Hi Peggie,

We bought an older Irwin 38 over the weekend, and
it has a fairly new electric marine head in it.
Other than the head, it appears that the rest of
the system (hoses, holding tank, seacocks, etc)
were installed by Irwin when they built the boat.

Would you either explain to me how the system is
supposed to work, or point me to a good website?
This is the first boat I've owned that has a
marine head, so I'm a total novice at this.

I think that there may be a problem with the
installation of the new head, but I also may just
not be operating it correctly.

TIA,

Don W.

Don W wrote:

Hi Peggie,

We bought an older Irwin 38 over the weekend, and it has a fairly new
electric marine head in it. Other than the head, it appears that the
rest of the system (hoses, holding tank, seacocks, etc) were installed
by Irwin when they built the boat.

Would you either explain to me how the system is supposed to work, or
point me to a good website?

I need more info before I can tell you how it's suppose to work.
What's the make/model of the toilet? What's it doing, or not doing,
that makes you think you may have a problem?

I think that there may be a problem with the installation of the new
head, but I also may just not be operating it correctly.

If you aren't, you could cause damage...so don't use it again till we
get you sorted out...which will prob'ly require a bit more conversation
than is practical here...we'll prob'ly have to go to email. I can
figure out what your ISP is, but the rest of your email address is a bit
of a mystery. You can reach me at peg(dot)hall(at)sbcglobal(dot) net.

--
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

One thing you might try is asking an experienced boater to look over your
head...

Where are you located???

Hi Rick,

The boat is in Palacios TX. I had a good
telephone conversation with Peggie Hall today, and
she was very helpful. Based on that, I think that
the vent to the holding tank may be plugged, and
that there may be some buildup in the sewage
lines. The head flushes, but very slowly. When
you try to flush to the holding tank, it builds up
back pressure and flushes even more slowly. This
is all flushing with just seawater, as I have not
tried to actually use the thing yet.

The PO's had just installed the head when we
bought the boat. It could be that they replaced
the old pump style head because they were having
problems, and had not quite got the problems
sorted out with the new head before it sold.

Since some of the sewage lines are vintage 1985, I
think that I may replace them with new marine
hose, and replace all the clamps at the same time.
Now I've just got to find that pesky holding
tank vent, and find out why its not venting.

Don W.

Rick wrote:

One thing you might try is asking an experienced boater to look over your
head...

Where are you located???

Easiest way to figure that out is to remove the cover to the pump-out
and see if that fixes your problem. That should be plenty of vent to
decide if that's the problem. Then if it is, you can fix the vent.

Good idea! I'm so green at this marine head thing
that I don't even know where the vent _or_ the
cover is yet (sigh). I'll bet I'm fixing to learn
a thing or two here.

Don W.


Keith wrote:

Easiest way to figure that out is to remove the cover to the pump-out
and see if that fixes your problem. That should be plenty of vent to
decide if that's the problem. Then if it is, you can fix the vent.

Keith wrote:
Easiest way to figure that out is to remove the cover to the pump-out
and see if that fixes your problem.

It may work, it may not...'cuz the vent fitting on the tank is above the
surface of the contents, while the pumpout line comes from the bottom of
the tank. It would take considerable pressure buildup to create enough
pressure from the bottom of a tankful of waste to push the air ABOVE the
contents being displaced by incoming waste out a line that may be
several feet long, and vertical to boot.

Don, if you decided to try it, open the deck pumpout fitting VERRRRY
carefully...'cuz if your tank is seriously pressurized, it could produce
a very unpleasant geyser. Any pressure will produce at least some
outgassing (hissing) when you open the cap, so you won't have to try
pumping the toilet to know whether the tank vent line is blocked.

--
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