Hot water on demand

After 10 months; today we had hot water on demand.  What a luxury!

The day started with Nick and Mark looking at the water pump.  The unit originally purchased for Waiouru was a combination pump and accumulator.  However it wouldn’t fit in the cavity under the front step which resulted in the need for a different type of pump.

Eventually Nick (the engineer) found a suitable pump in the chandlery.  It needed to be mounted vertically; just like the shower pump on Waiouru.  But the only vertical wall in the cavity is the spray foam lined steel wall of the water tank.  Obviously we couldn’t drill screw holes in the water tank, so I very quickly manufactured a timber bracket which was secured to the baseplate with a very strong adhesive.

Nick plumbed in the pump whilst I made a temporary 12v power cable.  He has carefully left sufficient pipe to allow the fitting of the water tank gauge at a later date.

Nick realised they didn’t have all the required plumbing components in stock which resulted in Mark and me going to ScrewFix at Newbury.  By the time we made it back to the marina Nick had completed the plumbing of the sink.  With the additional components he was able to plumb in the vanity and shower.

He then tested the water system by connecting a portable 12v power pack to the water pump.  For the first time we heard Waiouru’s water system come to life.  I could hear the gurgling of water filling the calorifier and water spluttered from the taps.  Nick was running around checking for leaking connections.  There were two; the pressure relief valve (PRV) was weeping slightly and the seal between the vanity waste and the bowl had a small drip.  Both were quickly fixed!

Whilst Nick was doing this I connected a three pin plug to the calorifier power cable and we then tested the immersion heater.  Twenty minutes later hot water was coming from the taps.

It was great to have Nick working on Waiouru.  As a result we have seen some significant progress today!

Hot water from the tap… What luxury!

Whilst Nick finished the plumbing Richard had made a start on assembling the glass shower door.  I then assisted him to take it to Waiouru and install it in the shower.

It’s a 900mm swing door that pivots at the 250mm point.  There is plenty of clearance which will make it easy to enter and exit the shower.  I asked for the opening end of the door to be on the same wall as the shower rose.  The reason for this is to attempt to keep all the shower water from the rose in the cubical.

The panel below the gunwale needs to be screwed in place and then a start can be made on sealing all the joins.

Richard went on to make and fit the timber battens which will secure the wall oven into the wall cavity.  I must talk to Andy tomorrow about him finishing the gas connections for the oven and hob prior to the weekend.  Unfortunately we have been informed there is a delay with the delivery of the Leesan “Headmaster” toilet.  Apparently it’s due to a quality issue with the bowls which are sourced from a foreign supplier.  Consequentially, it’s likely we will be using a portapotti for a couple of weeks!  A nuisance, but it hasn’t dampened our enthusiasm regarding the progress made during the week.