Painsless head replacement & lubrication. Raritan.

[rgleason]

1. Shut the raw water seacock.
2. Pour and pump 4 full bowls of fresh water into the riser hose
3. Pump bowl empty and remove 4 cylinder screws mopping up with sponge about 1/2 cup of water.
4. Pull cylinder pump up and disconnect all smaller hoses.
5. Remove base and bowl without dosconnection of 1.5" riser hose.
6. Fit a 2 qt or 1.5 qt pan under the joker valve connection and loosen the bolts until the hose drains slowly into the pan. Let it drain and clean up under the ild base. Finally the hose draina and the is less than 1qt of very slightly brown water.
7. Loosen the joker bolts further and carefully remove the joker valve, letting any additional water into the pan.
8. Now clean up and install the new Raritan PH Superflush. What a nice change: lower seat, easy pumping, seat stays up, fits better. no leaks, fully lubricated.

Now how to lube.
1. Use superlub.
2. Shutoff seacock. Pump 4 bowls of fresh water.
3. Lube shaft from outside.
4. Lube cylinder from inside by removing 4 bolts/screws.
5.Lube valve by removal.
6. Do this spring or fall.

[peghall]

Or...you COULD just run plenty of clean water through it, then remove the pump from the base (requires removing 4 bolts)...stick the nozzle on a tube of SuperLube up the pump and give it healthy squirt (about a tablespoon)...put the pump back o the base...pump a couple of times to spread the grease all over the inside of the pump...you're done.

As long as you've done that much, replace the joker valve too.

[rgleason]

Peghall. Thats what was written. See bottom. First section is removal/replacement.

[rgleason]

Peghall, perhaps you can advise about using head treatment, since I now recognize you as an expert?
Raritan PH Superflush head included a small bottle of C.P. Cleans Potties. Is it good stuff?
Also this spring I bought K.O. Kills Oders and replaced just the bottom hose out of our tank to the hand pump (big mess) with 5' Trident Premium 1.5" hose that was in Defenders scrap bin and on sale.

Last year the head smells were terrible. Should I use CP on bowl and KO in tank? Is the hose I used ok?
I was thinking of replacing the vent hose (clear plastic) with impermeable hose and trying to add another vent from the other side of the boat to get cross ventilation, but my tank has only one vent connection. Any suggestions?

As an alternative I was considering rigging up a fish bubbler with a timer and trying to run the hose down the middle of the vent, but this sounds too complicated and uses power (we are on a mooring). Has anyone ever tried this? Does it work?

By the way this year the forepeak is much much better, just with the new lower hose.
I guess I'd best plan on replacing that every 6 years because it remains full most of the time.

[peghall]

Raritan PH Superflush head included a small bottle of C.P. Cleans Potties. Is it good stuff?

Yes. It's not only an excellent bowl cleaner, but it's also the best sump and drain cleaner on the planet.

Also this spring I bought K.O. Kills Oders and replaced just the bottom hose out of our tank to the hand pump (big mess) with 5' Trident Premium 1.5" hose that was in Defenders scrap bin and on sale.
Last year the head smells were terrible. Should I use CP on bowl and KO in tank?

Both are excellent products, but K.O. can only work in aerobic conditions. Your tank vent has to allow enough oxygen exchange with the gasses in the tank to do that. That may require some modifications.

Is the hose I used ok?

It's excellent, but I'd replace ALL the 1.5" hoses with it.

I was thinking of replacing the vent hose (clear plastic) with impermeable hose and trying to add another vent from the other side of the boat to get cross ventilation, but my tank has only one vent connection. Any suggestions?

You definitely need to replace the vent line with sanitation hose...but you may not need a second vent. We can discuss that privately in more detail than is practical in a forum.

As an alternative I was considering rigging up a fish bubbler with a timer and trying to run the hose down the middle of the vent,

Noooo....You can't iintroduce air into the tank via the vent...the air wouldn't have any way to get out...you'd pressurize the tank!

We need to talk! Send me an email. You also need my book...it's a comprehensive "marine toilets and holding tanks 101" manual that will help you a lot: http://www.amazon.com/New-Get-Rid-Bo...dp/1892399784/

[rgleason]

Dear Peg we will talk and I'm going to get your amazon book, but I wanted to clarify the fish bulbbler idea. The existing hose is 3/4" and I would shove a 1/4" hose down the 3/4" hose, which would be attached to the bubbler. Air would bubble up through the muck and escape out the area between the 1/4"hose and the 3/4" hose.

[peghall]

Nope...Among at least a dozen other reasons, a 1/4" hose couldn't pull in enough air...the 1/8" of air space left around it inside the vent line--which, btw, is actually only a 5/8" hose (hose sizes are always stated according their INNER diameter...3/4" would be the OD)--would let so little air pass, that you're more likely to pressurize the tank than aerate the contents. You'd also have to lay "perforated" piping all the way across the bottom of the tank to do more than just push noxious gasses out the vent...piping that would have to be pulled out and cleaned several times a year. But there shouldn't BE a layer of muck on the bottom your tank...and wouldn't be if you flushed it out several times a year.

Groco introduced their Sweettank aeration system more than 10 years ago...if it were as simple as what you want to do, doncha think there'd be a dozen competitors to the Sweettank by now???

[rgleason]

You have a point about the hose sizes.
Have not heard of this http://www.groco.net/00-sanitation/stk.htm
I guess its too involved.

I have a fiberglass tank (fairly small under the port frwd bunk). The current vent is built into the tank with fiberglass bose connection. Do you think I should try to make another fg connection in the opposite corner?
Maybe there is a reliable mechanical connection?
Then perhaps connect the two hoses to opposite sides of the boat and make a solar powered bose vent to belp move air?

[rgleason]

PS head tank is pumped and flushed out frequently. Muck was just a descriptive tern.

[peghall]

None of the above. Replacing your existing vent line with a larger one (easy to do) and rerouting it will likely be all that's needed.

[robgrant1]

Originally Posted by rgleason

Peghall, perhaps you can advise about using head treatment, since I now recognize you as an expert?
Raritan PH Superflush head included a small bottle of C.P. Cleans Potties. Is it good stuff?
Also this spring I bought K.O. Kills Oders and replaced just the bottom hose out of our tank to the hand pump (big mess) with 5' Trident Premium 1.5" hose that was in Defenders scrap bin and on sale.

Last year the head smells were terrible. Should I use CP on bowl and KO in tank? Is the hose I used ok?
I was thinking of replacing the vent hose (clear plastic) with impermeable hose and trying to add another vent from the other side of the boat to get cross ventilation, but my tank has only one vent connection. Any suggestions?

As an alternative I was considering rigging up a fish bubbler with a timer and trying to run the hose down the middle of the vent, but this sounds too complicated and uses power (we are on a mooring). Has anyone ever tried this? Does it work?

By the way this year the forepeak is much much better, just with the new lower hose.
I guess I'd best plan on replacing that every 6 years because it remains full most of the time.

Are these products (CP & KO) okay for use with freshwater, vacuflush systems?

[rgleason]

CP and KO instructions mention both fresh & raw seawater.

[rgleason]

I've seen several references to using yeast packages instead of KO due to cost. I have no idea of the relative effectiveness, but am going to try cp & ko first. If it works, $18 per summer is reasonable enough for a fix. But curious about yeast effectiveness.

[rgleason]

Peg Hall. Have your book on order. My current vent hose runs horizontally 3' and turns up at right angle to end in a small corroded covered vent fitting.
I am considering replacement with 1" Trident Premium hose attached to same tank outlet, run horizontal 3' and right angle up to just under the deck where I would put a new 1" white nylon threaded seacock (no corrosion). The 1" hose would turn into that seacock.

I have seen you suggest 5' horizontal as the max, unfortunately that would put the vent at or near the waterline. Can't slope it at 45 degrees because of the bunk and construction, need the right angle.

Is there a better looking fitting?

[peghall]

Are these products (CP & KO) okay for use with freshwater, vacuflush systems?

Yes...absolutely. And work equally well in salt and fresh. Both are also 100% enviro friendly...no toxic chemicals. C.P. is a bio-enzymatic cleaning product, K.O. is a bio-active (live bacteria) tank treament.