Making Our Own Pumpout System for Winter

[webejammin]

Were face'd with almost 5 months of the pumpouts being closed because of cold weather and It's time to put my own pumpout system together. I'm in a marina that's 75% power boaters who think when it gets down to 50 deg's F and breezy they are setting by a fireplace somewhere. At the end of Oct the marina will close the only pumpout facility for more than 50 miles and one lock

So far I've found info on a 25 gal RV tank with wheels for $125.00 and a 12 volt Whale gulper pump for this use at $229.00 at WM and I have some 1 1/2 hose and most of the connectors, but I was thinking of asking the WISDOM of the CF folks for advice before buying everything. I should mention our holding tank is 18 gal and thought the 25 gal portable tank would hold it without overflowing and making a mess.

Am I on the right course

[James S]

Sounds good to me...
Will you be able to get the tank up and down the pontoons ramp?
Will the pump have a dedicated battery that travels with the tank cart?...and the Pump?
How and were will you empty the tank?

[HopCar]

Sounds like a plan! You might save a few bucks by using a manual diaphram pump instead of the Gulper. With the manual pump you don't have to figure a way to get power to the pump either. What do you do with the 18 gallons of poop soup once you get it in the rolling tank?

[webejammin]

I am putting a 12 volt plug in my anchor locker near the deck connection for the pumpout motor where my anchor wash down plugs in. I ask about the manual pump and it doesn,t have self-priming and takes 80 pumps a minite to work at all, so all the work for a savings of $80.00 is not worth the trouble and work. There's a gravity RV drain to dump into nearby and our dock ramp is not that steep to pull the wheeled tank up.

Our marina office said for the winter to just go sailing in the middle of the current and dump in the river but I think that lady thinks like it's 30 years ago when that was the only way to dump summer or winter.

[HopCar]

It sounds like you have it figured out. They did give you some bad information on the manual diaphram pumps. They are self priming and even a small one should be able to transfer your 18 gallons in less than three minutes without working very hard.
Take a look at this one made by Whale:
Marine : Whale Pumps 12V Henderson Plumbing Bilge Diaphragm Submersible Pressure Water Systems Marine Caravan RV Shower Drain Portable Sanitation Purging Groundwater Solutions Voltage Electric
These sell for about fifty bucks.

[webejammin]

Originally Posted by HopCar

It sounds like you have it figured out. They did give you some bad information on the manual diaphram pumps. They are self priming and even a small one should be able to transfer your 18 gallons in less than three minutes without working very hard.
Take a look at this one made by Whale:
Marine : Whale Pumps 12V Henderson Plumbing Bilge Diaphragm Submersible Pressure Water Systems Marine Caravan RV Shower Drain Portable Sanitation Purging Groundwater Solutions Voltage Electric
These sell for about fifty bucks.

Thanks I missed that info on the WM catalog, the elect one says "self priming up to 9 ft 8 inches" and the manual one does not really say that as well as nothing about self priming and running dry without damage. If I stand on my deck it would be about 5 ft lift on a dry pump.

[perchance]

Ideally you want to pull a vacuum on the receiver tank and use that to remove the crap from the holding tank and avoid solids from messing up the check valves in the pump. With some simple valving you can use the same pump to pressurize receiver to discharge the waste.

[webejammin]

Originally Posted by perchance

Ideally you want to pull a vacuum on the receiver tank and use that to remove the crap from the holding tank and avoid solids from messing up the check valves in the pump. With some simple valving you can use the same pump to pressurize receiver to discharge the waste.

I lost you at : With some simple valving you can use the same pump to pressurize receiver to discharge the waste.
Please give details

[Blue Stocking]

Perchance, do you think those tanks will withstand a vacumn being pulled on them.
Your idea sounds good.

[senormechanico]

One good thing going for your plan is the big high tide of the day is during daylight around Puget Sound in the winter.
It won't be that hard to schlep the cart up the dock ramp.

[perchance]

Originally Posted by webejammin

I lost you at : With some simple valving you can use the same pump to pressurize receiver to discharge the waste.
Please give details

A pair of three way valve will allow you to vent the tank to atmosphere while vacuuming or pressurize the tank when discharging.

[perchance]

Originally Posted by Blue Stocking

Perchance, do you think those tanks will withstand a vacumn being pulled on them.
Your idea sounds good.

The vacuum you will be pulling is negligible as it will constantly decline as the fluid is drawn into the tank. A marina pump out would probably pull a harder vacuum than your diaphragm pump.

[webejammin]

Originally Posted by Blue Stocking

Perchance, do you think those tanks will withstand a vacumn being pulled on them.
Your idea sounds good.

Our tank has a vent line which is working well.

[Waymar]

Although this is an old thread, did you ever manage to make the unit. I've since found this in the UK: http://www.leesan.com/uploaded_files...20manaul-1.pdf