discovered is that the E38-200 manual is wrong. The holding listed as 25 gallons is really 20 gallons. The port water tank listed as 30 gallons is really 25 gallons. This leaves me to question all the other tank capacities. I would take all the published info with a healthy bit of caution.
 

ddoles

Member III
Correction to my post above: The port water tank is listed as 40 gallons and is really 30 gallons according the tank manufacturer specs.
 
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