In the last couple of months, I've made some improvements to my fresh water system in a number of areas. It started with the toilet, and progressed into filtering, pumping, and the shower itself.
Hi Again Steve,
Following up from my query of last year - I understand the pump will run for 1:30 then shut down without water - that’s actually plenty of time for us to swap tanks, assuming it will suck air at about the same rate as our current wobble-type pump. I’ll be checking these out because I think our bladder tank is rusting out, and replacing it is becoming annoying 
On another note, we installed the smaller version of the water filter you put in - one filter, and the smaller 10" X 2" filters. I changed ours out twice this past summer, and they really do catch a lot of dust and debris. I’ve been using the cheap “carbon” filters, which have a thin layer of carbon granules over a paper/plastic element - what surprised me was how good they worked on some pretty heavily-chlorinated dock water we had to load this summer. I had tested it straight from the hose and though “yechh - but we don’t have a choice” - but when we switched to that tank, the taste was gone!
I know there are better carbon-block filters - we have one in our “Dockwater filter” we bought for Mexico - but for this application, the cheap ones have worked great.
Hartley
Just ordered Marco pump. I notice you put filters on pressure side of pump. Any reason they can’t be installed between tank and pump (suction side)? Much easier for maintenance for me. Also have expansion tank already rigged. Any reason not to use? Many thanks. Bruce
I’ve hardly ever seen a setup where the filters are before the pump. I think it must have to do with the way the pumps are built or recommended to be installed.
I’ve used Marco pumps with and without expansion tanks, and as long as the pressure is in the same range or matched, you should have no issues, and likely get a longer life out of the pump with less noise.
Thanks Steve. You prompted me to look up on internet where I found about even reasoning to one way or the other. Since my tank level will always be higher than the pump level I’m going to try before pump. Much easier for me to change filters as required. I’m going to Install the clear big blue housings to easily check filter condition. My pump location on my 42 OA is outboard of the starboard engine and accessed through the salon seating. A real difficult task space for me to work in. I’ll let you know how it works.
Ah I know that space very well, and it is not that easy to get to! Good luck!
Has anyone used the 55 psi Marco higher pressure pumps, rather than the 39 psi versions? What has been your experience? Also, where is best place to purchase a Marco pump? Thanks.
Hi Marc,
I talked with the folks at Marco as I saw several pumps that showed a 43.5 PSI level in some of their documentation. Here’s part of what I asked:
I noticed that the UP12/E and the UP14/E have a higher pressure? The datasheets show 43.5 PSI, but the website still shows 36.3.
Their reply:
I’m not sure which data sheets you are referring to, but the UP12/E and the UP14/E also have 36.3 pressure……the only thing that changes in the larger pumps would be the flow rates. There is not a way to bring the pressure on the pumps higher, the sensor is designed to keep the factors the same.
So I’m not sure which pumps you’re looking at with the higher PSI - maybe the wash down ones?
I purchase mine from Fisheries Supply here in Seattle as they usually have all of the various options in stock and good prices.
There is a high pressure version (55 psi) of some of their pumps, including the UP14e. I talked to mate-USA.com, which is the US distributor. They said the high pressure version is not stocked in the US, but can be specially ordered from Italy. Takes 2 to 3 weeks and $50 shipping. They were very helpful
Huh! Well I wish they would have mentioned that when I asked several times! That might have changed my choice of pumps since I really can’t make the system I need work with the current lower PSI models.
I really love these posts! I just changed my freshwater pump to a Marco pump this week, and it’s so much quieter than the Johnson spx variable. I have an accumulator, and I opted to leave it in place for now. I might add a pex valve and close it off from the system to see how it works by comparison. I also installed the whale gulley ic gray water pump with the drain piece and removed my sump box. Todays project is to replace the shower hardware as the mixer is failing. I’m not going to do a thermostatic as I don’t want to deal with fiberglass repair, but I got a Grohe rough in and valve.
Thanks for the feedback! I love Marco pumps and still use them for a bunch of stuff even beyond water systems. So quiet and smooth sounding.
I’m also working on shower changes aboard Kaos and trying to replace older dual handle units with a single thermostatic mixer that fits in the space. Grohe has always been one of my favorites for this, although quite expensive.
Hi Steve,
Wondering about that Scandvik shower mixer. Can’t find any installation instructions online. How does it attach and seal to the shower wall? Is it easy to make the plumbing connections, or do you have to have access from the back side? Thanks!
The online docs are pretty poor, I would agree.
If you look at the pictures, I am holding it in one with the back facing the camera. It has two threaded inserts for both cold and hot input. They did not match any hole pattern that I know of in terms of distance, so I had to drill a new hole and then patch an existing hole, since the old fixture used a wider spacing.
I think they may have also been bigger, but I can’t remember completely. That part, the size of the connections, I believe is in the specs online.
There are some additional pictures showing how I sealed around the unit to prevent water getting behind it.
You definitely have access from behind.