Ultra-stupid
 

I have such a great sense of accomplishment when I encounter a difficult
problem on the boat and figure out a way to fix it. But I feel so
incredibly chagrined and ultra-stupid when I cause the problem in the
first place. Those of you who have not been there stand to the right of
St. Peter for fast-track entrance through the Pearly Gates.

Always check to see that a seacock that is supposed to be open is in
fact open. One could also say the same about seacocks that are supposed
to be closed.

Anyway, having just launbched the boat and in the course of checking
systems I ran the Lectrasan. Turned it on and pumped as one is supposed
to without actually using it, thank God. It had been wintereized and
was full of clean water and antifreeze. There was a loud bang. The
seacock that should have been open was closed and pumping the toilet
built up enough pressure in the Lectrasan to blow a big piece out of the
container's top. Well, nice to know that the sanitation hose and
connections can take the pressure without leaking but a topless
Lectrasan isn't much use. As it happened, only a single but large piece
blew out. Neither the cover nor the case shattered. After cleaning
everything with acetone, I puttied all the edges with Marine-tex and
hammer-tapped the piece back into position where it fit perfectly. The
cover now has a pattern displayed in white Marine-tex but the unit seems
as good as new.

Ultra-stupid
 

Gogarty wrote:
Anyway, having just launbched the boat and in the course of checking
systems I ran the Lectrasan. Turned it on and pumped as one is supposed
to without actually using it, thank God. It had been wintereized and
was full of clean water and antifreeze.

Uh-oh...you may not be out of the woods after all...'cuz if you ran the
LectraSan before thoroughly flushing ALL the antifreeze out of it, the
antifreeze damaged the electrode pack.

So in addition to making sure the seacock is open, it would have been
smart read the maintenance instructions. They specifically warn against
using antifreeze in the Lectra/San at all. Antifreeze won't damage
anything just sitting in the L/S over the winter, but too many people do
what you did...and antifreeze will destroy the electrode pack.

Running it with only clean FRESH water in it doesn't do the electrodes
any good either....though only one or two treatment cycles using fresh
water isn't nearly as bad as running it with antifreeze in it. Once all
the antifreeze is flushed out, all the fresh water in it should be
replaced with a brine solution (directions for making that with the
correct amount salinity are in the instructions too) by flushing about 5
gallons of it through the toilet without running the L/S.

The
cover now has a pattern displayed in white Marine-tex but the unit seems
as good as new.

Maybe...maybe not.

--
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://shop.sailboatowners.com/books...ku=90&cat=1304

Ultra-stupid
 

In article ,
says...


The
cover now has a pattern displayed in white Marine-tex but the unit seems
as good as new.

Maybe...maybe not.

I will report back. The unit was turned on only once and blew its top before
the electrode cycle began. It has not been turned on since the repair. I am
giving the Marine-tex plenty of time to cure in cool weather. It will be
thoroughly flushed with clean sea water beforte it is again turned on.

In what manner does antifreeze (the potable water kind) damage the
electrodes? An earlier stupidity did indeed destroy the electrodes. The
physical damage was clear and I did then replace them.

Ultra-stupid
 

Gogarty wrote:
In what manner does antifreeze (the potable water kind) damage the
electrodes?

Anti-freeze, bleach, chemical bowl cleaner and just about anything else
except vinegar dissolves the coating on the titanium plates. Once the
coating has been dissolved to any great extent, the electrode plates
will not conduct electricity at the same rate as they did when the
coating was there and thus, they don't work any longer. It doesn't
happen as fast if the unit isn't operated while they're in it, but even
just sitting they gradually eat away the coating, reducing the level of
treatment and life expectancy of the electrode pack.

--
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://shop.sailboatowners.com/books...ku=90&cat=1304

Ultra-stupid
 

Peggie Hall wrote:

Gogarty wrote:
In what manner does antifreeze (the potable water kind) damage the
electrodes?

Anti-freeze, bleach, chemical bowl cleaner and just about anything else
except vinegar dissolves the coating on the titanium plates. Once the
coating has been dissolved to any great extent, the electrode plates
will not conduct electricity at the same rate as they did when the
coating was there and thus, they don't work any longer. It doesn't
happen as fast if the unit isn't operated while they're in it, but even
just sitting they gradually eat away the coating, reducing the level of
treatment and life expectancy of the electrode pack.

The potable water kind of antifreeze is just a little less toxic to
mammals than the old ethylene glycol kind. It doesn't have anything
to do with it being 'better' for mechanical devices.

Bob said the directions on our LectraSan indicated that it should be
drained of water when putting the boat up for the winter, and so
that's what he does. He puts antifreeze mostly in the engine and
other areas where you want them to have antifreeze water in them. We
basically drain the water system too, and then just put a little
antifreeze through it so that remaining water doesn't crack the
fittings.

We do the same in the house - shut off the water, drain the system
AFAP and then put antifreeze in the toilets and flush a bit so that
the traps etc have antifreeze in them. We didn't do that one year and
had a toilet bowl base crack when the furnace went off. This year
when the fuel company let the furnace run out of oil, we didn't have
any such damage.



grandma Rosalie