Fresh Water Plumbing

[Dougal]

The freshwater installation on my Evasion32 is awfull. The whole system needs pulling out and starting again.

What systems are being used these days? I had considered that domestic push fit stuff from B&Q!

 

[Bodach na mara]

There are several push-fit systems and I have had experience of two of them. Speedfit works well for me and Hep2o does not. I have heard others swear by it however.

One advantage of Speedfit is that the fitting can be removed completely if you need to withdraw the pipe through a hole in a bulkhead. OK, if you get it right first time this is neven necessary, but who always does that?

 

[tritonofnor]

Did the same with my boat last year using speedfit bought from Screwfix - replaced a horrible mix of copper and flexible pipe which took three times as long to dismantle as it did to put the new stuff in. One year on, no leaks, no worries!
/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Alrob]

hep2o (acorn) is the more professional approach which is also available in pushfit but hey! does it matter /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
BTW B&Q keep both systems

 

[Norman_E]

Go to a caravan dealer. Most caravans use a smallbore pushfit system using fairly stiff flexible pipe. I reckon it will be pretty good for boat use, though I don't know the make.

 

[bigwow]

hep2o worked for me, no problems 10 yrs on.

 

[Dougal]

Thanks for the help so far.
I fancy the idea of small bore, as this means on the hot water side, the wastage of water before reaching taps is much lower.
Can the systems be mixed, or are the fittings completely different?

 

[Vara]

Have a mooch around this site they do 12mm for caravans and 15mm for boats(can't see why they should be different).No direct experience of their push fit plumbing system,but have found them to be a good company to deal with.
http://www.whalepumps.com/

 

[peteandthira]

Suggest lagging it too. That reduces the waste before your tap runs hot.

Pops

 

[bigwow]

Same pipe and fittings for hot and cold, buy it trade from Plumb Centre or similar trade

 

[sjohn_gibson]

I used speedfit when I replumbed the boat 6 years ago - no problems. However, I was advised to fit plastic collets on the connectors to prevent them unlocking and sliding off the pipe. These connections rely on water pressure in the system to lock then in place. I am in the habit of switching off the water pump when not in use - had all my fresh water transfered from tanks to bilge when a jubilee clip connenction in the locker got knocked and no one noticed.

 

[savageseadog]

One bit of advice is don't mix parts from some of the similar looking systems that are available. The tubing is the same but the couplings can have different threads, it's all to easy to find them mixed up at the point of sale. check the ones you buy are identical.