Author Topic: Bavaria 38 valves and electrics  (Read 3942 times)

Impala

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Bavaria 38 valves and electrics
« on: August 22 2016, 16:24 »
Hi Everyone,

I have just bought a (second hand) Bavaria 38 and am completely new to all the mechanics and equipment onboard.  So, I have a few questions please...

In the bathroom: Have sorted out most things but am still not 100% clear on the pipes + stopcocks....
Before I go any further - I am a competent sailor but am a girl, have just got my first cruiser and haven't a clue what all these levers are for!
I took a photo but there isn't anywhere to upload it??
Presumably, you are all very well versed in a Bavaria's plumbing!?
I know that the brown tubes are for the sink + shower drains respectively.
I have also sussed out the "flush" valve...for the wc.
What I don't understand is the big pipe and its valve - which leads to the holding tank.  In which position shd it be in order for everything to go into the holding tank?

Is there a special key to open the water, diesel + waste caps?  There is a groove but I don't seem to have a key?

There are 4 battery symbols on the electrics board...the top two are for checking battery charge and the bottom two for checking amounts in water + diesel tanks?
The red switch at the bottom + to the right of the electrics board is for hot water?
Is there the equivalent of a Bavaria Manual for dummies?  Have found that the actual manual that came with the boat is a bit light on information!

Would really appreciate any help!  Thanking you all in advance..
More later, am sure!
Pip

abouttime

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Re: wc + Bathroom valves
« Reply #1 on: August 22 2016, 17:25 »
I have a B40 2001 so it may not be exactly the same.

In the vertical locker in the berth behind the heads, you should see a blue lever about two-thirds down. If you turn it one way, you can read 'Sea'. If you turn it the other, you should see 'tank'. Then, in the horizontal locker just below, you should see a valve and the exit pipe for the tank. Keep this closed unless you want to empty the tank. So, if you set the switch to tank and pump on the loo, you should hear it empty into the holding tank. Continue doing this for a few minutes and then open the valve. You should hear water gushing from the tank into the exit pipe and out to sea through the valve. If your bav model differs, I'm sorry, this will all be rubbish!

There is a special key for the tanks caps - fuel, water and holding pump out. You can buy these from chandlers though many of these caps these days seem designed for a winch handle. I just use a big flat screwdriver or a coin.

I feel a bit nervous about defining the electricity bits. Mine has a meter that shows my battery voltage at the top of the board. Next to that is another gauge with a switch beneath to select front or rear tank. My fuel gauge, for what it's worth, is next to the engine controls on the binnacle. Mine has a red switch at the top left of the board for water heating.

Yes, all Bavs have pretty useless manuals! Good luck

tiger79

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Re: wc + Bathroom valves
« Reply #2 on: August 22 2016, 17:28 »
Welcome to the forum!  There was a link to a 38 Cruiser manual posted a while ago, but it still seems to work.  Try http://www.bavariayacht.info/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=306.0;attach=285

abouttime

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Re: wc + Bathroom valves
« Reply #3 on: August 22 2016, 17:42 »
So based on this manual, your description of the gauges looks about right - ignore my post on leccie bits.


Nigel

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Re: wc + Bathroom valves
« Reply #4 on: August 22 2016, 17:45 »
Hi Pip, info on posting images in the FAQ (now revised)

http://www.bavariayacht.info/forum/index.php/topic,1535.0.html

A note regarding valve levers: the valves are open when the levers are in line with the pipe.
Nigel Mercier: Forum Administrator

Salty

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Re: wc + Bathroom valves
« Reply #5 on: August 22 2016, 17:49 »
I have just bought a (second hand) Bavaria 38 and am completely new to all the mechanics and equipment onboard.

Hi Pip and welcome to the forum.
You've bought yourself a great boat, and I hope you get a great deal of pleasure out of it, but I have to make one comment, what has being "a girl" got to do with anything except as I think Maurice Chevalier put it.
We all have to start at some point, and as the saying goes, the older I get the more I realise that I know less and less about more and more. So now that you have joined the forum, read the various postings that others have made, and in no time at all will become clear.
As for all those levers in the heads, take one line at a time, see what it's connected at the start of its run and where it goes to, and any lever valve fitted between the start and finish will in most instances be a shut off to enable the line to be closed down. Because you also have a holding tank, you will have some three way valves fitted that will allow liquids to be diverted from one destination to another, and in that respect you need to follow each line to see where it goes. Ideally make a drawing of your system on paper and that may well help you to understand what does what.
You mentioned about the "big pipe and its valve," but without seeing what else is connected if anything to that pipe it is not easy to offer an answer.
Regarding a key for the water, diesel and waste caps, a key that would fit can be purchased from your local chandlery shop, though if your boat was second hand when you purchased it, then it's most likely already onboard, but you perhaps have not recognised it for what it is. If you can't find it or have no success at your chandlery shop, then either a very large screwdriver, or a piece of flat plate steel of suitable thickness can be made to fit the groove.
Regarding those "Battery symbols," the bottom two are for your forward and aft fresh water tanks, not the fuel tank where most likely the gauge for that is either on your engine control panel, or very near to it.
The red switch you mentioned correctly is for hot water, but only when you are connected to mains electricity. Otherwise the contents of your hot water tank are heated from the engine cooling water circuit which passes through your hot water tank (more usually known as a "Calorifier"). The hot cooling water from the engine does not mix with the water in your calorifier where instead it runs through a coil or heat exchanger so as to heat the domestic water while remaining completely separated from it.
There's no Bavaria Manual for Dummies as such and so far as I'm aware, but there is this forum which is pretty darn good at making most of us a little more knowledgeable than we were before !!
In one of your other postings you asked a question about posting a photo, and underneath the box where you enter your posting you will see something next to a large plus sign marked Additional Options. Select that and go to where it says Attach, and click on "Choose File." This will then take you to your photo library, the cloud, or give you the option to take a photo. Choose whichever is appropriate, and there you are.
One thing I would say, and that is to join a local sailing club, and you will find lots of people there more than willing to help you discover your boat.