Sea toilet hose: fitting

[wingcommander]

Once left my galley sea cock open by accident. Admit to laying awake wondering if my sole boards were now floating. Was three or four days of sweating until my next visit. Newbie fever i believe

 

[Daydream believer]

Mine stay open, but I work them open & shut every 4-5 weeks, to ensure they stay working & to check there are no split hoses. I did find a split hose once, just above the second clip. No idea why it happened, but it did & the water that leaked in was in the region of a few bucketfulls..
My bilge pump gets turned off with the batteries, so there is no backup. However, being very close to the boat I visit it at a minimum of every 3 days.

 

[lustyd]

The inlet pipe went straight from sea cock to pump.

It’s supposed to. The vented loop goes between the pump and the toilet otherwise you’d just suck air in.

 

[Daydream believer]

Talking of seacocks my launch is needed for safety boat duty this weekend, plus, as a ferry for the old gaffers at Stone SC, in a couple of weeks. So my co owner & our HM agreed to launch it for me, as I cannot due to health issues.
Before doing so a plug has to be fitted in the keel & the pump set to automatic. It is an open boat so collects a lot of rainwater. Hence, the pump.
The HM decided to get the trailer lined up on the beach ready to go to save time today as we also have to fit a new buoy to the mooring & need to get moving.
The beach slopes quite a lot. As he lined up the ball hitch- which he had not fastened properly- released & the launch decided to launch itself. WITHOUT THE BUNG.
He ran after it but it started to float- then sink. Fortunately still fitted to the trailer. The bilge pump failed to operate & the water quickly flowed in via the 1 1/4 inch hole.
He had to rush home & get his thigh waders, attach a chain to the trailor & drag it out & leave it draining back out for a couple of hours. Needless to say I have ordered a new switch for the pump.

 

[Velopaul]

Even when you think you have closed them they can corrode so that the open port enlarges and does not completely shut off when the lever is in the closed position. You are then depending on the pipe seal and a good height loop of pipe above sea level to keep dry !
First hand experience there.
I never close my cockpit seacocks as the sole drains are above sea level.

 

[Velopaul]

It’s supposed to. The vented loop goes between the pump and the toilet otherwise you’d just suck air in.

Well the flush water pipe is already fitted when you buy the loo so the only available spigot on the pump is the water in from the thru hull.
I have test flushed with the loop and it works perfectly well

 

[Tranona]

If you want to vent the inlet you need to replace the pipe that comes with the loo with a new one, looped up with a vent. Most installations though don't need it. If you vent the inlet from the seacock you let air in when the pump relies on there being no air.

 

[Stemar]

Last count we have over a dozen seacocks and most of them stay open all the time.

They’re available to be closed if there’s a need.

Just so long as they get moved every few months, or they might not be as available as you think.

But, of course, you know that.

I've only ever had one seacock fail in a way that would have been serious, and no amount of clips would have helped


Fortunately, it was while I was replacing it, and the boat was out of the water. I knew it was bad when I bought the boat, but I didn't realise it was that bad!

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Are you really suggesting that I crawl under the companionway steps and stretch into the under sink locker to open and close our galley sink drain seacock every time I use the galley?

Last count we have over a dozen seacocks and most of them stay open all the time.

They’re available to be closed if there’s a need.

We close them both when we leave the boat. Both being the word that enables that to happen. We sail with the heads water inlet open and tank pump out closed. That one is only ever open to pump out at sea, that happens as rarely as we can manage. But our boat and it’s use seems vastly different to most here. Oddly, very similar to 95% of our club members and other sailors we know. A couple of week or more trips a year, and as many overnights 2-3 nighters and day trips as we can fit in. That changes the way things are set up. Our boat has to be secure to leave, she spends way more time parked than sailed.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Just so long as they get moved every few months, or they might not be as available as you think.

They do.

And one of the best methods I’ve discovered is when the boat is out of the water to operate the ball valve type seacocks while someone squirts ptfe/teflon spray up the through hull from the outside. Sometimes you can close the seacock and allow the spray to soak into the ball valve from the inside as it runs back down the pipe.

 

[john_morris_uk]

We close them both when we leave the boat. Both being the word that enables that to happen. We sail with the heads water inlet open and tank pump out closed. That one is only ever open to pump out at sea, that happens as rarely as we can manage. But our boat and it’s use seems vastly different to most here. Oddly, very similar to 95% of our club members and other sailors we know. A couple of week or more trips a year, and as many overnights 2-3 nighters and day trips as we can fit in. That changes the way things are set up. Our boat has to be secure to leave, she spends way more time parked than sailed.

We live on our boat five of six months at a time atm. A bit different to how we used to use her.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

We live on our boat five of six months at a time atm. A bit different to how we used to use her.

The prospect of living on a Dragonfly 920 for 5 months is not enticing

 

[john_morris_uk]

The prospect of living on a Dragonfly 920 for 5 months is not enticing

I shouldn’t laugh too much. I’m committed to helping daughter sail her Pandora 700 from Gosport to Plymouth next week.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I shouldn’t laugh too much. I’m committed to helping daughter sail her Pandora 700 from Gosport to Plymouth next week.

We do a little better than that, a fortnight or 3 weeks is quite tolerable provided you do a marina every few days for a shower etc. The headroom is the most difficult if the weather is really bad. We have a great cockpit tent, but even so…

 

[john_morris_uk]

We do a little better than that, a fortnight or 3 weeks is quite tolerable provided you do a marina every few days for a shower etc. The headroom is the most difficult if the weather is really bad. We have a great cockpit tent, but even so…

Chapeau to you. I’ll miss the comforts of our own boat. We’re calling it an ‘adventure’.

 

[lustyd]

Well the flush water pipe is already fitted when you buy the loo so the only available spigot on the pump is the water in from the thru hull.
I have test flushed with the loop and it works perfectly well

They do come with instructions telling you how to correctly fit them.

 

[MattK1969]

Hi,

The pump unit on my jabsco sea toilet has failed. A replacement unit at £70 seems the way forward. While replacing this I think I’ll replace the hoses, too.

What’s the proper way to make the connections?
Warm the hose? 2 jubilee clips? Any sealant?

Any advice appreciated.

I have just fitted new hose to a jabsco pump. The decent quality vetus cream colour stuff. It went on easy. I used to jubilee clips with a note in the diary to retighten them in a month. Need a small ratchet to get them tight, not just a screw driver.

 

[PabloPicasso]

Can you point to any evidence that clips actually fail in this application? or any boats that have been lost as a consequence? Do you really think that after all these decades of manufacture of worm drive clips manufacturers make unreliable products?

Just saying

Yes, they can and do fail.
Why risk your boat for the price of a (stainless) jubilee clip?

 

[PabloPicasso]

I've found the easiest way to soften the ends of hoses is to fill an approriatly sized tin can with boiling water, and emerse the end of the hose for as long as needed.

Wear a thick glive to hold the can!!

 

[Chiara’s slave]

They do come with instructions telling you how to correctly fit them.

I have met the occasional person who needs instructions on which way to face on the apparatus once installed. Thankfully, few sailors fall into that category.