www.iFourWinns.com

Hi,

I have a problem with my fresh water system on 2008 Vista 258.
I first noticed that my water pump starts working every ca 1 minute (it turns on for less than a second), but it means that I am loosing water pressure...it is leaking somewhere!
I found A LOT of water around shower sump, in that compartment.
I am not using shower att all btw.
I removed that water, and it is how coming again from somewhere...
I checked the water pump and it seems that it is not leaking.
What is the easiest way to inspect the kitchen tap or the shower ipin the toilet - how to see if they are leaking? I suspect that they are leaking because they are in the fron area, so the fresh water could come only from there...
What is the best way to find leaking place? Is there some marker liquid?
Btw, it is definitely not the rain from anchor compartment, I had that issue and I fixed it.

"What is the best way to find leaking place? Is there some marker liquid?"

A couple of drops of red food dye in the fresh water tank may help trace the leak and can't do any harm.

_________________
John
2006 Four Winns Vista 278 (sold)

Not sure about no harm, dyes can stain gelcoat. Red ESPECIALLY. I prefer using paper towels strategically placed where flow might occur. If one gets wet it tends to shrivel up or show signs of staining from water having gotten to it. You just follow the flow back along the path of stained towels.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Well, red food dye is a good idea...
I don't care about staining gelcoat, if it occurs, it will be inside the boat hull, in the compartments...
I will try this...

You don't care? What about the next buyer? Signs of staining do not help resale value.

As for just in the compartments.... yeah right. Dye has the unfailing tendency to get flicked up onto surfaces that are even less cleanable than fiberglass.

It's up to you, but I think it's a bad idea. That and there are plenty of other ways to check for how water might be moving around. Paper towels, baby powder, corn starch, etc. All can be used to highlight the water's path and all without harming the boat's surfaces. That and they're all MUCH easier to clean up than dye would be.

Why make more work for yourself and devalue the boat?

The plumbing in these boats uses Whale fittings and 15mm tubing. It's entirely possible that one of the fittings isn't tight. Just push each of the tubing tight into the fitting and then give a firm pull. The push will seat the connection and the pull with tighten it. If you want to disconnect one just push in the collar part into the fitting along with the tube and then pull back on just the tube (keeping the collar pressed-in).

Then there's cracks from winterizing problems. These are much harder to find. One of mine turned out to be a tiny crack in the shower mixer. Which I found by noting paper towels in the area 'downhill' from that compartment were showing signs of moisture. That and some moisture behind the chrome escutcheon on the mixer itself.

Again, I would not use dye. It probably won't help find the leak any faster than much less problematic methods.

_________________
-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista