New Owner Questions

Stu Jackson · September 25, 2024, 10:54:31 AM

Quote from: Noah on September 25, 2024, 10:31:49 AM>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

What is the factory standard water tank configuration and how did it change with the years built?

Kevin—Do you have three water tanks? Aft, Starboard and V-berth?

Noah,

The first boats came with fwd and strbd tanks,1986 initial models. Around hull #200 in late 1986 they stopped with the fwd tank and put in the aft tank, keeping the strbd tank. I have #224 with an aft tank. It's been aft & strbd ever since.

The only thing that seems to have changed is the strbd tank fill point. I looked at the Mark II manual and it's not as clear as the Mark I manual was. I did that when krafty noted a bow fill point. That bow fill is a long way away from the strbd tank.

Noah · September 25, 2024, 11:29:33 AM

Thanks Stu—what confuses me is that Kevin (TopGun) said he "prefers to use his V-Berth tank instead of his aft tank". Which begs the question what happened to his Starboard tank, and does he have three tanks?

Stu Jackson · September 25, 2024, 01:49:06 PM

Noah, he said "front tank" so he could have meant the strbd one. I can understand your confusion.

scgunner · September 25, 2024, 03:48:23 PM

Guys,

Just to clear up the confusion in regards to the V-berth I mentioned sleeping there not that I had a tank under the V-berth. In referring to the front and aft tanks that was in reference to the location of the water pump and valves, one tank's ahead of them one behind, maybe I should have been clearer. My boat is an '86 with the standard configuration; one tank under the seat of the dining table, one tank behind the bulkhead in the aft cabin.

Ironically I actually do have a V-berth tank but it was added by me to increase tankage, it's tied into the front tank and also controlled by the front tank valve. It became necessary after I installed a flash water heater and "the Girls" began using water at an alarming rate!

krafty81 · November 10, 2024, 07:24:17 PM

I am still trying to figure out which valves under the sink control where water is coming from. I have a forward (stbd) tank and an aft tank with a fill on the rear stbd quarter. There are multiple unlabeled valves under the sink.

Craig Illman · November 11, 2024, 05:17:00 AM

What about dropping some food coloring in one of the tanks?

Craig

scgunner · November 11, 2024, 07:30:24 AM

krafty,

Multiple? How many is multiple? I've got two valves under the sink the right valve controls the aft tank the left valve controls the fore tank (under the dining seat) that is the factory configuration or at least it is on my boat.

robbjd · November 11, 2024, 10:59:55 AM

Terry, our Mk2 has a forward tank under the V berth and the aft tank was removed by one of the previous owners. Don't miss the aft tank because of an additional lake water system that we use for washdown, etc. Our beautiful, clean, clear Lake Huron water allows this.
The routing of the tank hoses should be fairly obvious as to which tank they come from. If not, fill both tanks to overflowing, close one of the valves and with the pump running into your sink eyeball the tank level for a change. I found I had to do a thorough cleaning of the forward tank because it wasn't always kept full and mold had grown on the underside of the tank top. I can send a picture of our labelled valve arrangement when I can climb ladders again.
John

krafty81 · November 11, 2024, 04:19:16 PM

Quote from: robbjd on November 11, 2024, 10:59:55 AMTerry, our Mk2 has a forward tank under the V berth and the aft tank was removed by one of the previous owners. Don't miss the aft tank because of an additional lake water system that we use for washdown, etc. Our beautiful, clean, clear Lake Huron water allows this.
The routing of the tank hoses should be fairly obvious as to which tank they come from. If not, fill both tanks to overflowing, close one of the valves and with the pump running into your sink eyeball the tank level for a change. I found I had to do a thorough cleaning of the forward tank because it wasn't always kept full and mold had grown on the underside of the tank top. I can send a picture of our labelled valve arrangement when I can climb ladders again.
John

Thanks, would appreciate a photo. I have tried the "turn on off" thing and it did not stop water flowing.

rmjohns · November 12, 2024, 04:00:06 AM

There's a pretty good drawing in the owners manual. At least on my stock mkii, there are 4 pvc ball valves under the sink plus the 2 thru-hulls. I've marked the PVC ball valves in red and the thru-hulls in blue.

On the port side under the sink are ball valves that turn on the show sump (Aft) or the ice box sump (Forward), and on the starboard side is the fresh water with the aft valve being for the aft tank, forward for the forward. These valves are right next to the thru-hulls.
And in case you are not familiar with those ball valves, the valve is open if the handle is in line with the pipe, closed if the handle is perpendicular to the pipe.

krafty81 · November 12, 2024, 04:12:37 PM

Thanks very helpful! The two on the left are labeled and the other two are not. Great diagram and will look in the owners manual as well.

krafty81 · November 17, 2024, 03:56:34 PM

Two new issues not.
- After boat has been sitting a couple days, engine start is a little sluggish. Usually takes two pushes.
- boat plugged into 30 AMP all the time at the pier
- batteries both test at over 13V
- once I start the engine and shut down, it immeiately starts when I press the button
- one battery has some corrosion on the negative side I need to fix

- Fuel gauge JUST stopped working
- Had filled the tank and it showed full on the gauge and it has always worked since I got the boat
- Mast is currently off getting rewired, I wonder if this has anything to do with that?
- Gauge pegs at below E as soon as it has power. Wiki says bad sender unit maybe?

Any insights appreciated.

Jim Hardesty · November 18, 2024, 05:28:34 AM

QuoteAfter boat has been sitting a couple days, engine start is a little sluggish. Usually takes two pushes

You say sluggish, does that mean the engine is turning over slowly? Turning over slowly sounds like poor battery or poor connection. If the motor turns over good enough but takes some cranking, my guess would be fuel, a small leak or air leak that drains down over time.

Think you are right about the sender. When I first got Shamrock the sender was bad. I took it out and matched with a generic one at the boat parts store, auto supply may have the same. That was about 20 years ago.
hope that helps,
Jim

scgunner · November 18, 2024, 06:34:05 AM

krafty,

Well the most important thing is that it does start. What's your starting procedure? Mine is as follows, advance throttle 1/4 to a 1/3, press glow plug button for 30 seconds, then release and press ignition button, if your batteries are good it should fire up in a few seconds.

When the ignition is turned on and the fuel gauge immediately pegs it's usually a ground problem in the sending unit.

krafty81 · November 18, 2024, 06:46:04 AM

Quote from: scgunner on November 18, 2024, 06:34:05 AMkrafty,

Well the most important thing is that it does start. What's your starting procedure? Mine is as follows, advance throttle 1/4 to a 1/3, press glow plug button for 30 seconds, then release and press ignition button, if your batteries are good it should fire up in a few seconds.

When the ignition is turned on and the fuel gauge immediately pegs it's usually a ground problem in the sending unit.

Where is the glow plug button?