Plunbing on a houseboat

[dudleykp]

I am remodeling a 1980 36' single screw Gibson housboat. Plumbing needs a lot of work....The water pump and hot water tank has been removed. I am also repalacing the water lines that go to te faucets, tolet and shower. Any ideas and cautions I should know about?....Does anyone have a plumbing diagram for this model Gibson one close to it?:smiletest:

[donmac]

I have plumbed many houseboats,never a gibson. I don't really feel the make of the boat makes any difference. The way the boat is used makes the most difference. does the boat stay in the marina most of the time or in remote locations. the size of the waste holding tank. is the boat equipped with propane for a stove that can operate a gas water heater.does the boat have closed cooling or can you use block heat for the hot water system. are yoiu running an electric head[toilet} or hand pump style. judging by your location,winterizing will be necessary,so add the necessary fittings to make this job easier.

[dudleykp]

Thanks for the heads up on the winterizing.....do you have any sugestions on how to make it eazier?.....The boat stays at the marina most of the time and when we go out in the river we use it a home base for out waverunners and friends boat that tie up to us. I am lookig to install a small electric hot water heter and the the head has a 12v elec pump. I am plannng to replace the floor the head is in and the shower needs to be pulled so I can repair the floor below it.....any sugestions?....is it hard to add a block heat hot water system as a back up to elec?....hoe important is it to keep the shower for resale?....we were thinking of pulling it out...I need a water pump and acumilator tank....what do you recomend?:smiletest:

[mikeylarge]

I think everbody knows how to "lay pipe" in a houseboat :D

[donmac]

sounds like your not planning on long adventures,electric water heaqter's are usually used on shore power because of the draw.u can buy a w,htr, with a heat exchanger that ties to the block for anchorage use. I would recommend keeping the shower for many reason's u can buy a product called Barker Board at home reno outlet's that is waterproof and rebuild the shower. some hb's were rigged with straight flush head's that dump[haha] right into the tank,by far the simplest.as far as w.pumps go I like the diaghram style they seem to give less problem.the new flowmax and multi valve style pumps seem to give a lot of problem with valves and pressure switch's[my experience}. an accumulator tank shouldn't be of huge importance unless your sleeping on the boat when you don't want the pump cycling and disturbing you [a system that doesnt leak doesn't cycle]

[donmac]

adding a bypass line on the water heater and a feed line to the freshwater tank and the necessary valves eliminates having to pull lines off in the fall disturbing lines and fittings. non tox can be added without putting it in the fresh holding tank and getting that odour to your water system forever. same goes for the head,add a line and fitting to the pickup line for easy nontox injection.

[flabum1017]

On the shower, see if Home Depot has any pre-fabbed stalls that you can use with some cutting...........

As for plumbing, try to make all the lines run downhill to a drain point. any dips and rises will trap water and air pressure would be need to drain the lines.

[yachter55]

I just replaced a sears shallow well pump for 300,and harbor fright has the same one for 125,3/4 hp ,5 gal accumalator tank and 60 psi for water pressure.mine lasted 12 years no problems.try to keep plumbing lines interior as they freeze faster against the fiberglass.plastic pipe,check valves so water wont drain back into the tank,shut off close to the fixtures for easy repairs.you can install a gray tank for all the drains,that way as the tank fills up the pump will kick on less often. exit drain above the water line.mark hot and cold .on /off breaker for repairs. the less elbos more pressure. good luck .

[mr fun]

I am remodeling a 1980 36' single screw Gibson housboat. Plumbing needs a lot of work....The water pump and hot water tank has been removed. I am also repalacing the water lines that go to te faucets, tolet and shower. Any ideas and cautions I should know about?....Does anyone have a plumbing diagram for this model Gibson one close to it?:smiletest:

and try not to drip on the lower deck :cheers: out