O34 -- pressure water question and lazarette question

[boatgeek]

Hi folks,

I'm making some progress with the new-to-me O34. Got new battery charger in and wired (inboard wall of aft cabin) and got the old rusty cube of a water heater out of the boat with out, and the most violent implement I required was a hacksaw. I also found the leaking pressure water line, which is a broken connector on the end of a grey pipe (Qest?), which is sitting just aft of the holding tank. It comes from the pump which is under the aft-cabin berth -- it is one side of the high-pressure Tee. What I can't find for the life of me is where it is supposed to connect. I have 2 questions for you good people:

First, what do people recommend for new tubing and fittings? I saw Christian likes the old grey stuff, but where can you even get that? Some of the hoses were replaced recently (attempting to cure the leak I believe) and seem fine. so I I'd be open to that but those fitting seem pretty fragile to me compared with some tubing on a steel or brass nipple (or even plastic) with with hose clamps. I'm unclear if I'm going to have the time or energy to put in a new water heater anytime soon, (though this would be the time I guess) but want to preserve plumbing to allow for it. I would also love to have some shutoff valves put in in a couple of places.

Second: what is the painted plywood structure that is at the bottom of the lazarette that looks like it has water pipes going into it. Just aft of the holding tank, with about a 1-2 inch gap, but lower than the top of the holding tank. It is sturdy. Is that a pressure tank of some kind? Or is it just blocking to provide a working bottom of the locker?

Thanks to all !

 

[Loren Beach]

Second: what is the painted plywood structure that is at the bottom of the lazarette that looks like it has water pipes going into it. Just aft of the holding tank, with about a 1-2 inch gap, but lower than the top of the holding tank. It is sturdy. Is that a pressure tank of some kind? Or is it just blocking to provide a working bottom of the locker?

Our O-34 came with a second optional 23 gallon water tank in that lazaret. Heavy plywood enclosure around it. The stock water lift muffler is right in front of it.
The factory water plumbing scheme used Qest tubing, and we had some leakage at vibration points, like the connections to the pump. I seem to recall the original pump location being under the aft berth, but it's been a rather long time since I removed it and moved it to a new accessible location under the galley module, i.e. under the sink.
There is a factory plastic-valve manifold under our galley sink where water can be valved on from the settee (Starb.) water tank or the after tank.

As for piping, I removed almost all of the Qest stuff and changed over to "food grade" flexible tubing and barbed fittings. Others have selectively replaced leaking Qest parts, often from old stock found at RV stores. No wrong answers.

Stickly in the FWIW dept, I did also replace the factory corroded hot water tank right after we acquired our boat, I glassed in a new plywood base under the nav seat and put in a new SS tank & shell. Unfortunately, "Atlantic", the company that built that super high quality tank is gone from the market. Nowadays I would replace with a new tank from Isotemp. They make a well-regarded product, in oodles of different sizes and shapes.
If you want some photos of our boat interior and systems please let me know.
In this thread, by reply 21, are posted some pix of that area in our boat.

New Holding Tank, Piping & Valves

Tank News Here is a short update now that I have photos available. One with the demolition started and the other with new tank in place. The Rotozip and an old chisel were involved, along with some swearing. There will be more posted later to show the pump-out manual option being restored...

ericsonyachts.org

Wry Observation Attempt: Plumbing and holding tanks and water systems figure in a LOT of threads and blogs on this site.... These craft are old enough for these systems to have exceeded their OEM design life. Good quality stuff in its day, tho.

And here is... Another O-34 "waste" focused thread: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/sani-system-rebuild-olson-34.15471/#post-111784

Cheers, Loren

 

[boatgeek]

Thanks Loren ! That is very helpful. Helps explain the multitude of hoses. I did not notice the fill port for that tank, but there is a hose going in near the top, maybe to a deck fitting, but I thought it was a vent. Still learning the boat. Thanks!

Our O-34 came with a second optional 23 gallon water tank in that lazaret. Heavy plywood enclosure around it. The stock water lift muffler is right in front of it.
The factory water plumbing scheme used Qest tubing, and we had some leakage at vibration points, like the connections to the pump. I seem to recall the original pump location being under the aft berth, but it's been a rather long time since I removed it and moved it to a new accessible location under the galley module, i.e. under the sink.
There is a factory plastic-valve manifold under our galley sink where water can be valved on from the settee (Starb.) water tank or the after tank.

As for piping, I removed almost all of the Qest stuff and changed over to "food grade" flexible tubing and barbed fittings. Others have selectively replaced leaking Qest parts, often from old stock found at RV stores. No wrong answers.

Stickly in the FWIW dept, I did also replace the factory corroded hot water tank right after we acquired our boat, I glassed in a new plywood base under the nav seat and put in a new SS tank & shell. Unfortunately, "Atlantic", the company that built that super high quality tank is gone from the market. Nowadays I would replace with a new tank from Isotemp. They make a well-regarded product, in oodles of different sizes and shapes.
If you want some photos of our boat interior and systems please let me know.
In this thread, by reply 21, are posted some pix of that area in our boat.

New Holding Tank, Piping & Valves

Tank News Here is a short update now that I have photos available. One with the demolition started and the other with new tank in place. The Rotozip and an old chisel were involved, along with some swearing. There will be more posted later to show the pump-out manual option being restored...

ericsonyachts.org

Wry Observation Attempt: Plumbing and holding tanks and water systems figure in a LOT of threads and blogs on this site.... These craft are old enough for these systems to have exceeded their OEM design life. Good quality stuff in its day, tho.

And here is... Another O-34 "waste" focused thread: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/sani-system-rebuild-olson-34.15471/#post-111784

Cheers, Loren

 

[Christian Williams]

Follow this thread from Post #7 for various ways to connect Qest and Pex.

Connecting PEX to PB​

Tom
Posted on August 8, 2013
Polybutylene (PB) piping was commonly used for domestic water piping in the United States during parts of the 1970s and 1980s. Polybutylene can be identified by its gray color. Lawsuits related to fitting assembly failures caused the production of PB to stop, but the plastic tubing is still present in some homes.
PB has the same outside diameter as PEX of the same nominal size, but outside diameters differ slightly between the tubing types. This means that you should not use PEX fittings on polybutylene, but that you can use PEX crimping rings and PEX crimping tools on barbed PB connections. SupplyHouse.com offers a small selection of PEX to PB fittings in common sizes. Only the SharkBite U4008LF and U4016LF fittings do not require tools on either side. The other options have barbed PB connections and either a crimp or PEX press connection on the PEX end.

 

[Loren Beach]

I did not notice the fill port for that tank, but there is a hose going in near the top

Our Olson had both tank fills located on the top of each tank. i.e. we bring in the hose with a little ball-valve shut off on the end. Then fill the tank (s) from inside the boat via a cap that is unscrewed from the tank top.
Coincidence -- I just refilled our main settee tank this am. Quick and easy and never a drop spilled. (No deck fill fitting to leak in contamination because of a bad O ring, either.)

 

[nukey99]

I had to replace/redo some plumbing fittings on the shower on our Ericson 35-3. It was very challenging due to access. I used the crimp type adapters that Christian illustrated in his comments above. I spliced PEX into the line using the adapters, then used conventional PEX fittings the rest of the way. Future repairs will be done using the same approach.