Flooded Boat

[sparkybaz]

During the recent cold snap i've done everything possible to prevent freezing pipes and flooding! (Our first boat and only had it 3 months)

Left the water tank half full/empty, left the taps open and the water pump turned off.

One of the problems on our marina has been the shower hose freezing and splitting, so when i left the boat two weeks ago i did all the above and left the shower hose hanging down into the tray, BIG mistake!

The water tank is the same level as the shower tray! so when i arrived tonight i discovered the shower had syphoned the remaining contents of the tank and flooded the boat!

I should have known better, lesson learned!

Gutted!

[boatmoving]

I hope you have proper wooden floors, not laminate or your will have a big job on your hands!

[sparkybaz]

I hope you have proper wooden floors, not laminate or your will have a big job on your hands!

 

Thanks for that,I'll find out in the morning!

[ditchcrawler]

During the recent cold snap i've done everything possible to prevent freezing pipes and flooding! (Our first boat and only had it 3 months)

Left the water tank half full/empty, left the taps open and the water pump turned off.

One of the problems on our marina has been the shower hose freezing and splitting, so when i left the boat two weeks ago i did all the above and left the shower hose hanging down into the tray, BIG mistake!

The water tank is the same level as the shower tray! so when i arrived tonight i discovered the shower had syphoned the remaining contents of the tank and flooded the boat!

I should have known better, lesson learned!

Gutted!

If you didn't have heating on, you got off lightly with no split pump, pipes, filters etc. As the winter approaches I always close the valve on the cold water storage tank which is half full, empty as much water out of the pipes and calorifier as possible, leave all taps open, remove the pump and shake all the water out, make sure all the water is out of the filter. probably takes an hour after The Boss has removed things from the galley cupboard so I can get to the pump. I don't have the option of leaving heat on and even if I could I would not risk a power cut while I am 150 miles away.

[alan_fincher]

IAs the winter approaches I always close the valve on the cold water storage tank which is half full, empty as much water out of the pipes and calorifier as possible, leave all taps open, remove the pump and shake all the water out, make sure all the water is out of the filter.

Not a lot of help to OP, but (assuming they have a valve!), that's the obvious bit that may have been missed ?

 

It at least stops your cold water tank content ending up in the boat, whatever bursts or splits after that point.

 

Of course if someone doesn't drain down a calorifier, that much water could end up somewhere when you don't want it to, but it's still an awful lot less than a half full cold water tank!

[J R]

During the recent cold snap i've done everything possible to prevent freezing pipes and flooding! (Our first boat and only had it 3 months)

Left the water tank half full/empty, left the taps open and the water pump turned off.

One of the problems on our marina has been the shower hose freezing and splitting, so when i left the boat two weeks ago i did all the above and left the shower hose hanging down into the tray, BIG mistake!

The water tank is the same level as the shower tray! so when i arrived tonight i discovered the shower had syphoned the remaining contents of the tank and flooded the boat!

I should have known better, lesson learned!

Gutted!

 

Ouch. Sorry to hear about your misfortune. You obviously did all the sensible precautions and more. Unfair you paid a penalty for all your efforts, but sometimes thats boats and boating. During the very cold spell did as you did. Turned off the water pump, emptied taps, removed shower head, left shower tap on but found that on the final check around that the shower tray was filling up. Turned off shower tap and decided to take the risk. No probs thank god when I returned a few days later when the boat was -5 inside and frozen solid. Thankfully when thawed out over the next 4 hours all the pipes were sound. You feel that you made a small mistake, but you did it for the right reasons so don't beat yourself up about it. For the future, there should be a shut off valve on the potable water tank outlet pipe that you could isolate in the future. (Horse bolted, stable door now closed.....).

 

The water would have gone somewhere, prohably under the floor into the bilge. There should be an inspection hatch somewhere that you can open and if there is water in there you can wet & dry vac it out. There may be other access holes, behind/under kitchen units for example, that you can access to get at any additional water. Just a matter of now keeping good ventilation and plenty of heat to dry out the floor and any dampness in the boat. B****r it is, especially with a boat you have only had for a short time, but summer and good cruising is just around the corner and the bad times will be forgotten.

[sharpness]

For the future, there should be a shut off valve on the potable water tank outlet pipe that you could isolate in the future.

 

And if there isnt one, then put one in, as close to the tank as possible.

 

Steve

[sparkybaz]

Ouch. Sorry to hear about your misfortune. You obviously did all the sensible precautions and more. Unfair you paid a penalty for all your efforts, but sometimes thats boats and boating. During the very cold spell did as you did. Turned off the water pump, emptied taps, removed shower head, left shower tap on but found that on the final check around that the shower tray was filling up. Turned off shower tap and decided to take the risk. No probs thank god when I returned a few days later when the boat was -5 inside and frozen solid. Thankfully when thawed out over the next 4 hours all the pipes were sound. You feel that you made a small mistake, but you did it for the right reasons so don't beat yourself up about it. For the future, there should be a shut off valve on the potable water tank outlet pipe that you could isolate in the future. (Horse bolted, stable door now closed.....).

 

The water would have gone somewhere, prohably under the floor into the bilge. There should be an inspection hatch somewhere that you can open and if there is water in there you can wet & dry vac it out. There may be other access holes, behind/under kitchen units for example, that you can access to get at any additional water. Just a matter of now keeping good ventilation and plenty of heat to dry out the floor and any dampness in the boat. B****r it is, especially with a boat you have only had for a short time, but summer and good cruising is just around the corner and the bad times will be forgotten.

 

 

Yes finding where the water went is the next thing,then getting rid of it!

 

Strange;y enough the reason i came this week was to renew the carprts! so they're no great loss.

Having had the boat 3 months, most of which we've been frozen in we've only had about 10 hours cruising so far! so it's been a hard introduction to boating so far.

[Guest]

During the recent cold snap i've done everything possible to prevent freezing pipes and flooding! (Our first boat and only had it 3 months)

Left the water tank half full/empty, left the taps open and the water pump turned off.

One of the problems on our marina has been the shower hose freezing and splitting, so when i left the boat two weeks ago i did all the above and left the shower hose hanging down into the tray, BIG mistake!

The water tank is the same level as the shower tray! so when i arrived tonight i discovered the shower had syphoned the remaining contents of the tank and flooded the boat!

I should have known better, lesson learned!

Gutted!

 

It's good you have posted this though as I wouldn't have necessarily appreciated the risk. I left The Dog House with the shower head removed and the pipe dangling and didn't think about this possibility. I did however also switch off the water supply from the tank to the pumps. If I hadn't I'd possibly be in the same situation so many thanks.

 

 

..

Edited January 18, 2011 by MJG

[sueb]

will your insurance cover it?

Sue

[blackrose]

Not a lot of help to OP, but (assuming they have a valve!), that's the obvious bit that may have been missed ?

 

It at least stops your cold water tank content ending up in the boat, whatever bursts or splits after that point.

 

That's the bit in the OP I don't understand. If you close the valve on (or just after) the water tank, how does a shower syphon water from the tank into the boat?

[sparkybaz]

That's the bit in the OP I don't understand. If you close the valve on (or just after) the water tank, how does a shower syphon water from the tank into the boat?

 

 

I didn't say i had shut the valve, if there is one (i'll check tomorrow) then that would have prevented the problem.

[Paul Evans]

That's the bit in the OP I don't understand. If you close the valve on (or just after) the water tank, how does a shower syphon water from the tank into the boat?

 

The OP does not say that the valve between tank and pump was closed but it does say the pump was turned off. Could the water have been syphoned through the pump? That seems unlikely (but I bet somebody knows otherwise). Could the water have been syphoned from the calorifier?

 

Whatever the answer, I agree that shutting the valve between tank and pump is an essential part of winterising your boat.

[Guest]

That's the bit in the OP I don't understand. If you close the valve on (or just after) the water tank, how does a shower syphon water from the tank into the boat?

 

BR I don't think he said he'd switched that tap off - he said he'd switched the electric supply off.

 

I guess then the water can very easily syphon of and past the impeller/diaphragm in the pump.

[sparkybaz]

BR I don't think he said he'd switched that tap off - he said he'd switched the electric supply off.

 

I guess then the water can very easily syphon of and past the impeller/diaphragm in the pump.

 

 

SueB

 

It may do, but at present i don't intend going down that route, i'll survey the damage in the morning with a clearer head and make a decision.

 

All the taps were open, the pump was switched off, so yes it syphoned the water through the pump.

[blackrose]

I didn't say i had shut the valve, if there is one (i'll check tomorrow) then that would have prevented the problem.

 

I see. I just assumed you had.

 

Edit: I live on my boat and normally just turn off the pump when I'm at work or going out. If I'm away for any longer I close the gate valve but I guess it wouldn't take very long to flood the boat.

 

I'm going to see if I can replicate your syphoning problem with the pump off and gate valve open, but I don't think my shower head goes lower then the water level in the tank...

Edited January 18, 2011 by blackrose

[blackrose]

 

I'm going to see if I can replicate your syphoning problem with the pump off and gate valve open, but I don't think my shower head goes lower then the water level in the tank...

 

No, my showerhead won't syphon the water past the pump but I will try disconnecting a lower connection in the pipework to see what happens. Probably won't get the chance 'til the weekend.

[David Schweizer]

Whilst I leave the water tank half full, I always completely drain down the water pipes before leaving the boat over the winter.

 

To ensure that all the water is removed, I have modified the pipework to incorporate a T piece off the main supply pipe after the offtake stop cock, This T piece also has a stop cock on it. To drain down, I close the main tank stop cock, open the T piece stop cock and run the pump with all the taps and showe head open.

 

This proceedure can remove several more litres from the sysytem. To finish the job I remove the out pipe from the pump and run it again, catching any surplus water in a container.

 

One of the advantages of this system is that I can attach a flexible pipe to the T piece extension, and re-fill the system from a bucket of diluted Milton fluid, which I leave for about half an hour before switching back to main tank supply and flushing through with fresh water. You would be surprised how much gunk actually comes out.

Edited January 19, 2011 by David Schweizer

[alan_fincher]

I guess then the water can very easily syphon of and past the impeller/diaphragm in the pump.

I think nearly all boat water pumps are diaphragm based, rather than impeller, but am happy to be corrected if that's wrong.

 

Seems possible to me that water can run forward past such a pump, as I'd expect any valves present to be to allow water to flow freely forwards, (but not backwards, of course!).

 

I'll be interested if Mike's pump will let water through in a forward direction when switched off, or not....

[Strads]

Whilst we are effectively full time liveaboards, we do go away for long weekends and over the new year the body on our water pump split and leaked @ 100 gallons that went from the front of the boat through the ply floor base and oak flooring on top (causing that to warp - waiting to see as its dries as to whether it will be ok)

 

That "supprised " as we had left heating on, but assume that in the middle of the colest part fof the night the deep minus temps did the damage.

 

I had built the central heating system with a "drain" off T into the shower pump, but cannot currently drain the water pumps, nor can i "empty" the calorifier (vertical twin coil) and draining that would be a pig of a job..so may need to think out altering the plumbing and have a drain pump for that... as that will probably be cheaper to do in the long run that have more plumbing split and warp/ruin an expensive oak floor, never mind the drying out process !

 

 

Ho Hum said Pooh......

[Guest User]

Whilst we are effectively full time liveaboards, we do go away for long weekends and over the new year the body on our water pump split and leaked @ 100 gallons that went from the front of the boat through the ply floor base and oak flooring on top (causing that to warp - waiting to see as its dries as to whether it will be ok)

<snip>

 

 

Not much help once all the damage has been done but ... I'm in a similar dilemma/situation of being away for occasional weekends. Previous winters I've not been too fussed when away for a couple or three days, but this December (and having the luxury of mains power) I bit the bullet and got a couple of frost heaters in. They seem to have done the job through the worst of it. They cost a fortune on the leccy meter mind, especially over a couple of the really cold days when I was away, as I guess they were constantly on trying to maintain the temperature at just above zero when the outside temps were -8C (and below). But reading the extent of the damage water leaks cause I think it's worth considering the spend on the heaters and the coins in the meter.

 

(Edit: coz there's always a typo or two that magically appear just after I post)

Edited January 19, 2011 by Graham!

[serenility]

During the recent cold snap i've done everything possible to prevent freezing pipes and flooding! (Our first boat and only had it 3 months)

Left the water tank half full/empty, left the taps open and the water pump turned off.

One of the problems on our marina has been the shower hose freezing and splitting, so when i left the boat two weeks ago i did all the above and left the shower hose hanging down into the tray, BIG mistake!

The water tank is the same level as the shower tray! so when i arrived tonight i discovered the shower had syphoned the remaining contents of the tank and flooded the boat!

I should have known better, lesson learned!

Gutted!

Posted by me 08 Feb 2010 - A cautionary tale. In a boat we owned in the eighties I left the shower head in the shower tray and all the taps open when I left the boat one winters night. I returned a couple of days later, and found that the entire water tank had syphoned out into the shower tray and then into the bilge. There was about 9 inches of water in the aft cabin! It took ages to dry the boat out. Be careful of putting the shower head below the level of the water tank.

 

 

There's nothing new under the sun! You have my sympathy!

Ian

[blackrose]

I think nearly all boat water pumps are diaphragm based, rather than impeller, but am happy to be corrected if that's wrong.

 

Seems possible to me that water can run forward past such a pump, as I'd expect any valves present to be to allow water to flow freely forwards, (but not backwards, of course!).

 

I'll be interested if Mike's pump will let water through in a forward direction when switched off, or not....

 

I just disconnected a low level joint in my plumbing with the water pump switched off and pressure released from the system. It continued dribbling for quite some time until I closed the main gate valve from the water tank, so it seems that water can syphon (or just slowly flow) through the water pump even if it's switched off. I didn't realise that this was possible, so in future I'll be switching off the pump and closing the gate valve when I'm not onboard.

 

Just in case anyone is unaware, if you close the main valve from the tank then you MUST also switch off the pump because should the pump activate with the valve closed it will just continue to cycle in an attempt to pressurise the system until it burns itself out.

 

Edit: By the way, is there any disadvantage to having a lever valve instead of a gate valve? Just thinking of changing mine for ease of use as I will be closing and opening it everyday when I go to work and come home.

Edited January 23, 2011 by blackrose

[Canalfreak]

Two points.

 

First, thanks to Sparkybaz for posting this as I'd never have thought of this happening.

 

Second, I don't know how other members' shower hoses disconnect from their shower tap / controller/ whatever you call it. However, ours just unscrews. (I discovered this by accident when trying to get the water out of the shower hose at the beginning of winter). For those with the same method of attachment, that might be the easy solution.

 

 

Bob.

 

 

Edited to remove illogocal assertion.

Edited January 24, 2011 by Canalfreak

[RLWP]

Two points.

 

First, thanks to Sparkybaz for posting this as I'd never have thought of this happening. And this doesn't just apply to winterising the boat. Presumably the syphoning effect could happen at any time of year. So just leaving the shower hose dangling in the shower tray at any time could cause a flood.

 

<snip>

Bob.

 

Not anytime surely. You have to have left the shower taps on for this to work, and that really only happens when you switch the pump off and the taps on to winterise the boat.

 

Richard