holding tank won't pump out

[Bill Root]

When I tried to pump the holding tank today I could get nothing to come through the pump-out hose. I know the suction is good because other boats near me were pumping out just fine (we have pump-out every three slips on the dock).

The hose from the waste fitting on the deck to the tank is clear. The vent is working. I removed the waste level gauge from the holding tank and looked inside. Liquid is about three inches from the top. I could feel the suction through the hole and the water was swirling around inside the tank. The Y valves for the heads are set to send waste direct to the holding tank. The Y valve at the holding tank is set to bypass the overboard macerator and send waste to the pump-out hose.

I'm stumped! The only thing I can think of at this point is that the pick-up pipe inside the holding tank either has a hole in it at the top or has fallen off. Before I get into the truly nasty job of removing the tank cover plate to get at the pick-up tube, I thought I would see if anyone out there has another idea.

Thanks

Bill Root
1973 43 DCMY

 

[Genesis]

The dip tube has probably broken off.

Its a lot of fun to fix with a full tank too....

 

[Bill Root]

I was afraid of that. s@#t! No pun intended.

Thanks

 

[Jaxfishgyd]

We had that same thing happen about 3 months after we bought our boat...

Luckily we were, at the time only a 30 min ride to the inlet... Then a 30 min ride offshore where we "lost all the s*&t inside the tank...

We refilled the tank (fresh water and clorox), pumped it out... Then did it again a second time. Then cruised back to the dock.

OH, then I paid a deck hand at the marina $20 to fix it....

 

[Bill Root]

Would your "deckhand" like to come down to Sanford?

Sounds like I'm in for a nasty job.

 

[Angela]

Eeewwww!! Been there, done that, got the t-shirt! Your dip tube has rotted away. I spent all day on Christmas Day last December replacing mine with a FULL tank. The biggest fitting was so hard to get off that Pascal had to come to my rescue and put some muscle behind the big pipe wrench. I replaced all the fittings with PVC so I would never have to do this again. Well, I guess just one more time. I've got two holding tanks. I'm saving that other one for Ed to do.

Pick a calm day to prevent any sloshing (I live in a rough marina, so I chose Christmas Day when the fuel dock was closed).

 

[Ross Macdonald]

Ditto here. Had the same problem and the best fix is PVC. We also went outside 3 miles and pumped overboard. Made the job alot easier. Good Luck

 

[CaptnRick]

I had the same problem on my 1973 DCMY. If you have not pumped it out yet, try fashioning a long rubber tube that will go inside the diptube and fashion an adapter that will hold the suction at the pump end. It might take a few trys (clogging tp etc...) but at least you may be able to siphon off some of the liquid before doing the dirty task.

Oh and unless you have been lifting iron for a while, you might want to find a buddy who can put some muscle into it.

Captn Rick

 

[CaptnRick]

I had the same problem on my 1973 DCMY. If you have not pumped it out yet, try fashioning a long rubber tube that will go inside the diptube and fashion an adapter that will hold the suction at the pump end. It might take a few trys (clogging tp etc...) but at least you may be able to siphon off some of the liquid before doing the dirty task.

Oh and unless you have been lifting iron for a while, you might want to find a buddy who can put some muscle into it.

Captn Rick

 

[spartonboat1]

See old posts that go into detail on your situation. Chances are good that your tube is corroded off, due to the black water in which it sits. Diptubes usually don't corrode off at the top, but rather 1/2 to 2/3 down, so a little unusual.

If you really want to verify how far down the pipe is damaged, there should be a square topped cleanout cap on the top of the pumpout pipe, where it attaches to the manifold plate on top of the tank. A quick test is to get an old fashioned metal coat hanger, unbend it to its 2-3' length and make a small hook of about 1/4-1/2" on one end. Lower it into the dip tube and try to catch the bottom of it or in the hole(s), where the diptube is corroded through. It should catch before going all the way to the bottom of the tank, because the tube is no longer present in its full length.

DO NOT try to remove the brass manifold plate, which is attached to the top of the tank. It is permanently fiberglassed in place and the screws you see are there leftover from the factory. They were there to hold the plate in place, until the resin set up. I.e., the plate will not come off, unless you damage the tank. Please don't try to remove the plate.

Regarding replacement of the diptube, a good yard (emphasis good) will know how to do it without much issue. If you choose to do it yourself, you could remove some of the black water from the tank by making an adapter and hose and attach it to the pumpout hose and lower the adapter in through the cleanout.

Otherwise, the original brass diptubes have been replaced by a plastic tube, which can be supplied as a perfect fit by Sam's Marine, host of this site.

Get a good sized "pipe wrench". This is the type of job for which they are really meant; they will take a beating and sock up well on your fitting. You can take a 2# or 5# sledge to them. Remove the pump out hose from the bronze fitting, which is screwed into the plate on the top of the tank. The fitting is a RH thread, so counter-clockwise will back it out. The diptube should come out attached to the bottom of the bronze fitting, to whch the pumpout hose is attached.

Once the bronze fitting, to which your hose was attached, is unscrewed and removed from the plate, then the diptube should come out with it. You may need to destroy what remains of the diptube, to get it out of the bronze fitting. The Sam's tube, comes in a one size fits all, and you must cut it off so the length fits to the bottom of your tank. It is plastic, with external threads on one end to be received into the bottom bronze fitting internal threads. The other end is unthreaded plasic pipe. When cutting to fit, remember measure 2-3 times, before cutting. Where it touches the bottom of the tank, the tank is slanted, so the pipe will not "bottom out" flat on the bottom of the tank.

I will assume that you will find a way to remove the black water from your holding tank, before fitting and installing the new diptube. But because your diptube has corroded off, a lot of solids may be lurking on the bottom of the tank because they haven't been cleaned out for awhile; maybe a section of the old tube might be visible. I cleaned my tank out 100% with good cleaners and Clorox. There is or may be a baffle in the bottom of the tank, which prevents sloshing of the black water (at least there is a baffle in the forward holding tank), so you will want the baffle cleaned out, so it is not blocked, before installing the new tube.

Not really fun, but get a box of plastic/rubber glove and the right tools, if you intend to do it yourself. Sam's can get the new tube to you in no time.

 

[bobk]

Spartonboat, Thanks for the detailed description. this sounds like a job that ought to be done before the dip tube breaks. If someone has already changed out the dip tube, would it be evident from tool marks on the fittings?

Bob

 

[Angela]

Excellent advice Spartonboat1, especially about not trying to remove the bronze plate. I had no idea Sam's had the assembly ready made. I went to all the trouble to make my own and it took me a little while to figure it out. There wasn't much room between the top of the tank and underside of the floor. I added an extra tee to mine so that I can tee off a line to add an overboard discharge pump at some point in the future if I want to dump the tank at sea. I don't need it now where I am now, I just capped it off.

And yes, you'll need some muscle for that one big fitting. I had to call in my big guns...Hey Pascal!!!!

By the way, my dip tube was completely rotted off from the very top. There was no dip tube whatsoever to pull out from the tank.

 

[Bill Root]

Thanks to all for your insights. I'm headed off to the boat to try to fix it. Bad news is that it's hotter than blazes here in Central Forida today, and the AC is out for repairs. Good news is that I can easily afford to sweat off a few pounds.

Bill

 

[Genesis]

Bad news is that you're gonna s&&^ when you smell what's in there.

 

[eze2bme]

OK ... I don't know your exact situation so far as dock side pump out is concerned ... BUT ... is there a way that you could rig up a PVC pipe or hose through the tank fitting and maybe out a hatch or portlight and pump out the tank at your marina pump station before trying to replace the pick up tube? At least the black water waste would be gone ... and you could even flush the tank once or twice. Just a thought.

 

[Jaxfishgyd]

We have a guy here who will come to your boat and pump out your holding tank......Has a 50 gal tank with a pump on his boat... Cost is $40.

His company name is "WLYS"......

We Love Your Shi......T"

 

[spartonboat1]

OK ... I don't know your exact situation so far as dock side pump out is concerned ... BUT ... is there a way that you could rig up a PVC pipe or hose through the tank fitting and maybe out a hatch or portlight and pump out the tank at your marina pump station before trying to replace the pick up tube? At least the black water waste would be gone ... and you could even flush the tank once or twice. Just a thought.

If you can't get the WLYS guy to come, then visit your local ACE/TruVal/Lowes hdwe and make up an adapter fitting that will accept your pumpout hose and then run a hose or pipe down into the cleanout hole (assumes you removed the cleanout plug!). That will allow you to use the marinas standard pumpout to empty your tank, including a few extra rinses ($5-$10 ought to pay for that). When they apply their pumping action to the deck pumpout, your adapter will pump out the tank.

P.s., I assume you are not a Great Lakes boat, because Y's, maceraters, etc. are a big no no here.

It is def just me, but stay with the original bronze fittings, if possible, as they will take a beating, in the literal sense. While plastic, although it is resistant to corrosion, it cannot withstand the heat or physical pounding, IMHO...

 

[Angela]

Hey, if I can do this job with a tank slap full to the brim, you can too, if ya gotta! LOL

Yeah, the first opening of that tank can with a big WHOAAA!!, but I had a screw-in plug in hand ready to go in. As I removed each piece, I plugged the hole quickly. I left those in place until was ready to put each new fitting in place and kept plugging the open end with either a screw in plug or a bung. I had the replacement parts prepped and ready to fit quickly. Amazingly, the odor blew out of the boat rather quickly. I had the forward hatch open and created a path of air travel by closing some doors and opening others. After all, this tank was in the room where I sleep.

 

[Bill Root]

After all the great detailed advice I received, I'm almost afraid to tell you what I found the problem to be.

As I may have mentioned, I bought this boat in Ft Myers in November. It had recently received a complete refit. Prior to moving it from Ft Myers to it's new home in Sanford Florida I had a local marina do some work, including replacement and new double clamping of all the thru-hulls and plumbing connections. After the trip from Ft Myers I pumped the holding tank, but after that used the heads infrequently. However, it did always seem to me that the tank was filling up faster than a 75 gallon tank should. The last unsuccessful pump-out was the first time I had opened the tank and looked inside to see that only the top few inches of water was being taken out.

Following the good advice I received fom you all, I removed the hose and elbow to the pump-out fitting and used a coathanger to test for holes or brakes in the dip tube. It seemed fine. I attempted to remove the dip tube, but was unsuccessful, since I was operating with only one arm due to some hand surgery the week before. I gave up and called the marina service guy, who came with his tank adapter and proceeded to pump out the tank through the open dip tube.

After the dock guy finished pumping out, he suggested that as long as the hose from the deck to the tank was disconnetced we should attach the pump out hose to the deck waste fittting to make sure the hose from the deck fitting to the tank was clear. Seemed like a good idea, so he proceeded to connect at the deck and turn on the suction while I watched the tank. There was great sucking and gurgling going on inside the tank, but there was NO SUCTION in the open end of the deck-to-tank hose. All the suction was coming from the fitting that was supposed to be connected to the aft head discharge line. Immediately a light bulb went on, although dimly.

Apparently at some point, perhaps when the marina in Ft Myers was replacing the hose clamps, they got the two hoses mixed up, attaching the pump out hose to the aft head tank fitting and vice versa. When the tank filled and I attempted to pump it out, there was sufficient suction to pull the top few inches of water out of the tank through the aft head discharge fitting, but of course not enough to empty the tank, thus causing it to fill up again faster than it should. Today we switched the hoses, re-filled the tank with water and it pumped out fine.

I pass this along in hopes it will provide a good laugh. That's what I'm doing, now that I've gotten over being angry. By the way, you can bet I have marked those hoses and tank fittings to be sure this problem can't happen again.

Bill

 

[akintosyali]

uhh. sorry man.
My tanks were original when I bought them.. I ordered a new polyethylene tank (twice the original size), made a pvc pickup tube from homedepot. $200 later, I have a new set up and I am completely worry free.