Head Plumbing
 

Thanks for the previous advice. You-all were right about replacing the
holding tank that had a hole in it. Against my miserly ways I am going to
get a custom tank from RONCO. My question today: Is it OK to have the head
dump straight into the tank without a Y valve overboard? The head and
thruhull are on opposite sides of the hull and I have access to both sides
of the holding tank but running a hose across will mean having to shorten
the tank by several gallons. We plan on cruising where dumping is the norm.
Peggy I have purchased your book and read it four times. You know you have a
good book when almost every line has been highlighted.
- Allen

FWIW, my system is built with the head feeding directly to the tank.
There is a Y-valve that allows either deck pumpout or discharge
overboard with a manual pump. One implication is the my system is
inherently legal because there is no change of "accidental discharge."
It also means that there is less chance for leaks, etc.

I haven't found this setup to be a problem, since there are very few
locations that I've wanted to discharge while at anchor or in a slip.
Of course, if more of my time onboard was offshore passage making,
I might look at this differently.


bushman wrote:
Thanks for the previous advice. You-all were right about replacing the
holding tank that had a hole in it. Against my miserly ways I am going to
get a custom tank from RONCO. My question today: Is it OK to have the head
dump straight into the tank without a Y valve overboard? The head and
thruhull are on opposite sides of the hull and I have access to both sides
of the holding tank but running a hose across will mean having to shorten
the tank by several gallons. We plan on cruising where dumping is the norm.
Peggy I have purchased your book and read it four times. You know you have a
good book when almost every line has been highlighted.
- Allen

bushman wrote:

Thanks for the previous advice. You-all were right about replacing the
holding tank that had a hole in it. Against my miserly ways I am going to
get a custom tank from RONCO. My question today: Is it OK to have the head
dump straight into the tank without a Y valve overboard?

If you're only planning to cruise US coastal waters, it's fine. However,
if you plan to do much offshore cruising and/or spend most of your time
in waters where flushing directly overboard is accepted, I'd put a
y-valve in that will allow you to do so....why store waste aboard if you
don't have to? Or be forced to have deal with dumping the tank to be
able to use the head in gale force winds and heavy seas? Or even have to
mess with the hassle of maintaining the tank...and the vent.


The head and
thruhull are on opposite sides of the hull and I have access to both sides
of the holding tank but running a hose across will mean having to shorten
the tank by several gallons.

Let's see if we can find a better location for the tank. I'd also pick a
tank that'll leave you with enough clearance (5") above it to put all
the fittings on the top, and specify a pickup tube on the discharge.

We plan on cruising where dumping is the norm.

Another good reason to install the y-valve: one flush at time without
any tank chemicals in it is a LOT kinder to the critters in the sea
around you than a tankful.

Peggy I have purchased your book and read it four times. You know you have a
good book when almost every line has been highlighted.

Thanks for the good words! :)


--
Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://www.seaworthy.com/store/custo...0&cat=6&page=1
http://shop.sailboatowners.com/detai...=400&group=327

OK plumbing everything to the top of the tank will again reduce gallons but
will get the inlet closer to level with the head. The Y valves I pulled out
were less than two years old and almost unusable. Bosworth Sea-Lect Diverter
Valves $65 very hard to turn and the body torqued. Hardly any crud in them.
I want a rock solid system contained on top of the tank. Who makes the best
Y-valve?

bushman wrote:

OK plumbing everything to the top of the tank will again reduce
gallons but will get the inlet closer to level with the head.

You'll need a vented loop in the discharge line that's at least 6-8"
above the waterline at any angle of heel, so whether the head is level
with the tank is irrelevant.

The Y
valves I pulled out were less than two years old and almost unusable.
Bosworth Sea-Lect Diverter Valves $65 very hard to turn and the body
torqued. Hardly any crud in them. I want a rock solid system
contained on top of the tank.

Not sure what you mean by "contained on top of the tank..."

Who makes the best Y-valve?

Whale...hands down.

--
Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://www.seaworthy.com/store/custo...0&cat=6&page=1
http://shop.sailboatowners.com/detai...=400&group=327

I have planned a vented loop at the raw water intake seacock and the
discharge seacock. The holding tank inlet will be about 2" above the toilet
pump outlet. I am adding a second vent.
Thank for the tip on Whale.
- Allen

bushman wrote:
I have planned a vented loop at the raw water intake seacock...

If you put it there--or anywhere in the intake line before the pump--the
toilet will pull air into the line, preventing it from priming.

Intake vented loop has to go between the pump and the bowl...to replace
the short piece of hose the mfr used to connect 'em.

and the
discharge seacock. The holding tank inlet will be about 2" above the toilet
pump outlet.

I recommend that you put a loop in the head discharge line that's above
the tank...to prevent waste from running back toward the toilet when the
boat is heeled. Put it immediately after the toilet, so that waste only
has to clear the top of it--and btw, any manual toilet that's working
anywhere near factory specs can move bowl contents over the top of a
loop (up to 6', in fact) in the dry mode--then it's downhill into the
tank.

I am adding a second vent.

Go with 1" and use open bulkhead thru-hull fittings.

--
Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://www.seaworthy.com/store/custo...0&cat=6&page=1
http://shop.sailboatowners.com/detai...=400&group=327

Thanks for the correction that is where the raw water loop is going. When I
disassembled the old system the joker valve looked new but was almost held
closed by the solids (sand) that had settled back down the loop and packed
in around the back side of the joker valve. The tank had sand in it too. I
guess the PO liked raw oysters. I may raise the toilet which will put the
rim above the waterline accept when at 15o and everything will be above the
tank inlet which will be on the centerline of the boat. I will just install
stirrups on the toilet.
- Allen