I am in the process of replacing most of the fresh (potable) water system in my 1988 Olson 34. This is the gray flexible tubing that Ericson used, along with thousands of homebuilders and RV manufacturers in the 80's. I had a persistant drip near the pressure pump. A local RV parts distributor told me last year that this product had been the subject of a huge lawsuit nationally and, except for some repair fittings, he had none of the tubing available for some years. A search on the web found much material about the suit ("largest product liability settlement in history", according to one site) and the information that common minerals, including even chlorine, cause the plastic to deteriorate in as little as 2 to 3 years in home use. I figure that boats and RV's average far less quantities of water through their plumbing over a typical year, and that's why we do not hear of oodles of failures. I know of another local '83 Ericson 33 with the same Qest tubing installed by the factory; he is having no leak problems yet. Please view this as a cautionary message only.
The RV parts guy asked me if I was getting any leaks where there was vibration, and correctly guessed that it was near the pump...
Since I had moved my water heater location 2 years ago, and planned to reformat the plumbing layout anyway (to eliminate about 25 feet of tubing!), I decided to do it this year. On my boat the factory had tried to "hide" the noise of the pump by placing it way back under the berth in the aft cabin. This had forced them to add a lot of extra tubing, and made the pump very hard to get at. IMHO, they could have put it under the galley and added an accumulator as well, and broke even on the labor they would have saved...
And that's where the pump (and new accumulator) is going next. I found food grade reinforced tubing with a colored cover at the local hose supply industrial store, for less than 35 cents a foot. I will go the old fashioned barbed fitting system. If one wanted something fancy, there is the Whale system available at West Marine, and one can have blue tubing for cold and red for hot!
So far the only part of the job that requires triple-jointed dexterity is getting at the tubing for the faucets in the head, and attaching little hanger straps in spaces barely big enough for a hampster.
And, lest I forget, when I pulled out about 8 feet of now-surplus wiring to the pump, there were scrapes clear through to the conductor about every 2 feet, from pulling it through the boat during initial installation. All but one were wrapped with electrical tape. I think the builders were in too much of a hurry.
Loren, Olson 34 #8
June/2001
The RV parts guy asked me if I was getting any leaks where there was vibration, and correctly guessed that it was near the pump...
Since I had moved my water heater location 2 years ago, and planned to reformat the plumbing layout anyway (to eliminate about 25 feet of tubing!), I decided to do it this year. On my boat the factory had tried to "hide" the noise of the pump by placing it way back under the berth in the aft cabin. This had forced them to add a lot of extra tubing, and made the pump very hard to get at. IMHO, they could have put it under the galley and added an accumulator as well, and broke even on the labor they would have saved...
And that's where the pump (and new accumulator) is going next. I found food grade reinforced tubing with a colored cover at the local hose supply industrial store, for less than 35 cents a foot. I will go the old fashioned barbed fitting system. If one wanted something fancy, there is the Whale system available at West Marine, and one can have blue tubing for cold and red for hot!
So far the only part of the job that requires triple-jointed dexterity is getting at the tubing for the faucets in the head, and attaching little hanger straps in spaces barely big enough for a hampster.
And, lest I forget, when I pulled out about 8 feet of now-surplus wiring to the pump, there were scrapes clear through to the conductor about every 2 feet, from pulling it through the boat during initial installation. All but one were wrapped with electrical tape. I think the builders were in too much of a hurry.
Loren, Olson 34 #8
June/2001