Sanitation hose for a 40' DC

[Beckytek]

Started changing all the sanitation hoses on my boat today. I couldn't remove the hose from my guest head to the ER vacuum tank. Spent about 3 hours trying to pull the old hose out. There must be a clamp somewhere that I can't get access to. I removed the one under the guest sink and can't see any more. Has anybody done this job before. If so, please tell me how you removed this hose. All the rest look reasonable to get to. Thanks in advance to anybody that saves my day. Ron

 

[Angela]

Hatteras was known for installing the hoses as the boat was built, clamping them to bulkheads and then laying the flooring over top, making it completely inaccessible without ripping out the floors. In fact, there are some places on mine where the floor is tabbed to a bulkhead and there are hoses clamped to the stringer underneath all that (it's true!) - many of places you'll never be able to reach to unscrew the clamps without a lot of destruction. I can see these clamps by putting a couple of mirrors in the right places, but unreachable. Many of us have had to just cut off the old hose as far back as we could and leave it. I got several areas of dead hose I wish I could pull out, but it's just not gonna happen.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

AHA !! I see youve been there too Ange.
Ron: When I was pulling the old head hoses out I encountered the same thing. For 99% of the ones I couldnt get to, I reached with a piece of sharpened flat stock (like a chisel) and knocked the holding screw off and pulled the hose out. On a few, I had to hook up a small come a long and pull the hose AND clamps in one. The bronze screws are usually only 1/2" long.
Ange: On another note regarding your post about hose obstructions, the original stuff (2-1/2") was hard as a rock. I could barely remove the old hose. Once out, I found that the entire hose was blocked with "residue" that was like concrete. I literally had to break it over my knee several times to get the stuff out. I managed to save the hose for a future project. ( cheap ! )
Hatteras used clamps every 10 inches on their wiring too. When I pulled the old head wiring, I ended up with about 50 spare clamps as well. PERSEVERE!! ws

 

[Beckytek]

Wow, that's scary. Trouble is I don't know how I'm going to run the new hose if I can't get the old one out. I was going to tape them together and pull the new one in using the old one. There is no other place to run the hose. The one clamp I found there was no way to unscrew it, so I used tin snips to cut it. It continues under the shower stall, No way to reach it. God what a mess.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Dont be surprised if you encounter a few Anacondas while youre in there!! ws

 

[krush]

sigh: I thought hat built their boats so they could be maintained ????

How harmful is yanking a 2 inch screw out of fiberglass?

 

[Angela]

On some that Ed and I did, we cut new holes through the bulkhead with a hole saw where he could access the bulkhead on one side, and I caught and directed the new hose when I could reach it as he pushed it through the new hole. Granted there are a lot of places where we can't do that, but we've not begun to tackle those yet. Ahead of us is replacing the hose that runs from the aft cabin to the holding tank all the way forward - a VERY long run on a 58MY. That is going to be most difficult and we may be forced to take a new path under the exhaust tube instead of the original route. You know...maybe that one head is a good candidate for a Lectrasan!

 

[yachtsmanbill]

2" screws??? The floor joists are not even painted. The # 6 or 8s pull right out. If not, they sure as heck bust easily enough. Trust me !
Ange: go with the Atlantes Freedom heads !! Best thing thats ever happened!
On the aft head, I'll make the hose hook up and then run PVC pipe for a smooth move. Even if you need to cut and glue couplings together, slotchka wont stick to it.
The Freedom head has its own water (sea water, water tank or house pressure) and macerator pumps. You can pump "up" a foot and then its a downhill run to the front. The unit has an adjustable timer for the pumps, so you can be sure to flush the line clear. The bowl also holds water like a conventional shore side unit. ws

 

[SKYCHENEY]

When I ran my new hoses, I had to leave a piece of old hose in there too. There was just no good way to get it out. Then, when installing the new, I ran the aft head hose just as Angela suggested, under the stbd exhaust. It was a straight easy run with good access. It has been in for 2 seasons now and is still working fine. Good luck. It's not an easy job.

 

[Angela]

Just spent about six hours replacing two hoses on just one head, and it was just the water intake and the discharge to the through-hull. Still need to pull the hose to the holding tank on that particular head. Most of those hours were spent dealing with those blasted clamps that held the hose to the stringers and other supporting members that are under the floor in the engine room. Just thought I'd share since I'm really frustrated, battered, bruised and bleeding from the ordeal. Swapping hoses is pure hell!

I hope I never have to do this again! And there wasn't a cold beer on the boat. That's just not right!

Hey Ed....I saved a little task for you....can't get the hose on the last nipple on the through hull under the floor, and Ralph couldn't fit under the heat exchanger reach it. Enjoy!

 

[Beckytek]

I've spent 2 days trying to get that hose from forward head to vacuum tank out. No go, so I am going to cut a hole in the lower vertical section of the shower stall. The hose goes right under it. I should be able to get to the clamps that way. This is the only route I have to run a new hose. There's no other path to go. I'll post my results when I'm finished. Wish you luck Angela, I know what you're going through. Ron

 

[Angela]

Ron,

Have you thought about just rerouting the hose? I've had to do that. On two of my heads, the intake/sea strainer is in the ER underneath the heat exchanger, on each engine. The hose runs towards the outboard side OVER a stringer under the floor and it's clamped to the TOP of that stringer, then it turns right and goes through the bulkhead in to the genny room where it meets up with the GM pump. Now, that was not going to come out and I couldn't use that route for the new hose since the old hose and hose clamp was in the way - there was just enough room for that one hose there, so running the new hose next to it was out of the question - thanks Hatteras! I had to reroute the hose under the engine a bit until I could get it to a spot where I could pass over the stringer, then run it back into the hole on the other side. That's just an example of the kind of re-routing we've had to do. You might want to assess your hose run and see if you can route it elsewhere with less destruction and aggravation. Although, I FULLY understand that anytime you deal with hoses on a Hatt there is much frustration. Oh well, it comes with the territory and I must have a Hatt!

 

[Genesis]

I cut hatches on Gigabite in the floor in the master SR and head.

That's one problem I was not going to have twice.

 

[Beckytek]

Angela,
There is no other way to run this hose. It goes through the bulkhead where I can't see what's on the other side. My guest shower is on the other side, so I'm blind as to what's there. If I tried to drill another hole who knows what I would hit on the other side. Not going to take that chance. Guess I'm the only one changing hoses on a 40' DC. Oh well I'll do it and be the expert on shizz hose replacement. Got to be good at something. Honey dipper, Ron

 

[Beckytek]

I finally ran a new hose from my guest toilet to the vacuum tank. I had to saw a hole in my shower stall to get access to the hose clamps and remove them. (see pics) There are 2 clamps under the shower one on either side of the hole. Had to saw another hole in the bottom of the guest vanity to get to 2 more clamps under there. One is under the hole as seen in the pic and the other is under the right side of cabinet. After removing the clamps I was able to get the old hose out and the new one in. Hope this info helps anyone who has to tackle this job in the future. The rest are pretty straight forward and I'll be a happy boater when finished. Ron

 

[cnairn]

I know this is a very old thread, but I wonder if you still have the boat and have pictures that I can see better. For some reason these pictures are not viewable on my computer. We have a 1989 40DC and I would like to replace the vacuflush hoses as my next project. Also, what hose brand did you use? thanks!!

 

[rwaldrop13]

We had this issue with Pau Hana, which was a 54' ED. While the midships head was run thru the port engine room, and easy access, the master or aft head was a different story. I responded to a similar thread a while back. Our aft head pump was in the aft of 2 closets in the midships passageway between the midships head and the aft stateroom. When I pulled the original hose, I had a lot of resistance and felt something come loose. However, running the replacement was the bigger challenge. I stuck a fish tape thru from the closet end, and ran it under the deck to the access plate. What I didn't realize was that if I veered just a hair from the original hose track, the fish tape went under/over a stringer, not thru the hose cutout in the stringer. Once I figured this out, with a flashlight and a mirror, I restuck the fish tape, made sure it was in the cutout, and put it inside the end of the new hose. I then wrapped duct tape around the tape forming a cone on the hose and while the Admiral gently fed the hose from the tank end, I eased the fish tape thru until the hose came thru. I cut the first 6 inches off because of tape residue, connected it at the pump end, and then at the tank end. It took us about an hour. Lesson learned from this- Put the fish tape on the old hose before pulling it.

 

[cnairn]

Thanks for the advice! I will see if we can do this.