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#1
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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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. |
#2
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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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 |
#3
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Ultra-stupid
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#4
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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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 |
#5
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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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 |
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