Full of Sh*t!!!!

[global_odyssey]

Last time at the boat I noticed our 4 year old Jabsco heads pump would hiss and whistle after it was flushed. I thought maybe we just needed a service kit to renew the seals.
Later, while talking to someone on the pontoon my wife appeared at the companionway and shouted that the heads bowl was nearly full.
Dismissively, I asked her to go and flush it then!
Next thing I knew, there was a sudden flow of (BROWN) water appeared from what turned out to be the holding tank vent at the top of the topsides. This came with a rather sh**ty aroma and was immediately followed by shouts of "STOP!".
To my embarrassment it appeared the holding tank vent was acting as an overflow!
How can this be? I'd pumped out the holding tank only the last time we used the boat. Surely we hadn't filled it up in just a weekend!? (it must be getting on for at least 10 gallons) and usually takes weeks.
Anyway, it appeared the tank was full and simply flushing more into it would send it out the vent, then it would drain back into the heads bowl due to the pressure.

My concern is how it filled up in the first place.
When the tank is emptied (via a large manual bilge pump) you can tell when it has run dry and the tank feels/sounds empty when you tap it.
Is there some way in which seawater is forcing its way into the holding tank when the boat is moving?
For safety we eptied the tank a little (on outgoing tide) to relieve the pressue. Both seacocks to outside are shut. I'm hoping ther bowl will not be full next time we go back to the boat!
If anyone has similar experiences and a solution, I'd like to know. We've only really started diverting regularly to the holding tank this season because we are in a marina.

<hr width=100% size=1>I've got wind......................
...............................in my sails!

 

[Joe_Cole]

You haven't got a blockage on the emptying line have you? Maybe you hadn't emptied it after all.

Joe

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[Wiggo]

Our heads can be switched from sea to tank, and the tank can be pumped out to sea or via the deck fitting. We were advised to leave the macerator discharge seacock closed unless we were pumping out to sea in case it back siphons and fills up the tank. However, we have also noticed that occasionaly the bog fills up with seawater while underway, presumably being forced up past the inlet valve by water pressure. Anyone had this happen? I presume I just need to change the flap valve at the top of the pump...

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/graham.wignall/boats/eulimene600x800.jpg>The old and the new</A>

 

[global_odyssey]

Maybe it needs new seals on the heads pump - the tank was definitely emptied before and there isn't a blockage because we could see (and smell!) the results of pumping it out slightly to relieve the pressure.


<hr width=100% size=1>I've got wind......................
...............................in my sails!

 

[boatless]

If you have the same setup as I had (inlet seacock to loo, outlet from loo to tank (no diverter) and tank has outlet from bottom to seacock, and the vent to topside) then I think you may have a heavy flusher on board. There isn't any way for it to fill other than by pumping the loo.

EDIT. Actually, there is. If the boat were well heeled, you'd get flow up from the seacock to the tank, if the tank is below heeled waterline. Close the seacock (or vent)

btw. Will pay you to stick a hose up to the vent from outside occasionally. The sh1t dries out in the opening and blocks vent. Then everything you pump into the tank will displace some of what's already in there, obviating the purpose of the tank.

<hr width=100% size=1>my opinion is complete rubbish, probably.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by boatless on 19/05/2004 17:18 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[snowleopard]

3 ways to fill a holding tank, the other two are water ingress through the breather pip when sailing and syphoning back through the emptying pump if the outlet is under water and the tank below water level.

cure the first with a loop above the vent outlet and the second by fitting a vented loop between the pump and the seacock.

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[dulcibella]

It makes you long for the days of bucket and chuck it! Deepest sympathy.

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[tico]

Was that why you werent down last weekend.??...... red faces.

Dont worry, youre secrets safe!!



<hr width=100% size=1>Been there, done that, got the oily T shirt

 

[beneteau_305_553]

It probably wasn't full , just the pump outlet valve leaking back.

I had the same experience. not nice!

loads of harpic lime scale remover in the bowl seems to have worked.






<hr width=100% size=1>Richard

 

[global_odyssey]

Were there any offensive odours as you went past?

If the tank/bowl does decide to overflow in our absence, I've been agonising about the extent and course of the slurry-flow along stringers, etc.

Hopefully with all valves shut we will be OK!

If you see us sleeping on deck or in the dinghy you'll know what the problem is!

<hr width=100% size=1>I've got wind......................
...............................in my sails!

 

[ROSSCO]

I spent last weekend flushing through my bilges and stringers after a disaster with my holding tank. It was a nightmare . My holding tank blocked at the base and the only way to unblock it at the time was to ram a rod up through the blockage after removing the waste pipe at the base. At which point 80 litres of natures mix under high pressure burst forth spraying me and the heads. Still suffering from the shock and horror of that organic spray painting,it wasnt until I was on my way home that I worked out that some of it would have leaked into the bilges. I spent a week of sleepless nights worrying about the festering mix infecting my beloved. So last weekend i went down armed with bottles of disinfectant and bilge cleaner. The worst part is that the heads unit sits in its own bilge tray which you cannot access so I had to flush it through and its still coming out from the stringers and suspect it will do so for some time to come. The bilge cleaner though has worked brilliantly and having followed that through with some mild smelling disinfectant what is still coming through is reasonably clean and odour free. I don't want ever to have to go through that again. The joke is I never ordered the sodding holding tank on the new boat in the 1st place!!

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[HeadMistress]

Let\'s do a little math...

You say your tank holds close to 10 gallons. The average adult uses the toilet 5x day...average output is 8 oz (150 ml). Average amount of flush water per flush is a 1/2 gallon. So on average, each person continuously aboard will put close to 3 gals/day into the tank...two people, 6 gallons/day. That's more than a 10 gallon tank will hold in a 2 day weekend. Adding a couple of kids or guests will fill it up in less than a day.

If you're like most people, you use the "dry" mode only to pump the last bit of water out of the bowl....that fills up your tank with flush water. Few people realize that any manual toilet that's working anywhere near spec can move bowl contents at least 6' in the "dry" mode...so you can double the number of flushes your tank will hold if you use the wet mode ONLY to wet the bowl ahead of use and to rinse the bowl and discharge hose after use....pump the waste to the tank in the dry mode. That will cut the amount of flush water going into your tank by at least 50%.

Be sure to flush out the tank vent very thoroughly to clean out any waste left in it that can clog it. I also recommend that you install a gauge to let you know how much is in the tank...'cuz overflowing out the vent is not only unappealing, but can also clog the vent...and if you think your experience caused only the pressure created by material that could be forced out the vent was nasty, you haven't lived till you've experienced a cracked tank or full blown eruption back through the toilet from the pressure created by a completely blocked tank vent.





<hr width=100% size=1>Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987

 

[penfold]

You have my sympathy; I was talking to a mate of mine who works at the local marina last night, and he related a similar tale of woe regarding a blocked-up cludge. It was the usual thing, someone put something in the bowl that hadn't been digested first, and as a result he had to deal with 6 foot of hose filled with semi-solidified jobby. It's understandable that he didn't examine the blockage too closely, so what caused it will have to remain a mystery.

cheers,
david

<hr width=100% size=1>What we are dealin' with here is a complete lack of respect for the law....

 

[Bejasus]

Cludgie & jobby. Ah, home again. Love the Bio. Seriously tho' guys, listen to Headmistress, she is possibly the global authority on boat shit. ( Sorry Peggie, but the truth sometimes hurts/forums/images/icons/wink.gif) Try her articles this.

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[HeadMistress]

'S'ok George...everyone has to be good at something...this just happens to be what I turned out to be good at.

Btw...my article is no longer on "here"...and http://69.20.93.241/store/customer/product.php?productid=40&cat=&page=1
provides a bit more information about what "this" is.

<hr width=100% size=1>Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987

 

[Bejasus]

Btw...my article is no longer on "here"

More's the pity, but I guess it's time you got some return for your knowledge. I have to say that i haven't come across your book here yet, but it will be on my shopping list.

Yours
A fan..................../forums/images/icons/wink.gif

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[bob_tyler]

Get Rid of Boat Odors: A Boat Owners Guide to Marine Sanitation Systems and Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor
Peggie Hall

US List Price: $19.95
UK Equivalent: £11.25
Our Price: £10.12
You Save: £1.13 (10%)
3 Used & New from £10.12

From http:// [url]www.amazon.co.uk [/url]

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[HeadMistress]

Thank you both for the "plug" for my book! I have Libby Purves to thank for making UK boat owners (NZ and AU owners too!) aware of it...she devoted her entire column in the February issue of YM to it--or rather to her husband's newfound "love affair" with me (I've never met the man, honest!) after buying it...and it's a HOOT! I didn't stop laughing for weeks!

Btw, Tek-Tanks--with my permission--has included a portion of the material in it pertaining to holding tank installation and odor elimination on their website.

<hr width=100% size=1>Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987