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vacuflush problems galore
last year i bought an old boat with 2 heads.1 is a direct discharge
type that we always used (perfectly legal where we hang out). the other head is a vacuflush which i decided to figure out how it all worked. first problem i dicovered is that none of the lights on the tank tender panel lit up even though there is 13.4v at the back of the panel. what could be the cause since at least one of the lights should be lit? i flushed a few clean bowlfulls of water into the holding tank. good vaccuum.i turned on the discharge pump which pumped convincingly but just bubbles came out the through hull.i decided to give the holding tank a good rince out by filling the tank through the deck discharge port.i was quite surprised to discover that the holding tank was completely full already! (that explained a list that had been troubling me) we have not used this toilet so heaven only knows how long said contents have been solidifying in the holding tank. i proceded to replace the duck bill valves in the discharge pump and inspect for cloggage and loose hose clamps. put the whole thing back togeher. the pump thumps convincingly but only passes gas which bubbles out the exit orfice under the boat.now i can figure out that the exit pipe from the holding tank may be clogged with petrified copros but i am reluctant to disconnect the discharge hose from the tank in case the petrified copros theory is incorrect.the nearest pump out station is at least 4 hours away making it a whole days journey. can anyone suggest anything that is both simple and foolproof that might have escaped my novice brain? all advice will be greatly appreciated, i look forward to being flush with sucess. |
First answer this question: What are you doing trying to discharge your
holding tank into a body of water? Even the rinse water contains crap. |
What type of pump?
Is your pump "thumping convincingly" while pushing and pulling a blown diaphram? We're assuming the sea cock is fully open, of course |
First answer this question: What are you doing trying to discharge
your holding tank into a body of water? Even the rinse water contains crap. ************* ???????? It is perfectly legal, and a very common practice, to discharge directly overboard when more than three miles offshore in the ocean. Notice that the poster's closest pump out station is a four-hour cruise away, and he has noted that where he intends to pump out it is perfectly legal to do so. In a sal****er environment and with a mega-billion to one dilution ratio, moderate quantities of human waste are environmentally benign. The concept may seem foreign to freshwater, inland lake boaters and it should be. Dumping into a small body of water that may be shallow, not frequently flushed, and is likely used for swimming, water skiing, or even drinking water is going to raise the fecal coliform to an unhealthy level. While a one boat exception wouldn't create an enormous problem, every boater would want to be considered the "exception" so a strict enforcement is appropriate. This guy dumping a holding tank several miles from shore in open salt water is doing no more damage to the environment than the average city dweller who flushes the john, sends the stuff to a plant for minimal treatment and dilution, and then watches it bubbling up a few hundred yards from shore- often in a freshwater or inland salt water environment. Some of the cleanest water one will ever be lucky enough to boat in is up in British Columbia, where until just recently pumpouts didn't even exist. This situation can exist because the waters are large, deep, and salty and the number of boaters per square mile is relatively small......exactly the conditions one would expect to encounter three or more miles offshore. The large city of Victoria treated it's sewage by running it through a screen to filter out rags, etc, as well as to break up the largest "chunks". That was it. The practice either continued until very recently or may still be the norm up there. Their waters are cleaner than most. Communities along rivers often extract drinking water from the same body of water that received the outflow from the treatment plant 50-miles upstream. To me, that's a gross concept but to folks who live there it probably isn't a big deal. It's long been a fact that some of the best lobstering is around the outfalls from sewer treatment plants on the east coast. The lobsters are finding a lot to eat in that "treated" sewage. Do you have a grassy yard around your house? If so, and if you are using commercial fertilizer and weed killers on it you are contirbuting far more to water pollution than somebody pumping a holding tank into the open ocean three or more miles from shore. There's no reason to be frightened of human waste. It isn't very pleasant and can transfer certain diseases under certain conditions and concentrations, but its been with us for millions of years and it's an unavoidable byproduct of biological activity. Proper management and disposal is important, and that can include putting it directly back into the environment where safely appropriate. Owners of properties with septic tanks, outhouses, etc, have been doing just that for years. Of the "stuff" coming out of the average holding tank, the chemicals we dump in for odor control, etc, are incredibly more lethal than the human waste. |
"Gene Kearns" wrote in message ... On Wed, 27 Apr 2005 08:33:14 -0400, "JimH" wrote: First answer this question: What are you doing trying to discharge your holding tank into a body of water? Even the rinse water contains crap. First sentence...... "last year I bought an old boat with 2 heads.1 is a direct discharge type that we always used (perfectly legal where we hang out). " Not my idea of a good idea, but, truly, if "the nearest pump out station is at least 4 hours away, " this guy must not be too near civilization.... -- Thanks for pointing that out Gene. My mistake. Another brain fart. Maybe he lives in that pristine area of Alaska known as ANWR. ;-) Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Southport, NC. http://myworkshop.idleplay.net/ Homepage* http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide |
You could try to email Peggy Hall at or contact
Sealand http://www.sealandtechnology.com/vf.asp. Peggy Hall is not associated with Sealand but is an expert on marine sanitation systems. That is the last working email address I had for Peggy. .. |
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This would be a good question for Peggy over in rec.boats.cruising.
She's written books on the subject. I think she has more sense than to come over here. -- John H ******** She used to be a regular here. It didn't take a lot of abuse from somebody upset that she was posting about a topic in which she had commercial experience ("SPAMMER"!) to drive her away. Wonderful lady, a true loss to this group. |
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Gould,
You are dead wrong on this. Peggy told me she left because she was tired of Krause ruining the group. wrote in message oups.com... This would be a good question for Peggy over in rec.boats.cruising. She's written books on the subject. I think she has more sense than to come over here. -- John H ******** She used to be a regular here. It didn't take a lot of abuse from somebody upset that she was posting about a topic in which she had commercial experience ("SPAMMER"!) to drive her away. Wonderful lady, a true loss to this group. |
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On Wed, 27 Apr 2005 18:35:15 -0400, "JimH" wrote:
"ME and my Shadow" ME and my wrote in message ... Gould, You are dead wrong on this. Peggy told me she left because she was tired of Krause ruining the group. wrote in message oups.com... This would be a good question for Peggy over in rec.boats.cruising. She's written books on the subject. I think she has more sense than to come over here. -- John H ******** She used to be a regular here. It didn't take a lot of abuse from somebody upset that she was posting about a topic in which she had commercial experience ("SPAMMER"!) to drive her away. Wonderful lady, a true loss to this group. I thought Chuckie said he was taking his ball and bat and running home to Mommy. Idle threat? I think he indicated he was tired of the pointless bull**** and wanted to sit out for awhile. He's made no personal attacks since his return. Why start it? -- John H "All decisions are the result of binary thinking." |
On Wed, 27 Apr 2005 19:22:18 -0400, "JimH" wrote:
"John H" wrote in message .. . On Wed, 27 Apr 2005 18:35:15 -0400, "JimH" wrote: "ME and my Shadow" ME and my wrote in message ... Gould, You are dead wrong on this. Peggy told me she left because she was tired of Krause ruining the group. wrote in message oups.com... This would be a good question for Peggy over in rec.boats.cruising. She's written books on the subject. I think she has more sense than to come over here. -- John H ******** She used to be a regular here. It didn't take a lot of abuse from somebody upset that she was posting about a topic in which she had commercial experience ("SPAMMER"!) to drive her away. Wonderful lady, a true loss to this group. I thought Chuckie said he was taking his ball and bat and running home to Mommy. Idle threat? I think he indicated he was tired of the pointless bull**** and wanted to sit out for awhile. He's made no personal attacks since his return. Why start it? -- John H "All decisions are the result of binary thinking." Because that is not why he said he was leaving. He played the same game before. Maybe this time he will be a good boy. I doubt it but time will tell. Chuck has sure as hell never been a Harry Krause! I don't recall his exact wording when he got sick of the **** a week or two ago. I do remember agreeing with him to forego personal attacks for a week, which we did. In fact, I've tried hard to keep my tongue bit, even when I've seen some of Harry's **** quoted. Giving one a chance would hurt nothing. -- John H "All decisions are the result of binary thinking." |
thought Chuckie said he was taking his ball and bat and running home to
Mommy. Idle threat? ************* I said I was taking a break from the sleazy profanity and would return when it died down. It did. I did. No, your fondest wishes failed to materialize- but you read someting into a statement that was never there and you have only yourself to blame. |
A disappointed JimH complained:
Because that is not why he said he was leaving. ******************* Glad you think it's so important that you bother to keep track. Allow me to refresh your memory: Apr 18, 8:24 pm show options Newsgroups: rec.boats From: - Find messages by this author Date: 18 Apr 2005 20:24:50 -0700 Local: Mon,Apr 18 2005 8:24 pm Subject: OT: Taking a break from the sleazy profanity Reply | Reply to Author | Forward | Print | Individual Message | Show original | Report Abuse Mabye somebody will send me an email and let me know when the ignorant, profane, netcop filling every on and off-topic thread with four letter words dies or loses interest. (Or maybe not) Shouldn't take too long. If I want to read phrases like "f**k off, a**hole", "you're a dickhead", "I don't give a s*it about anybody else", etc, dozens fo times every day I can do so in the public restroom of an extremely disreputable bar. How bizarre that the guy who is screaming about the welfare of the group is doing so much to ruin it. I'm sure that if there are any surfers checking out rec.boats they are fleeing even faster from the profanity than they fled from the OT content. Not saying that "I'm outta here!" -I'll be back when the profane stench clears. This guy's mama and daddy will catch him typing dirty words on the family computer soon enough. Meanwhile, have fun. :-) |
Harry.Krause wrote:
JohnH said I think he indicated he was tired of the pointless bull**** and wanted to sit out for awhile. He's made no personal attacks since his return. Why start it? Because Hertvik is still a boatless, lying turd, that's why. He seems pathological....can't help himself. It's all 'do as I say...not as I do'. |
John H wrote: On 27 Apr 2005 13:09:43 -0700, wrote: This would be a good question for Peggy over in rec.boats.cruising. She's written books on the subject. I think she has more sense than to come over here. My 'head' consists of a little plastic bucket, but I greatly enjoy reading Peggy's posts over in 'cruising'. She has a star detractor over there also, a Capt Neal. He very much reminds me of a couple folks over here. -- John H Kind of reminds you of yourself, huh? |
On 28 Apr 2005 07:32:20 -0700, wrote:
John H wrote: On 27 Apr 2005 13:09:43 -0700, wrote: This would be a good question for Peggy over in rec.boats.cruising. She's written books on the subject. I think she has more sense than to come over here. My 'head' consists of a little plastic bucket, but I greatly enjoy reading Peggy's posts over in 'cruising'. She has a star detractor over there also, a Capt Neal. He very much reminds me of a couple folks over here. -- John H Kind of reminds you of yourself, huh? Are you trying to make friends here, bk? What have I done to upset you lately? -- John H "All decisions are the result of binary thinking." |
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