Water strainer Clogging in 34MKii

[dselec]

The fresh water strainer in our 1999 mkii, #1450, repeatedly clogs with black gunk. My dock neighbor has a 1988 Catalina 34 and he periodically cleans debris from his starboard tank with a shop-Vac thru an access port in the tank.

Does the aft water tank in a mkii have an access port? I'm guessing access to the tank is through the aft cabin.

If there is no access port, I'd be interested in alternate methods to get rid of debris in the water system.

Thanks,
Dave

[Ron Hill]

Dave : I don't believe that there is an access port in any aft tank C34.  
Unlike the starboard tank, the aft tanks' drain is fwd side at the bottom and when emptied is completely empty.

I always wash the boat first to insure that all the water in the dock lines is used up before filling my water tank.

a few thoughts

[Roc]

Dave
My MKII does not have an access port only the forward tank does.  Whenever you fill your tanks try to let the water run for at least 15 minutes to insure clean water (this suggestion is per Pegged on keeping the fresh water clean).  What I do is fill the tanks after washing the boat.

[Ken Juul]

Peggie Hall is now retired, she was the head and fresh water expert.  Google, "the head mistress".  She has a system of bleach and flushing that will clean your tanks without the use of the shop vac.

[dselec]

I located Peggy's "shock" treatment for water tanks on trawlerforum.com and will go through the procedure.

Thanks to all for the useful information. I'm happy to be a member of the C34 Association!

Dave

[Jim Hardesty]

Peggy's book "Getting Rid Of Boat Odors" has a lot of good information on water and holding systems.

http://www.amazon.com/Get-Rid-Boat-Odors-Aggravation/dp/1892399156

Jim

[Stu Jackson]

I located Peggy's "shock" treatment for water tanks on trawlerforum.com and will go through the procedure.

It's also right here on ours:

Fresh Water System Recommissioning 101  http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5836.0.html

The "101 Topics" have a LOT of information.

[Mike and Joanne Stimmler]

You also may want to try this filter assembly that I purchased from Home Depot.
I will try to attach a photo. It just attaches to your outside fill hose.

Mike