I have a new to me 86 Catalina 27 that needs to have the sanitation system reworked. All of the hoses (original I think) are completely permeated and really smelly. I cleaned the system out before laying her up for the winter and left all of the V berth access panels open to air it out as much as possible, which seems to have helped. I'll be adding a complete service kit to the Groco HF head. In addition to the permeated hoses, I suspect that inadequate tank ventilation was a contributing factor in the air quality. The vent terminates inside the anchor locker which IMO hinders free exchange or fresh air, and also provides the perfect environment for dirt daubers to plug it up. The hose was also kinked nearly completely right behind the fitting so it wasn't all that functional to begin with. I'll be relocating it through the hull below the rub rail. I've decided to replace the hoses with Raritan Sani-Flex but I have a few questions.
1. Vent line. The holding tank vent is 3/4" and is merely reinforced vinyl typically used for potable water. Seems to me that sanitation rated hose would be preferred for the vent to avoid oder. Am I overthinking it, how critical is hose type for the vent line?
2. Head discharge routing. Currently, the head discharge incorporates a vented loop that doesn't appear to be part of the original design as it has a different brand of hose between the loop and the tank. Routing just seems goofy. The holding tank is located at the aft bulkhead under the V berth and the inlet is on the starboard side. It has a 90 degree fitting coming out the side pointing straight down. The hose goes down to the hull, makes a bend and goes up through the vented loop and back down before making another bend and then through the bulkhead to the head. So in essence, it's a giant P-trap. There is always going to be water sitting in the bottom bend and when the boat heels to starboard effluent will pour out into it and sit there. Would I be better off with a straight fitting coming off the tank which would allow the hose to stay level with the top before gradually curving up to the vent loop, thereby eliminating the "trap"? Do I even need a vent loop at all? The head discharge is only slightly lower than the tank inlet and eliminating the loop would result in maybe a 3' run with no tight bends. Now this would still allow the hose to back fill when heeled over and a failure of the joker could allow leakage into the bowl, but what if I relocated the inlet to the top of the tank along the centerline. Now back filling while heeled wouldn't be a factor but we're looking at about a 5' run slightly uphill. Is this too much without a vent loop or do I really need the gravity assist provided by the elevated loop?
3. Drain design. The tank drain is located on the forward side along the centerline at the bottom. Immediately forward of the drain is a PVC tee. One leg continues forward to the deck clean out (also located in the anchor locker
) and the other leg routes to the macerator pump. It occurs to me that these two hoses are going to sit half full of effluent all the time. Obviously this is what causes them to permeate over time. What do you think about adding a ball valve between the outlet and the tee? Open it just for clean out and close it when you're done.
1. Vent line. The holding tank vent is 3/4" and is merely reinforced vinyl typically used for potable water. Seems to me that sanitation rated hose would be preferred for the vent to avoid oder. Am I overthinking it, how critical is hose type for the vent line?
2. Head discharge routing. Currently, the head discharge incorporates a vented loop that doesn't appear to be part of the original design as it has a different brand of hose between the loop and the tank. Routing just seems goofy. The holding tank is located at the aft bulkhead under the V berth and the inlet is on the starboard side. It has a 90 degree fitting coming out the side pointing straight down. The hose goes down to the hull, makes a bend and goes up through the vented loop and back down before making another bend and then through the bulkhead to the head. So in essence, it's a giant P-trap. There is always going to be water sitting in the bottom bend and when the boat heels to starboard effluent will pour out into it and sit there. Would I be better off with a straight fitting coming off the tank which would allow the hose to stay level with the top before gradually curving up to the vent loop, thereby eliminating the "trap"? Do I even need a vent loop at all? The head discharge is only slightly lower than the tank inlet and eliminating the loop would result in maybe a 3' run with no tight bends. Now this would still allow the hose to back fill when heeled over and a failure of the joker could allow leakage into the bowl, but what if I relocated the inlet to the top of the tank along the centerline. Now back filling while heeled wouldn't be a factor but we're looking at about a 5' run slightly uphill. Is this too much without a vent loop or do I really need the gravity assist provided by the elevated loop?
3. Drain design. The tank drain is located on the forward side along the centerline at the bottom. Immediately forward of the drain is a PVC tee. One leg continues forward to the deck clean out (also located in the anchor locker
) and the other leg routes to the macerator pump. It occurs to me that these two hoses are going to sit half full of effluent all the time. Obviously this is what causes them to permeate over time. What do you think about adding a ball valve between the outlet and the tee? Open it just for clean out and close it when you're done.
