Holding tank

[derekgillard]

Yes another holding tank question.. Please

My Bav 30 has the gravity type holding tank eg open the sea cock and if discharges, (or should do :'()

ALL my crew are under strict instructions that nothing goes down the toilet unless it's human waste we have a paper bin by the loo. So either my problem is that someone forgot and put paper down it OR calcium build up.

Ours blocked yesterday the standard trick of taping up the breather cleared it, then it blocked again same day and nothing will clear it, the level is now above the inspection hatch so can't get in there

I can only assume my other option is to get the marina to pump it out. Has anyone experience of this if so if I leave the sea cock open while they pump it out is there a chance that it can suck up or free whatever is causing the blockage? If not guess i will try to get my hand in via the inspection hatch OR remove the outlet pipe from the base of the tank once emptied.

Any other bright ideas will be appreciated. I would say i cleaned the tank last year and it's worked fine for 10 months.

Finally if and when i do clear it I've heard white vinegar helps to keep the Calcium away anyone tried this?

Thanks as always, this post is also on the Bavaria Info site.

Derek
Yacht Sa Punta.

 

[MoodySabre]

The deck pump out will be a dip tube inside the tank reaching almost to the bottom. It will suck until there is nothing reaching the bottom of the dip pipe. If you are trying to create a vacuum inside the tank to suck out something blocking the outlet then I doubt you will even if you block up the vent. Worth a try. Poking a bent wire coathanger up the seacock might dislodge it. If it is a clump of undissolvable (e.g. the dreaded hand or toilet wipes) then you will probably need to remove it via the inspection hatch.

You can buy elbow length rubber gloves.

 

[blackbeard]

I once cleared a blockage with a length of rubber hose connected by complicated means to a bilge pump (introduced via inspection hatch), blockage was lifted out still attached to the hose by suction.

 

[mjcoon]

One thing I learnt from the events I already described earlier this year: you need to be sure that the lever is genuinely turning the valve and not loose on its shaft.

Mike.

 

[RupertW]

The nasty way we had to do it once (on a boat where the rule was that paper was fine) was to take off the outlet hose from the sea cock and empty the contents including many wedges of paper into buckets then over the side. Then take the top end of the outlet pipe off the tank and firstly take it away to clean and rod it in the sea , then to keep poking a wooden spoon handle and coat hanger into the tank into all was clear.

So finally we had a cleanish tank which we could pump seawater through from the loo, a clear outlet pipe gushing that water into buckets but still a blocked seacock. This was where I was immoral enough to agree to draw straws for the privilege of going into the sea with a snorkel to clear what could not be cleared from above. The whole thing had been my fault a week before when (thinking as we all did that the holding tank was being bypassed, I cleaned the horrible heads with a lot of kitchen paper and flushed it.

 

[Tucepi]

I had similar blockage on one of our heads in May. Bavaria and same set up as yours. Noticed when the holding tank was full and started to back feed and fill the toilet during a return trip one weekend.. Fortunately the sea was calm and when back in marina I pumped out the holding tank. To cut a long story short the only solution was to replace the shorter waste pipe from bottom of holding tank to sea cock. On inspection the calcium deposit must have been a few years build up and the diameter was reduced to nothing and any paper that had been put down was just building to the problem. The pipe is cheap enough but the shorter pipe was a real pita to replace and many swear words and bruises later the job was done. I ended up replacing all the pipes at the same time. We don’t put paper down at all now like many on here.

Looking at the pipe it was so restricted that tapping the pipe A’s some suggest to break the calcium would not have worked. Two solutions that may have worked which was not an option for me was to push something through the sea cock from underneath the boat. Wouldn’t want to be a diver if you did manage to unblock it. Another option is the acid that many of the med guys use and if you search here you may find what they use.

 

[jordanbasset]

We had the same problem with our new to us Bav 33 when we first got it. Suspect the previous owners had put paper down it. It was recommended we try a plumbers plunger on the outlet outside the boat, I was sceptical but after a couple of go's it actually worked and the crap came flooding out. Tip make sure you have plenty of water for a shower afterwards!
The other thing is to use a flexible steel wire cable and push it in from the outside, you need to jiggle it about to get around the bend but that worked on our old Bav 38. Also put some tape on the ed to blunt the edge so you don't damage anything

 

[vyv_cox]

It takes an awful lot of acid to make a worthwhile difference to a holding tank. My guess is that a flake of carbonate salt has fallen off the tank wall and blocked the outlet. This happened to us this year. Incidentally we put paper down the toilet just like home and this was the only blockage we have had in ten years. We flush and scrape our tank each season end, mechanical methods are the only effective way.

 

[mjcoon]

... It was recommended we try a plumbers plunger on the outlet outside the boat, I was sceptical but after a couple of go's it actually worked and the crap came flooding out.

I wonder if the technique I heard of being used ashore would work... A CO2 extinguisher with a horn outlet placed against the hull?

Mike.

 

[bobgarrett]

Hi Derek,
We had a similar problem last year. Definitely worth a pump out - ideally free ie not at a Premier marina. Then fill with with a hose and pump out again. And so on. May not fix it but it might.

 

[mainsail1]

I have had the misfortune to unblock a number of Bavaria holding tanks over the years. My answer was to obtain a 2 meter length of 25mm plastic tube. Open the discharge seacock. Get in the dinghy and insert the tube up the tank discharge. As you push it up the discharge try to keep back a bit as there will suddenly be a horrible deluge of crud when the tube dislodges the offending blockage. Not a pleasant past time!.

 

[dancrane]

Sorry, this isn't about the holding tank.

Having never owned (and only infrequently encountered) sea toilets, I always read tales of associated problems and solutions, with the same thought - that perhaps if a larger diameter pipe-system could be employed, the tendency for blockages might be reduced.

I'd be amazed if non-sailors can easily be persuaded that depositing soiled paper in a bin, rather than flushing it, is the thing to do...

...so I can't imagine any new marine toilet finding a market, if its use demands such separation.

I seem to remember getting advice here about the best sea toilet available, about five years ago, and its cost was impressive...

...but considering the essential, invariable nature of the service it provides, doesn't any modern comfortable yacht deserve as part of its basic specification, a lavatory and pump-out system that doesn't need periodic stomach-turning Dyno-Rod exercises?

 

[Laysula]

Nothing goes down the heads unless has been eaten first. Paper and anything else goes into nappy sacks, available from most supermarkets, and chucked into the bin.

 

[langstonelayabout]

Nothing goes down the heads unless has been eaten first. Paper and anything else goes into nappy sacks, available from most supermarkets, and chucked into the bin.

That's the way we do it too.

So far the only problem we had was an inverted joker valve due to my wife not opening the exit seacock before flushing.

 

[mjcoon]

...but considering the essential, invariable nature of the service it provides, doesn't any modern comfortable yacht deserve as part of its basic specification, a lavatory and pump-out system that doesn't need periodic stomach-turning Dyno-Rod exercises?

I suppose macerating systems (which I have never encountered myself) are meant to do that. But I suspect that macerated "stuff" can still flocculate into a blockage, enhanced by the calcium deposits that have been discussed...

Mike.

 

[langstonelayabout]

I suppose macerating systems (which I have never encountered myself) are meant to do that. But I suspect that macerated "stuff" can still flocculate into a blockage, enhanced by the calcium deposits that have been discussed...

Yes, a boat I bought that had one of the Jabsco macerator pumps had wads of loo roll stuck in the non-running pump.

I'd go out of my way to repeat buying another boat that uses a Jabsco macerator pump as it was just a flawed design anyway (salt water, sewage, electricity, yacht electrics: can anyone else see the flaw?) but it is possible to stop them up.

We too 'go Greek' on board our boat, using a nappy sack for all paper and the loo taking only materials that been eaten or drunk first.

The tank in question I had to remove, drain, pressure wash to remove traces of previous owners and then refitted with a new pump, etc. The new non-branded pump lasted almost a season before needing replacement, and always sounded as rough as old boots. A gravity system for the next boat...

 

[Pavalijo]

Nothing goes down the heads unless has been eaten first. Paper and anything else goes into nappy sacks, available from most supermarkets, and chucked into the bin.

We use dog poo bags - small and cheap enough so you can have a fresh one at each visit. The bag handle allows us to hang it on the door handle.
We specified a 2” outlet pipe and have the “nothing other than what you ate” rule. We always flush well after use and after emptying and so far no problems.. That said the tank is less than 2 years old so only time will tell if we’re slowing down calcium accumulation!

 

[macd]

I'd be amazed if non-sailors can easily be persuaded that depositing soiled paper in a bin, rather than flushing it, is the thing to do...

...so I can't imagine any new marine toilet finding a market, if its use demands such separation.

You may be right, but only to a limited degree. Flushing loo-paper, even on land, is not the norm in much of Europe. It goes in a bin. Public loos often have a sign urging users not to flush the stuff. Same applies (without the sign) on our boat.

 

[dancrane]

I'm in no position to doubt what you say...

...although in many years in France, I never encountered a lavatory system which required or requested such separation...

...but by your matter-of-fact description of the practice, you gentlemen have materially reduced my keenness to acquire a yacht! :biggrin-new:

If one was refitting/redesigning a yacht in order never to be troubled by waste-water blockages, pump-priming issues, deteriorating impellors, stubborn deposits in tanks and pipes, and build-ups of calcium and less savoury solids, what would the best layout and components be? Please don't bother saying "bucket and chuck-it"...the aim would be to replicate British shore-style facilities.

I realise the cost is probably more than any yacht I'm likely to be looking at.

 

[Heckler]

I'm in no position to doubt what you say...

...although in many years in France, I never encountered a lavatory system which required or requested such separation...

...but by your matter-of-fact description of the practice, you gentlemen have materially reduced my keenness to acquire a yacht! :biggrin-new:

If one was refitting/redesigning a yacht in order never to be troubled by waste-water blockages, pump-priming issues, deteriorating impellors, stubborn deposits in tanks and pipes, and build-ups of calcium and less savoury solids, what would the best layout and components be? Please don't bother saying "bucket and chuck-it"...the aim would be to replicate British shore-style facilities.

I realise the cost is probably more than any yacht I'm likely to be looking at.

I dont understand this loo blockage thing, I lube the Jabsco regularly, change the flap valve when it starts to back flow (contrary to popular belief the joker valve DOESNT seal) We use a minimum of six pumps and the paper does go down the loo. It has been in the boat from new, we have had it 9 years and the only upgrade was the twist and lock pump, now that is a JOKE!