Marine Plumbing Done Right
Presenter: Brock Kelsch
Marine Mechanical Technician, ABYC Certified
[email protected]
Vancouver International Boat Show
January 2017
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We’ll Cover:
■ There are boat building codes?
■ Excellent reference material
■ Hose selection
■ Fittings
■ The lowly hose clamp
■ Tanks
■ Vented loops aka “The Anti-Siphon Valve”
■ Thru-hulls
■ Q&A
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Yes, there are boat
building codes
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This is why we do it the way we do:
■ Transport Canada TP1332e (Federal law, therefore compulsory)
■ American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC, requires paid membership, Certified
Technicians)
– Much of Transport Canada’s code is based on ABYC
■ Most US Coast Guard codes are law in the US and have been paralleled in Canada.
They mainly address vessel stability, fuel tanks and systems.
■ Pollution & Sanitation Regulations are covered in the Canada Shipping Act SOR/201269 “Vessel Pollution and Dangerous Chemicals Regulations”
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TP1332e
■ Pretty broad and vague, but includes exhaust systems, fuel systems, bilge pump
requirements, waste, and more.
ABYC
■ These are our “go to” Marine Standards with a searchable online database
■ Certified Technicians take thorough courses and must now re-certify every 5 years
■ They are not a “how to guide” which can be frustrating as that is something
lacking across the marine industry
■ Generally each system on a vessel has its own code, but for example “plumbing”
is too broad and is broken down into hull penetrations, bilge pumps, water
systems, etc.
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REFERENCE MATERIAL
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Recommended Books
■ Nigel Calder: Boat Owner’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual
■ Nigel Calder: Marine Diesel Engines (includes DIY Engine Survey)
■ David Gerr: Boat Mechanical Systems Handbook
■ Ed Sherman: Fundamentals of Marine Service Technology
■ Roger Pretzer: Marine Metals Manual
■ Practical Sailor Magazine
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Recommended Web Resources
■ Compass Marine: http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/boat_projects
■ Steve D’Antonio Marine Consulting: http://stevedmarineconsulting.com/
■ Tony Athens: http://www.sbmar.com/
■ David Pascoe (retired Surveyor): http://www.yachtsurvey.com/
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HOSE SELECTION
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Marine Hose
■ Use hose for its intended purpose as found on the box or printed on the hose itself
■ You get what you pay for, so buy quality!
■ Use the correct size (inner diameter) for the application
■ Quality hose often will last 15-20 years, so spend the money once
■ Manufacturers, (and suppliers using manufacturer data) will list hoses by application
and whether it can be used below the waterline or not. Variables are type of fluid,
pressure and temperature
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Fresh (Potable) Water
■ Materials should be inert, not affecting the water, i.e. no odour, smell or colour anything that renders the water non-potable
■ Rigid pipe (ABS, Copper, etc.) not allowed on boats due to vibration
■ Reinforced PVC Hose
–
Commonly used. Many sizes. Fittings common. Easy to route
–
Can kink, compress or develop leaks due to chafe. Requires hose clamps
■ PEX
–
Very durable. Simple installation. Easy to route. No hose clamps!
–
Manufacturer specific fittings
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Sanitation Hose
■ Impermeability is key! Keep the odour in the hose!
■ Keep low spots out of runs
■ Reinforced PVC Hose

Reinforced for resistance to kinking under vacuum

Very inflexible and difficult to install. Worsens with age

If used, avoid barbed hose fittings
■ Rubber Sani Hose

Reinforced for resistance to kinking under vacuum

Flexible

Works well with all hose fittings

Costs more

Better odour retention
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Sanitation Hose
Made by a variety of manufacturers,
usually in Canada by Trident or Shields,
in reinforced PVC (top of picture) or
rubber (bottom).
PVC comes in various sizes from 5/8” to
1 ½” and in white/light grey.
Rubber comes in various sizes from 1”
to 1 7/8” and in white or black.
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Raw Water

Hose from thru-hull to raw water pump must be reinforced (hardwall) so as not to
collapse from pump vacuum

Heater hose or potable water hose not acceptable!

Engine outlet to wet exhaust use of softwall okay

Use hardwall if tight there are bends to prevent kinks

Must be SAE J2006 or UL1129 compliant

High resistance to heat and gas permeation

Softwall is easier to work with if feasible for runs with no hard bends (kinks)

Even better, costlier but highly flexible and long lasting is silicone hose
Wet Exhaust
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Raw Water &
Exhaust Hose
Made by a variety of manufacturers,
usually by Trident, Shields, New-Line or
Green Line in wire reinforced hardwall
(top of upper picture) or nonreinforced softwall (bottom of upper
picture) and silicone (bottom picture).
Corrugated hardwall hose is available
for substantial bends in both rubber
and silicone.
Hardwall and softwall come in various
sizes from 1/2” to 8”, in black. Silicone
hose ranges from ¾” to 14”. There is a
5 year warranty on Trident hose.
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Bilge Hose
■ No standards as per what hose to use
■ Use diameter of bilge pump outlet
■ Keep runs as short as possible, no dips
■ Corrugated Polyethylene hose is cheap and easy, but clogs easily
– Not particularly durable and low resistance to fuel and oil
– Can be difficult to securely hose clamp
■ Trident XHD Bilge & Livewell is best we’ve used
– Smooth inside (no clogs) and out (easy clamping)
– Durable and flexible
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Bilge Hose
Made by a variety of manufacturers,
in smooth reinforced vinyl (left of
picture), helix reinforced vinyl
(middle), or polyethylene (right).
Vinyl comes in various sizes from
5/8” to 1 ½”, in black.
Polyethylene is available in 5/8” to
1 1/2” and in white or black.
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Fittings
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Brass v. Bronze
■ Except from Roger Pretzer’s Marine Metals Manual
“Brass with a high zinc content (over 16%) is subject to
a type of corrosion known as dezincification.
Because of this type of corrosion, brass with high
zinc content is not recommended for fasteners,
through-hull fittings, or any structural application
on pleasure boats, especially if the boat is used in
salt water. Even some of the manufacturers of
boating equipment are unaware of this fact, and
produce equipment with brass parts that could
easily deteriorate in a salt water environment.”
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Brass that is called Bronze
■ Commercial Bronze (90% copper and 10% zinc)
■ Naval Brass AKA Naval Bronze (60% copper, 39.25% zinc, 0.75% tin)
■ Manganese Bronze (58.5% copper, 39.2% zinc, 1.0% tin, 0.3% manganese)
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Proper Bronze
■ “Real” Bronze for use in a salt water environment have >90% copper and are alloyed
with tin, aluminum or silicon. Little to no Zinc
■ Phosphor Bronze
■ Silicone Bronze
■ Aluminum-silicon Bronze
■ Aluminum Bronze
■ Tobin Bronze
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Stainless Steel
■ Is not the miracle material it has been made out to be.
■ Two major flaws - low tensile strength of lesser grades, and susceptible to crevice
corrosion which can be avoided by avoid installing stainless steel in applications
where it is regularly exposed to stagnant or still water for extended periods.
■ Threads gall very easily
■ It’s very hard to tell the grade of stainless so buy reputable brands or use a different
material altogether.
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Brass Fittings
■ Excellent and readily available for all plumbing
needs EXCEPT:
 Freshwater systems unless less than 0.25%
lead in brass alloy
 Saltwater use
 Where galvanically incompatible
■ Aluminum and brass/bronze fittings are not
galvanically compatible. Don’t mix them. E.g.
brass fittings into aluminum fuel tanks - use a
barrier material like a stainless steel bushing or,
order aluminum fittings
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Nylon
■ Fittings are excellent for freshwater and sanitation
applications.
■ They do not corrode, but are not very strong
■ Cannot use below the waterline
■ Readily available
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PVC
■ Fittings are excellent for
freshwater and sanitation
applications. They do not
corrode but are not very strong
■ Cannot use below the waterline
■ Long PVC pipe runs are frowned
upon due to brittleness over
time caused by vibration.
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ABS
■ Sometimes is used for sanitation use but
very porous (lets odour escape)
■ Is too brittle of material for use on boats
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Poly
■ Common grey plastic fittings from
local plumbing & hardware stores
■ They work fine in vessel plumbing
systems (again, not for use below
the waterline)
■ Have barbs which are larger than
their nominal markings, making
hose installation unnecessarily
difficult
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Marelon
■ Is a fibre reinforced plastic fitting which is one of
two plastic fittings strong enough and rated for
below the waterline use
■ There is a catch though – Most Marelon fittings
use a proprietary parallel threads called MPT/FPT
which only work with other Marelon products and
often requires sealant. Read the product
information very carefully!
■ There is one product line of NPT threaded hose
barbs (1/4” to 1 1/2”) but no 5/8” barb (common
raw water hose size)
■ No corrosion
■ Ideal for use with Marelon thru-hulls and ball
valves
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TRUDESIGN
•
Glass fibre reinforced nylon composite
•
Uses National Pipe Straight (NPS)
threads in North America, British
Standard Pipe (BSP) in Europe
•
As with Marelon, ensure dissimilar
thread types not used together
•
Ideal usage is with their thru-hull and
ball valve line
•
Also have range of diverter Y-valves and
related fittings
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HOSE CLAMPS
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Hose Clamps
■ We use only AWAB or ABA all 316 stainless steel
clamps. There is an excellent test in Practical
Sailor (February 2013) and they are superior to
all other brands
■ These two brands use indented bands as
opposed to perforated - less likely to damage
hose
■ Use 2 at all fittings below waterline at all degrees
of heel (recommended)

Unless fitting too short and damage to hose will
occur
■ Take a magnet with you when hose clamp
shopping
■ T-bolt clamps have specific applications, usually
high temp exhaust and silicone hose
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Tanks
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Potable Water
■ Commonly polyethylene or aluminum

Poly available to order in many shapes/sizes. Not
always exact fit

Aluminum can be ordered pre-manufactured or
fabricated custom fit

Flexible tanks available in variety of shapes and
sizes . Preferred manufacturers are Vetus or
Plastimo with triple or double wall construction
■ Installation:

Ensure no contamination possible

Tank must be vented

Must be disinfected after installation

Mounted above bilge water
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Holding Tanks
■ Highly recommend tanks with all fittings on the
TOP of the tank
■ Installation:

If fittings at bottom of tank, install Service
Valves to make your life (or technicians life)
easier

No need to drain tank/handle waste water if
hoses need changing or modification
Image: Dometic Sealand, 28Gal Holding Tank
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Vented Loops
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Vented Loops, Siphon Breaks
■ Required at any hull penetration at or below the
waterline at all angles of heel (as high as
practicable). Prevents siphoning of sea water into
tanks/bilge

Holding tank/macerator discharge

Bilge pump discharge

Raw water intakes
■ Required between raw water pump outlet and
injection point of wet exhaust - prevents siphoning
of seawater into engine/generator
■ Install on marine heads between pump and bowl,
not between thru-hull and pump
■ Require regular service - cleaning or replacement of
duckbill valve
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Vented Loops,
Siphon Breaks
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THRU-HULLS
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Thru-hull on a
popular late
2000’s
production
sailboat
■ Considerable dezincification of
brass fitting
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ABYC Diagram
■ Thru-hulls required to withstand 500lbs
of force applied perpendicular to
longest point of installation
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Excellent
solution by
Groco
■ Each component bronze
■ Premanufactured backing
blocks
■ Attachment point for bonding
wire
■ Can install grease nipple
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Proper Bronze ThruHull Installation
■ Pre Manufactured Fiberglass backing
block epoxied to hull
■ Flange bolted to block with 316
Stainless bolts and lock washers
■ Thru hull (straight pipe thread)
installed from exterior into flange and
sealed with 3M 4200 or equivalent
■ Flange has Tapered Pipe Thread (NPT)
to accept ball valve
■ Metal thru-hull requires installation of
bonding wire
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Marelon Thru-Hull
Installation
■ Standard seacock available, flanged
seacock recommended to meet
ABYC and ISO Standards
■ Requires bolting to backing block or
hull
■ No corrosion
■ No bonding
■ More economical than bronze
■ Boatbuilders (OEM only) have the
option of installing remote operated
electronic seacocks
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TRUDESIGN ThruHull Installation
■ Thru-hull, ball valve and hose barbs
all available separately
■ To meet ABYC standards additional
Load Bearing Collar required
■ Teflon ball on teflon rings - no
lubrication required
■ Can be locked in the closed position
■ Ball valves available with electronic
monitoring sensor and indicator
panel
■ Also no corrosion
■ Also no bonding
■ More economical than bronze
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Common Thru-hull Problems
■ Incompatible materials
■ Thru-hull has been spun, breaking the sealant bond
■ Incompatible threads. Thru-hulls are NPS (straight thread) to allow cutting, ball
valves can be NPT (tapered) or NPS depending on manufacturer or model
■ Backing blocks do not sit flush on hull
■ Too many pipes and elbows are rigidly connected to the thru-hull
■ Ball valves fail sooner than the thru-hull, but usually can’t be replaced without
damaging the rest of the installation
■ Rotten plywood backing blocks
■ Dezincification of metal components
■ Pitting of ball valve
■ Not “exercised” or serviced enough
■ Recommend diagram on thru-hull locations for emergencies
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Ball valve
trickles even
when closed

Crevice corrosion (i.e. pitting) on
stainless ball valves allows small
amounts of water through

Corrosion or debris will not allow
valve to fully close
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Gate Valves are
NOT ALLOWED

ABYC H-27, 27.4.4 Seacock- A
type of valve used to control
intake or discharge of water
through the hull. It is operated by
a lever type handle usually
operating through a 90° arc,
giving a clear indication of
whether it is open or shut...

Gate valves do not allow for this.
Cannot be closed quickly in
emergency
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GENERAL PLUMBING
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Thread Sealants
■ Avoid teflon tape if you can
■ A liquid sealant like Loctite 565 or 567 is much
easier to work with
■ Use 3M 4200 or Sikaflex 291 for hull penetrations

We avoid 3M 5200 or equivalent as it is pretty much
permanent!

Available in black or white
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Common Problems
■ Correct materials make or break the installation
■ Hot water heaters require 75psi pressure relief valves (they come with 150psi)

ABYC H-23.8.12.1.1- Maximum pressure relief shall be set at not more than 175% of the
working pressure. Freshwater systems operate at approx. 30-50 psi - 175% is 87.5psi
■ Low spots in vent lines preventing fluid or gas from being vented
■ Low spots in hoses allowing stagnant water or waste
■ Sanitation hose must be used for all sanitation plumbing, including vent lines
■ Double hose clamps are only required on fuel fill pipes and exhaust connections, but
recommended where possible
■ Hoses need to be protected from chafe and supported securely (about every 18”)
■ Most systems have too many hard bends, which greatly reduces flow. No 90° fittings
is best
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Any questions?
Email us at: [email protected]
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