PEX

No opportunity to get back on the boat this weekend. We had some snow (not a lot) but with that snow came some very low temperatures. Just not a good time to be crawling around in the bilge.

We did do some research on the new water heater plumbing. Specifically, we asked others on the Silverton Owner's Club website who had done this sort of thing and we got several recommendations for using PEX tubing and fittings. We thought that PEX was a brand name, but it isn't. It's a type of flexible tubing and fittings that are now very commonly used in both housing and boat construction.

Then we watched several of the dozens of videos on YouTube to find out how PEX works. Looks like just what we need. PEX-A blue for cold and red for hot water. Seems we have to separate the PEX tubing from the water heater by about 18 inches using a copper line, but that should be relatively easy. Apparently, we'll also need a check valve at the cold water inlet of the water heater.

We're not sure why we keep using the term "relatively easy." Nothing on these old boats ever comes close to being easy. We think we can pull new PEX hot and cold water lines into the area under the galley sink. Once there, we have to disconnect the old hoses and connect the new PEX lines. To do that, we'll have to disconnect the sink and tip it up to get access the faucet connections. Right now, we can't reach that far under the galley to reach the clips that hold the sink in place. We're going to need really long arms to pull this off.

But, it's just boating.  We'll find a way.