It’s my turn, curses!

[(Nobody You Know)]

Over the past couple of months the aft head started cycling right after flushing (older Sealand vacuum type). Meaning after it built up pressure and stopped it would cycle on again for say 15 pumps or so.

To make a long story short the system abruptly quit building up suction – and not removing waste. Environmental Marine advises replacing all duck bill valves and inspect pump for leakage. Pump is fine and DBV’s are on order. I should add that EM also asserted that DBV’s seldom do not last three years. Well mine are/was pushing 4 (maybe there is something to be said for high fiber diets).

Question #1: when I get into this thing, particularly the hose running from the vacuum tank to the pump, am I going to have a really bad mess of backed up waste waiting to spew out all in the bilge?

Question #2: As I will also be replacing DBV’s in the forward head system, which works fine for now, Sealand offes a treatment called SANX-TDX which comes in gallon jugs and sold by WM (it has formaldehyde, methyl alchol, surfactants and uranium isotope 235). It reads as just one more product on the shelf to flushing down the toilet (no pun.…). Will this stuff clean out my hoses, valves and system should I need to replace DBV’s in the future?

Question #3: What would you use to get the hoses, valves and systems ah parfume’?

Question #4: Should I take up lawn bowling instead?

[Pascal]

overtime, DBs get some hard build up which causes issues... i don't think treatments will help.

you want to try to get the hoses as empty as possible before opening the hoses on the vac pump inlet and outlet, or else... if you have a sealand macerator in your system, you can try to temporarily hook it up down stream of the vac pump to try to suck the hoses empty and flush them with water before opening the vac pump. or an old shop vac :-(

unless you have a large amount of "stuff" in the hoses, it's no big deal.. certainly no worst than diapers :-)

one way to minimize spills is to raise the pump before opening the inlet and outlet, that will prevent "stuff" from spilling...

[Gina Marie]

Hi Capt. Bill, just replaced the SB side pump. Its cheaper to rebuild then buy new found out the hard way threw the pump out when I disconnected it a costly mistake. Yes no matter what the situation get ready for the mess plenty of rags and a hose is a must. Did you also check the regulator on the top of the vacuum tank ,that needed to be rebuilt also again cheaper to rebuild then to replace. I used bleach and gloves and cloths that would not make it through the night. But once completed it worked like a charm. Good Luck.

Gina Marie 45 Hat

[Maynard Rupp]

I can clearly see that "stuff" is the main issue here!

[(Nobody You Know)]

one way to minimize spills is to raise the pump before opening the inlet and outlet, that will prevent "stuff" from spilling...

GOT IT!!! A great idea.

I had already planned to run the bilge blowers (my 40'er has one main bilge that houses everything).

This problem would have been dealt with last Friday under not so severe circumstances but UPS did not follow delivery instructions. Now it could be as late as mid October when I get a chance to complete this. The odor may be so bad that I will need to wear scuba gear! (no LOL.)

I'm hoping that a solution of water and white vinegar in the other (working) head will minimize odor problems.

[Beckytek]

Capt Bill, I have the same boat as you and just finished changing all the sanitation hoses. Flush the toilet with clean water for a few seconds, shut off the water valve, hold your foot on the flush pedal until all fluids are gone. Turn off pump circuit breaker. You should not have more than a thimble full of "stuff" in that hose. I just used an old rag to clean up and it wasn't bad at all. I used duct tape to cover the ends of the hoses I took off, just in case there was some "stuff" in the hoses. The most stuff I had in the hose was going to the macerator, about half a cup. Ron

Since the pumps are side by side, (on my boat), I would turn the water off to both toilets and hold your foot on flush pedal on working pump to pump system dry. Turn both pumps off. Disconnect hose from good pump and tape. Remove hose from bad pump and connect to good pump. Of course you'll have to hold your hand over end of hose to keep "stuff" from escaping while doing this. Turn on the good pump to pump the system dry. Now you can procede to repair the problem. It's messy but soap and water fixes everything. Good luck.

[(Nobody You Know)]

Just a follow up. Was down at the boat last weekend (where else?) and tackled the head duck bill valve issue.

The aft head which had no vacuum had very little liquid "stuff". The blowers in the bilge did a great job of keeping odors out (and me alive).

A solution of water and white vinegar applied in the forward (working) head rendered the system virtually odor free, after allowing it about an hour in the system before flushing.

The good news was that Environmental Marine Service was correct in advising the the lack of suction was due to old DBV's. The bad news is that they should be replaced at least every three years. Keep some white vinegar and rubber gloves on hand.

Sorry I won't be able to help you do yours. I would really like to you know. Unfortunately my glee club meets that day.