1. How do YOU use the pressure water system in your Pearson 323? When do you turn on the breaker? Does the pressure pump run for awhile then the system is pressurized for a bit?
2. What controls which fresh water tank gets drawn for the pressure water system?
3. How does the hot water tank get water in it? Does it fill when the hot water tank switch is on?
4. I think the sump pump on my boat is a big box under the center access panel in the salon. There appear to be at least 3 hoses going in and out of it, multiple of which are going up to the bow... any idea why?
1. When the breaker is turned on, yes, the pump runs until pressure is attained. My system includes an accumulator tank (or pressure tank).
2. Now or Never! has 3 tanks. There is a valve for each tank.
3. The water heater fills when the water pressure breaker is turned on. Never turn on the water heater switch when the pressure water breaker is off!. If there is no shut-off valve for the water heater, I strongly recommend installing one.
4. The bilge pump is located under the access panel in the salon floor. There should be one hose from the bilge pump that goes overboard, probably on the starboard side of the cockpit. The shower sump might dump into the bilge and that could be the hose that you see going forward, or the shower might dump into a box with its own pump. The bilge pump is located halfway between the center access panel and the access panel at the foot of the companionway ladder. It should have only one hose attached to it, going to overboard on the starboard side of the cockpit. On Now or Never! there is a separate pump for draining the shower sump. It is located in a box under the main access panel in the salon floor. It has a hose from the shower sump and another hose that goes forward. The shower/lavatory does not drain into the bilge.
As for the foot pump spigot running when the system is pressurized--I would guess that the foot pump is plumbed into the freshwater system and that there is no shutoff valve or a faulty shutoff valve for it. My foot pump is plumbed to pump seawater or meltwater from the icebox.
I hope this helps a bit. I hate plumbing!