Life Aboard: Converting Heads to Fresh Water

[@joelw2023]

OK, I've been watching for the past year and now I need to start from the beginning and find all of these diy vids.

[@1sailfast]

This was great. Thanks for doing this video. Exactly what I'm planning. The Jabsco anitsiphon solenoid you used (37038-1012) has been replaced with a new part Model # 37038-2012

[@SailingSarah]

"Just sitting on it for purposes of making this video..." it's OK buddy, I get all my great ideas while using the head too 😂

[@JRR39]

Do you have the information on what one way solenoid you used? Like name? Part number anything? I think I that would work great for my boat

[@josephlarocca531]

Question: Why didn't you just connect the new Fresh water hose from the output side of the solenoid outlet directly to the current raw water (white) hose that was previously used as the inlet hose for the head .... after it was taken off of the output side of the salt water pump and while it was still connected to the input side of the head .....rather than installing a entirely new fresh water hose, was there some distinct advantage of that separate hook up?

[@OutChasingStars]

+Cawfee Dawgg - That is correct. I recognize that our setup won't match everyone's preferences, but since we have a large capacity watermaker and have to run the genset anyways to do laundry/top off our batteries, the benefit of using freshwater to flush our heads was worth it to us. (by the way, I hope you get this, because it appears that I can't reply directly to your comment)

[@marceld6061]

David, I know this is an old video at this point but, at 8:52, immediately after you said 'there are no leaks' I can see several drips coming from the 3/4" hose connection. Have you been back behind that panel since to see if everything is tight and dry? p.s I started following you about a month or so ago and now that I have so more time I am going back though all of your videos. It would be nice to see more of these types of videos now that your production quality has improved so much.

[@OutChasingStars]

Yep, I keep a pretty close eye on everything. SH stays pretty nice and dry! :) I'm glad you're enjoying these types of videos. I do keep a list of more videos like these that I'd like to do, but finding the time to do so among our normal video production schedule, sailing itinerary, friends visiting, etc can be a challenge!

[@dwpegasus]

Hi. I might have missed it, but did you disconnect the old salt water pump or did you use the pressure from the fresh water system to “fill” the head.

[@OutChasingStars]

I disconnected the hose running from the salt water pump to the toilet. The pump is still wired up so if I have to I can swap back to a salt water flush pretty quickly. The new hose and solenoid are plumbed into the fresh water system, so yes, when we fill the bowl (open the solenoid) the main fresh water pump supplies the pressure. Hope that helps clarify!

[@georgemiller1251]

With out sounding too crude do you have an estimate for the amount of water it would take to flush and clear the lines all the way to the holding tank?

[@OutChasingStars]

+George Miller I just looked it up. The bowl holds 2.2 L (.58 Gal) and we generally flush 1 1/2 times to make sure the lines are completely clear. So I'd say about 3 L or 3/4 Gal. Hope that helps!

[@georgemiller1251]

+Out Chasing Stars Thank you very much. This actually does help, so by my estimation plus a cushion I would need about 15 gallons per day just to flush. Or about half an hour of run time on the water maker. And maybe another hours or so to account for showers and laundry. The next time to two of you get back home let m e know we'll see if we can meet up for drinks. Your about 5-7 years ahead of me, but I'm about 20-25 ahead of you :), we're up in Humble.

[@kientran5522]

Really great

[@davidtibbetts1112]

What's the part number for the jabsco pump?

[@OutChasingStars]

Are you talking about the Jabsco solenoid? That is Jabsco 37038-1012

[@efestian5993]

Curious why you did not just tie in take of the seawater pump to the fw line with a 3 way valve and add a check valve on the fw line. No need for wiring or a solenoid. Just one more part to break.

[@OutChasingStars]

Since these heads are electric, they have a switch which originally activated the dedicated seawater pump to fill the bowl. Our freshwater system is pressurized and I worried that having another pump downstream of the main system pump could cause issues. Using the solenoid eliminated any of those concerns.

[@1KentKent]

Was there a noticeable difference in the smell with the fresh water conversion?

[@OutChasingStars]

We didn't have the salt water flushing long enough to really have a noticeable smell, so it's difficult to say. But I am generally pleased with the (lack of) smell from the freshwater heads.

[@1KentKent]

Thanks for the reply. I've been on a few boats in the Chesapeake and the saltwater head smell is quite noticeable. So, when I buy my boat that will be the first thing I change....after I install the watermaker. Ha Thanks for video showing how easy the process is.

[@sweetbrandigirl]

I'm with you ! My top three changes I'll be making to my boat is converting both heads to fresh water,adding a watermaker provided there isn't one and installing both a wind generator and solar panels. That said I think I'd do it a bit different then this fellow did, I don't trust that solenoid keep my portable water safe from the non-portable water. I would install a separate water tank and re-plumb both heads to it independent of all other water sources. This would leave my sink,showers both in boat and out of boat running on portable water and my heads using non-portable water with zero change of contamination.

[@SuperJlonergan]

salt water systems are for the birds! good move with the change!

[@OutChasingStars]

SuperJlonergan Thanks! We're quite happy with the change so far.

[@tikeidonlo6979]

its lovely

[@ralph9987]

did you do a taste test to confirm it was fresh water? hahaha

[@SteveWrightNZ]

It's a shame to have to use open-type spade electrical connectors in a marine environment. These type of parts should really have a sealed grease-filled connector. Maybe overkill on the head.. ;)