Although there is more than one of these devices on our boats, the anti-siphon valve for our engine is very important, as discussed in the previous few Mainsheet issues. If it fails in the closed position, water is likely to back up into the exhaust manifold and damage the engine. At least one of our C380s engines was badly damaged this way, and more engines out there may be in trouble.
In case some of you are not aware of this device, it’s mounted on the forward side of the bulkhead just above the engine. See our section of the May 2007 Mainsheet for the original article on this subject, including photos.
In the previous [November] issue, it was concluded that the best way to monitor the valve’s operation [engine off] was by inserting a small screwdriver,
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The head on my C380’s Westerbeke engine recently underwent a costly overhaul as a consequence of seawater entering the engine exhaust manifold. It was determined that the siphon break [aka “anti-siphon valve”] had seized shut, allowing seawater to flood the engine exhaust manifold after engine shut-down. Having discussed this with various marine engineers involved in engine overhauls, it is likely that the lack of attention to siphon-break maintenance, and sometimes the installation approach, is the cause of many failures of inboard marine engines, irrespective of manufacturer. It can affect any engine mounted below the water line, in both sail and power boats. This unfortunate experience [perhaps fortunate for our readers- Warren], has prompted me to write this article in the firm belief that all owners should understand the role of the siphon break and inspect
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1- Decide on approx placement of drain tube. Note from photo that location depends on how/where autopilot is installed. For those with no autopilot, locate drain tube in center [port/stb] and as close to vertical step as possible [but be aware of size of your electric drill]. Mine is about 7/8″ aft of “riser”.
2- Autopilot drive mechanism is usually installed offset, so you will want to have drain tube on opposite side in order to be as close to center as possible
3- Release wheel [so that rudder is easy to turn from below], and climb down into lazarette on the side opposite autopilot. Look over area, noting existing cockpit drain hose[s], and where you’ll cut into one and insert T for platform drain. Note also how autopilot mechanism moves laterally as rudder is turned. Find
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Scott Brear posted the following comments about bilge pumps on the C380-list@sailnet.net list. His advice is well worth considering.
Stock manual and electrical bilge pumps in production boats are not designed for catastrophic leaks. They can only manage clearances of the bilge due to “”normal”” leaks through the speed impeller stowage, stern gland, rain , some minor hose leaks, etc. because they do not have even the rated capacity to do much more. In practice this is OK, because 95% of the time that is only where the water comes from.
But think about it some more. If you did have a 1.5 inch hole in your hull, what do you have on board that can pump that volume of ingress out? Such a hole could be your engine sea water hose, stern
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The newer C380’s have returned to vinyl hoses and have a much better arrangement for water tank management than my boat does. The new boats have the tank valves mounted on the bulkhead inside the below-sink door [as do the original 380’s, such as my #44-Ed]. All of my tank valves are mounted on the floor under the sink, along with the whale type plumbing.
Consequently I have built a second removable floor under the sink for pot and pan storage. The second floor has holes in it above each valve and an extension handle to turn those valves as needed without removing the floor and the paraphernalia. The floor is arranged on blocks and cleats to keep from loading the plumbing. The extension rods are 5/8” dowels cut to fit the water valves handles and protrude above the second floor.
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I probably use more antifreeze (AF) than is really necessary, but I don’t mind if it avoids worrying about a broken pipe below the floorboards. I just pump each tank as dry as possible and then drain the water heater. I then re-plumb the water heater, bypassing it to avoid having to waste all the AF it takes to fill it. This requires buying a couple of extra fittings and a short length of the rigid tubing used in the 380 fresh water system.
Parts are available by special order from Whale via West Marine. Then, each tank gets about two gallons of AF.
On the 380, the shortest run from the manifold to a faucet is to the galley faucet. I open the valve for each tank separately and in turn and run water until pink appears at the
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Dock Side Water Connection
Dave Peffer
7/1/1998
Hull #: 20
A few weeks ago we were asked by the Coast Guard to display a life jacket for each passenger, requiring us to take one of the PFD bags out of the lazarette. The gal who put it back in didn’t see that sneaky blue tube, and hung up the bag on it, then pushed extra hard. Result: the right-angle fitting from the regulator cracked. When we fired up the fresh water to do dishes the pump ran on and on, but we had no pressure. It took awhile to find this blasted leak!
I have temporarily plugged the end of the tube after removing the fittings, but have to replace the thing if I ever want to use the dockside connection for water. Those who have not (yet) broken it can avoid the problem by disconnecting the blue tube, turning
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