Today I finished installing a new Jabsco toilet and replacing all the sanitary hoses on my Hunter 310. Due to limits on my time the project was spread over a couple of weeks and all in all went very well. This was in a large part due to Ralph Johnstone having blazed the trail.
The boat is new to me and the holding tank had not been used this year. First thing I did was to fill the holding tank with fresh water and some detergent. I then sailed the boat on and off for three days, pumped out back washed, refilled with fresh water and detergent and sailed for a few more days. After that I pumped out and back washed a few more times until I was ready to take the plunge!
My original idea was to replace the holding tank so I began by disconnecting the holding tank vent, followed by the holding tank intake hose. Both came off with relative ease and I drained any liquid left in the hose into a small bucket. The last hose was the pump out which come from the bottom of the tank and bends sharply upward where it runs into a PVC pipe that splits to either the deck pump out or macerator / thru hull discharge. Being in inland waters I decided to jettison the macerator. Rather than pull the pipe off the tank barb which would allow the remaining (mostly water) to run out, I cut the PVC pipe which, after removing the sender unit, allowed me to remove the tank and drain it ashore. I then removed the macerator and remaining hoses under the port settee.
The next thing was to remove the hose running to the pump out deck fitting. After removing the panel behind the mirror in the head I could see that it was impossible to reach the under side of the deck fitting, let alone undo the hose clamps. Anyone reaching this point in the project must read Ralph's post at
http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=1138915&highlight=big . My experience was identical to his. The pump out hose was only barely attached to the deck fitting and it came off with one twist. Like Ralph I had the deck fitting modified to extend it to 1 foot making it possible to attach the new hose ($157.00!). The old hose came out fairly easily using brute force. After cutting the toilet to tank hose where it passes through the wall behind the toilet it too came out with brute force. The remaining vented loop hose and tank vent hose came out easily.
For the replacement sanitary hose I chose the Shields Poly-X for two reasons. First, the lifetime no odour guarantee, and second because I understood it to be more flexible and easier to install compared to the Trident 101. The hose was $24.00/foot at West Marine which was substantially more than the 101. For the deck to tank run I fed the hose from the tank, through the wall and then up to the modified deck fitting. For the toilet to tank I started at the toilet end. To make the initial bend after passing through the wall I ran a rope through the hose, through the wall, and back out through one of the holes used for the vented loop. After that I was able to push the hose thru until I could reach under the vanity and feed it thru the hole to the tank. After that the vented loop and tank vent were easy!
I also replaced the old toilet. 6 lag bolts an it's done. In the end I kept the old holding tank as it is polyethylene and in good condition. The tank that I wanted from the Hunter store showed the pump out connection at the tank top with an internal pipe running to the bottom. This seemed sensible as the sewage would not be constantly sitting in the hose. Unfortunately this design was not available so I kept the original which I thoroughly cleaned out and re installed.
To anyone contemplating this project I say do it now. Having the time to get the system as clean as possible before starting will greatly reduce the unpleasantness of the task!!
Tim
