Water Tank Breather Pipe?

[Tim Good]

I have a stainless tank and fill it on deck like most others. I have a gauge from Tank Tender which pumps air down a tube and it works.

However, I fixed my watermaker and when I was happy the water quality was good I switch the divert tap to the tank. After about 5m mins it was making some pretty impressive expansion noises so I went outside and undid the main deck screw cap and the air pressure the released was immense! Clearly my tank is not breathing for pressure build up that much when the water maker is on.

Should it breath and where would the breather pipe tend to go? Access is tricky and I can't see any sort of obvious breather pipe in the top of the tank.

 

[nigelmercier]

My forward tank used to be fed by a water maker. It has a breather pipe on a T connector in the inlet, running up to just below the deck and into the anchor locker.

 

[pvb]

Of course it should breathe! Breather pipes usually terminate in a small skin fitting on the topsides. You need to investigate.

 

[Tim Good]

Of course it should breathe! Breather pipes usually terminate in a small skin fitting on the topsides. You need to investigate.

Rgr that. On the list.

 

[alan_d]

My water tank breather terminates in a skin fitting on the side of the coachroof. The genoa sheets sometimes get hung up on it ....

 

[Mud]

Sometimes the vent is attached to the tank inlet/filler.

 

[Tranona]

Breather does not necessarily have to go external. Could just as easily be in a locker internally.

 

[NormanS]

There has to be a breather pipe somewhere, but it sounds as if it's blocked. I'm wondering how you get water out of the tank in that case.

 

[VicS]

Breather does not necessarily have to go external. Could just as easily be in a locker internally.

In the Berwick I sailed it was clipped up inside the heads compartment

When we filled the tank we used to unclip it and stick it out of the window otherwise when the tank was nearly full it spat water out over the bog roll. Wet soggy bog roll paper is useless

 

[rigman]

I have a stainless tank and fill it on deck like most others. I have a gauge from Tank Tender which pumps air down a tube and it works.

However, I fixed my watermaker and when I was happy the water quality was good I switch the divert tap to the tank. After about 5m mins it was making some pretty impressive expansion noises so I went outside and undid the main deck screw cap and the air pressure the released was immense! Clearly my tank is not breathing for pressure build up that much when the water maker is on.

Should it breath and where would the breather pipe vent hose at the T and go? Access is tricky and I can't see any sort of obvious breather pipe in the top of the tank.

I have had exactly the same problem. The water maker is teed into the vent pipe and the vent is at the stern. This summer when making water the tank pressurised and water started to overflow into galley sink via the manual pump outlet until I unscrewed the fill cap and released the pressure. There was quite pressure which concerned me. Tank was 70% full. Hmmm....I thought vent must be blocked. Yesterday I disconnected the vent hose at the T and blew back and it was perfectly clear. The system is not a new installation as previous owner used it for years. Mystery. Considering Teeing into the suction hose instead thus avoiding filling the overflow.

 

[jwilson]

Have had bow anchor locker fill with water in heavy weather due to bow going underwater at times, and anchor locker drain not big enough to clear volume of seawater incoming. Hence salt contamination of water tank via top-of-locker breather exit. Had same happen on another boat with breather pipe led up to fitting near midships gunwale: fine till we drove the boat really hard and had pipe exit intermittently underwater. Very funny tasting tea/coffee, and glad we were carrying the race-requirement emergency bottled water. Aft tanks usually safe with breather high up on/by transom, but difficult to get a perfect position for a breather exit in bow area.

 

[Tradewinds]

My water tank breather exits into the galley sink from above - so no problems with overflow or salt contamination. Nice chromed piece so looks the part.

 

[rogerthebodger]

I have 2 water tanks and each have a breather located over the galley sink so it is easy to see when the tanks are full and there is no chance of allowing sea water getting in to the water through an external vent. The test outlet of my water maker also exits at the galley sink.