Sanitation Hose Replacement

[mbuckely]

We have an electric macerator head in our catamaran. Sanitation hose to holding tank bends down from the toilet exit then up to the holding tank, which is about 3’ higher than the bowl. In that ~9’ run there is a back flow valve where affluent leaves the toilet and a 2nd back flow valve after ~90”.

My question: Does the 2nd inline back flow valve make sense? I had to replace the hose (after 10 years) because it was so badly clogged. I’ll take the hit for poor maintenance practices (just bought Peggie’s book). I don’t want to repeat a poor design, if this is one.

Thoughtful comments are appreciated

[peghall]

Why does the toilet discharge have to go down from the toilet before it goes up? That creates a "valley" where water/waste can pool. Plumbed correctly, the only check valve needed is the joker valve in the toilet discharge fitting. And btw...10 yr old sanitation hose was long overdue for replacement even without poor maintenance practices.

I'll be glad to help you sort out how to do it right...What's the make/model/age of the toilet?

--Peggie

[Jerry Woodward]

Originally Posted by peghall

Why does the toilet discharge have to go down from the toilet before it goes up? That creates a "valley" where water/waste can pool. Plumbed correctly, the only check valve needed is the joker valve in the toilet discharge fitting. And btw...10 yr old sanitation hose was long overdue for replacement even without poor maintenance practices.

I'll be glad to help you sort out how to do it right...What's the make/model/age of the toilet?

--Peggie

Peggie
I am installing a Marine Elegance and the toilet discharge points straight down. Since my holding tank is about 4' above the toilet discharge, I have no choice but to route the hose down before going up.

The outlet from the macerator points up and then goes into a 180 degree vented loop which exits downward. Thus, I will need to make another 180 degree bend on the waste hose to route it up to the holding tank. The fitting within the Marine Elegance has a vent at the top of the loop, to be opened only if the unit is installed above the waste tank. In my case, the manual says to keep the vent closed. On the one hand, I can see that this loop will serve to prevent waste in the hose from backing into the bowl (there is a joker valve at either end), but on the other hand, this serpentine exhaust route doesn't seem optimal. I'd love to hear your thoughts?

[peghall]

The discharge doesn't have to point straight down. If you check the parts list on page 10 in the "Installation, Operation and Maintenance Instructions (aka Owners Manual) Raritan Marine Elegance Owners Manual, you'll find that a "thru-wall (horizontal) discharge kit" is available, allowing you to route the discharge line straight up to the tank. And btw, Raritan SaniFlex is the only hose you'll want to use. RaritanSaniFlex hose Not only does it have a 10 warranty against odor permeation, but it's so flexible it can be bent almost as tight as a hairpin without kinking. You can easily bend it 90 degrees to go up the tank. Defender has both 1" and 1.5" for < $10/ft and they sell it by the foot.

You might want to give Raritan tech support a call...a trained tech actually answers the phone: 800-352-5630...Mac McCoy is my go-to guy...his extension is 306.

--Peggie

[Jerry Woodward]

Originally Posted by peghall

The discharge doesn't have to point straight down. If you check the parts list on page 10 in the "Installation, Operation and Maintenance Instructions (aka Owners Manual) Raritan Marine Elegance Owners Manual, you'll find that a "thru-wall (horizontal) discharge kit" is available, allowing you to route the discharge line straight up to the tank. And btw, Raritan SaniFlex is the only hose you'll want to use. RaritanSaniFlex hose Not only does it have a 10 warranty against odor permeation, but it's so flexible it can be bent almost as tight as a hairpin without kinking. You can easily bend it 90 degrees to go up the tank. Defender has both 1" and 1.5" for < $10/ft and they sell it by the foot.

You might want to give Raritan tech support a call...a trained tech actually answers the phone: 800-352-5630...Mac McCoy is my go-to guy...his extension is 306.

--Peggie

Wow, thank you Peggie! I see it listed on page 10. Funny they make no mention of it in the installation instructions. I will order it. I currently have the 1 1/2 inch saniflex hose, enough for the entire job including pump-out connections and discharge. However, I think you have recommended 1" for the discharge hose. Do you think the 1" discharge would be noticeably better? If so, I will order that too.

[peghall]

I'm a fan of 1.5"...others have a different opinion. So it's your choice.


Merry Christmas!


-Peggie

[Jerry Woodward]

Peggie

I did call Raritan. The thru-wall adaptor kit is nothing more than a 90 degree elbow, a section of hose, and two clamps. It is designed to attach to the downward pointing discharge hose and divert the discharge 90 degrees to horizontal in order to run through the back wall. From there, I will attach my discharge hose to run up to the holding tank.

So, the Marine Elegance discharges up from the discharge pump macerator housing and then goes through the vented discharge loop to point straight down. The discharge hose then has to reverse direction to go up to the holding tank.

While this does not appear optimal for discharging upward, the Raritan tech assured me that this is not a problem with the Marine Elegance. I will report back after my installation.

Thanks for your help.

[mbuckely]

Originally Posted by peghall

Why does the toilet discharge have to go down from the toilet before it goes up? That creates a "valley" where water/waste can pool. Plumbed correctly, the only check valve needed is the joker valve in the toilet discharge fitting. And btw...10 yr old sanitation hose was long overdue for replacement even without poor maintenance practices.

I'll be glad to help you sort out how to do it right...What's the make/model/age of the toilet?

--Peggie

Peggie

Following up on your offer. Our toilet is a Sanamarin. No joker valves on these units as you already know. I’m attaching a crude drawing to help explain the way it was plumbed. Discharge leaves the bowl, heads out the back, through a no return valve then takes a 90’ turn down, follows a 16ft line to a second no return valve finally a right turn into the holding tank.

I could drill a new hole through the wall and take a more direct route to the holding tank, eliminating the dip in the line. If I do that would I still use two no return valves? Same locations? Do you have a favorite in line, no return valve?

Let me know what you think & thank you in advance

Mark

[peghall]

Mark, we actually need to TALK 'cuz I have some ideas, but a bunch of questions (starting with, what genius decided to put the inlet fitting on the far side of the tank???) that need answers to know whether they'll work and I'd always rather talk than type. So how 'bout sending me a PM--better yet an email--so we can find a mutually convenient day/approx time to spend about 30-45 minutes on the phone. If you aren't in the US, I have WhatsApp. I don't charge anything to brainstorm.


--Peggie