Fitting the Heads

[gjeffery]

I am fitting a new marine w/c to a new hull.

Does anyone have any experience of the Raske & Van der Meyde yacht toilet? It has a plastic bowl and I would welcome comments regarding the difficulty of maintaining this, rather than a ceramic bowl.

I am half way through fitting the sea cocks. The hoses come off the cocks at right angles, so the union above the sea cock has been thoroughly degreased and set in Araldite, to seal the union while maintaining the alignment of the hoses. The sea cocks will next be screwed tight onto the hull fittings which are temporarily fitted "dry" in the hull. The hull fittings will then be set permanently in Sikaflex.

My question is - should I seal the sea cocks to the hull fittings using Araldite, making an irremovable and leakproof but unservicable assembly, or would it be better to seal the sea cocks to the hull fittings using, say blue hermatite, that might subsequently be disassembled. In the worst case, the sea cocks are constrained in rotation by the hoses.

Much depends on the reliability of sea cocks.

I would welcome any advice.

 

[davidbains]

Don't use araldite, use Sikaflex. The won't come undone in use, but if
necessary you should be able to undo them again.

 

[johna]

< The hoses come off the cocks at right angles >

Not sure that I like the sound of this arrangement for the outlet unless it is from a holding tank. Are you providing a holding tank or at least allowing for later installation in the location of heads and seacocks? I would if I was fitting a new heads to a new hull.

I am a supporter of Araldite but not for parts I might need to take apart while afloat.

 

[gjeffery]

Thanks for your reply. The sea cock screws down onto the hull fitting. An elbow then screws into the seacock, so that the hose is at right angles to the seacock. So far, I have used Araldite to fix the direction of the elbow in the seacock. I would be prepared - if necessary - to write off the elbow with a defective seacock, but I am not happy about the suggestion of the boat manufacturer that I should seal the hull fitting into the seacock with Araldite. That is rather too final and because the cock will be screwed tight onto the hull fitting, it should be unnecessary. So, I am contemplating using something that might be dismantled if necessary, such as Blue Hylomar or Sikaflex which was suggested.

I am intending to fit a holding tank - but this is unlikely to influence the location of the seacocks. I have to research this with the tank suppliers, but I expect that it will be possible to T the holding tank into a diverter in the heads discharge pipe, close to the heads.

 

[johna]

Perhaps I mislead you re Araldite, my support was for general use. I would use Sikaflex or similar for the hull/seacock joint certainly not Araldite. My real concern was for elbows on heads outlet seacocks they can block so easily.

John