Waste Tank and Hose Replacement Project

[Latitude9.5]

Well what a day! First off let me say i hate plumbing jobs of any kind, house, boat and swimming pool lol.

I measured the tank as best i could prior to removing, i ordered a new tank to replace it... I measured it, however didnt factor the height, with was about a half inch to high, was attempting to go from a 6 to a 20 gallon... no go. Luckily west marine let me order online and return in the store. Downside is i used my 10% coupon and they dont have a 9 gallon in stock listed online, so i will order one from Chapmans Monday.

OK so on the fun part, the person who set the system up was a little confused, when I bought the boat, the inlet and pump out were switched, inlet on bottom, pumpout on top, so it would drain the tank about a quarter of the way. Not to mention a really funked up part, there was a random Y in the overboard line with a pump out fitting which just laid loose under the sink.

Obvious this project can not be done without spilling some sewage into the bilge area so I gloved up and got started, no i am replacing EVERYTHING in this project, toilet, y-valve, pump-out fitting and hoses, so everything had to go. The hose used was not an oder block hose of any kind, it's the kind they try to sell you at west marine, white pvc that says sanitation, but if you read it it's only for bilge, potable water, etc.. it breaks down rather fast and it stunk the whole tank area up. Removal went fairly quickly with the exception of the overboard line at the thru-hull, it was a mother to get off as I couldn't easily get a grip on it. I unfortunetely didn't get a chance to replace everything as I dont have the right tank.

Not a project i want to do again anytime in the near future, I bought the novaflex sanitation hose, 5 year warranty, i compared it with the Trident and the novaflex although a bit more appeared to be of higher quality, not much but the inside liner looked thicker and the hose was thicker as well. $10.50 a foot, the guy gave me what amounted to about 12% off as I bought all that he had left and he said he'd never sell a 2 foot section so he'd throw that in as well. worked out to about 9 a foot if you calculate the 2 foot section.

Anyhow, i am not looking forward to ever doing this project again, but as my theory goes when you own a boat you either have to enjoy working on them or have the money to pay some one to work on them, for the most part i enjoy working on them, but i must admit I wont volunteer to help a fellow sailor take on this project and i sure as hell wouldnt ask one to help me!

I sprayed some bleach spray and plan on doing a good scrub down of the area with some sort of biodegradable cleaning agent, dunno what yet.

[seaclusion]

Before you order a small size standard tank, check out plastic-mart.com. They have hundreds of sizes of polyethylene holding tanks and they will custom install the fittings anywhere you want them. The price is better than at the marine stores but you will have to pay for shipping and that can run a few bucks if the tank is large. Still, a bigger holding tank is well worth the few dollars more it may cost.

I put a holding tank in a small locker and used one of their tanks in the vertical position (most marine store tanks come rigged to be put in in the horizontal position) and used the entire space in the locker and gained three gallons storage in the process. Tank seems to be fine (no leaks and that's what really matters).

Richard

[Sunspot Baby]

I had a good friend who was a plumber. He told me that while the work might be hard, there were only three things you need to know to be a plumber.

1. Water runs down hill.
2. S**t stinks.
3. Don't bite your fingernails.


George

[learningcurve]

Not sure what shape your tank is, but you might check out these guys

http://www.ronco-plastics.com/

They have almost every conceivable shape in their catalog.

And they can customize a stocked tank, or build a new one from scratch if you give them the dimensions.

When I replaced the holding tank in my sloop, I wanted to move it to the forward compartment under the V-berth (which was never used for anything).

These guys had a 13 gallon tank that fit just right and was shaped to the V of the hull.

When you order, they can put the inlets/outlets/vents anywhere you specify.

[Latitude9.5]

Originally Posted by Sunspot Baby

I had a good friend who was a plumber. He told me that while the work might be hard, there were only three things you need to know to be a plumber.

1. Water runs down hill.
2. S**t stinks.
3. Don't bite your fingernails.


George

LOL, My Father was a contractor for years and his saysing for plumbing was simpler, he said it was two thing.

1) Sh**t runs downhill
2) Paday is on Friday

[Latitude9.5]

Perfect guys thanks for the links, checking them out now, v-berth shape is what i need and i could easily gain 3 or 4 gallons in the same area with a v shape and maybe a little more depth.