A holding tank conundrum.

[Chris Patterson]

As usual, I'm over thinking something to death. (Quick, take a drink of liquor, this is a good one). Some of you may recall an earlier quandary of head choices, of which I've made no firm decisions yet, but in the meantime I snatched that wretched contraption out of my boat, made a very fast drive by and threw it out in the police station parking lot.
That went so well, I returned to take out the holding tank, and all the associated lines to go with it. (Who knows, they may reassemble it for forensic analysis, reconstruct it, etc. like they do plane crashes, draw little chalk lines around the deceased and all). But wait! There is still some goo left in the tank. Stinky goo, you get the idea. Not wanting to leave any DNA evidence in it before its proper disposal in the parking lot, this got me to thinking.
The tank discharges out the side, obviously on the bottom side of it, but when I empty it, either sucked up the waste clean-out, (God I hate that siphon, it's even worse than the gas taste), or by macerator pump, I have filled it with fresh water, while pumping out repeatedly. So I know that all of it is not getting out. Unacceptable. How would a feller "stir up" the contents and/or agitate it in order to pump it fairly clean? I realize that an electric pump in the tank is out, as I would a lot rather explain to the C.G about a propane, or fuel fire; than I would a crap explosion. There has to be an answer.

Signed, Patterson-Lord of the Idiots-

 

[Stu Jackson]

Chris, from one idiot to another:

you go sailing

 

[All U Get]

Try tilting the tank while rinsing, got most of my tank rinsed that way. Are you taking it out?
All U Get

 

[hewebb]

If you can get a hose in the tank, go to an RV store and get a tank rinse wand. It fits on a water hose and has a spray head that spins with force to get a good rinse. It should clean all the sides etc. of the tank. Cannot remember the diameter of the spin head but think it will be a very close fit-if it will fit at all.

I removed the marine head and installed a Porta Potty that holds fresh water on a top tank and black water in the bottom tank. It is easy to empty most anywhere you can get to a commode or dump place. Have used it for six days and still had capacity for more. I left the tank and hoses (Plugged) in place in case the next owner wants a marine head.

 

[hewebb]

"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting......holy shit what a ride!"

Love it

 

[Chris Patterson]

Well, the tank is not removable per se, or tilt-able as it's bolted in tight, and hard plumbed. I just took all of it out for a rehab, new hoses and clamps, etc.
Without all the insanity involved, I just saw what was in the bottom, and as many times as I've filled and flushed it, I was surprised that there was anything at ALL in it.Maybe I'm wrong, I frequently am, but it seems to me that the way to a relatively odor free system would be a complete evacuation.

The tank wand is a new one on me. I know nothing about R.V.'s, and maybe I should be paying them more attention. In retrospect, it's basically a long range cruiser on wheels I guess. When I consider that if that activity involved riding through an endless expanse of desert at 5 miles per hour, I don't think the attraction would hold up. Anyway...

I think I might try and engineer a way to hard plump some kind of rotating nozzle inside of the tank semi-permanently. I don't know. Decent "thought", but the practicality..

 

[alexco38]

They use bio bugs to eat that stuff away. Not chemical just organic bacteria. I was told if you put that stuff in and go sailing, the tank will clean itself. I remember the head mistress once posted to add a little dish soap once in a while to loosen up the sticky stuff from the wall.

Last time I open up the tank access port, the bottom was clear and clean. The boat is 27 yrs old.

Just be diligent with organic base tank treatment will do.

As for the hose, I replaced most of them with ABS. Just use short rubber hose as flexible coupling to avoid stress. ABS never smell. You can form ABS into any bend with a heat gun.

Yes ABS pipes is the one you can get from Home Depot.

 

[capta]

On one boat we used compressed air to empty the tank, but of course it was metal.
We closed all the inlets to the tank, opened the exhaust line, turned on an air compressor and it blew the tank empty. Very simple and foolproof.