Clogged Holding Tank Vent

[Bad Obsession]

I am 99.9% sure that my holding tank vent is clogged. I need to free it up. I noticed where it comes out and I believe I could probably fix the problem by taking off the hose and cleaning the vent out that is in the Stanction.

It is really tough to access that area. The screws going in the piece of wood are angled down so I need to go at them with a shorter screw driver. The most convienient thing would be to remove the cabnet hanging in the head but I see no way to do this.

Has anyone tackled this project? If so, what is the best way to proceed?

 

[Stu Jackson]

An alternate method

would be to use some duct tape and a garden hose and connect it to the stanchion base where the hole is, and spray away to backwash it. Getting to those stanchion bases, no matter where they are, is difficult at best. It's probably the only thing that's hard to get to on our boats, relating to the other thread about access to boat systems yesterday. I've always been able to get to the bases and the screws holding down the stanchions with deep well sockets. I don't understand your point about angled screws at all. You should also check that you don't have any kinks in your vent hose.

 

[Bad Obsession]

Stu...there appears to be some kind of corrosion at the vent. I took a coat hanger and stuck the end in the hole (straightened out coat hanger) and this brown stuff that reminded me of rust was on it. The area is solid. I am not sure how far this corrosion goes down the stanchion. I tried to clear it with a coat hanger but not much luck.

Though your idea does make me think about trying a pressure washer with a thin stream of water aimed at the vent......hrmm..... Would that harm anything?

 

[Stu Jackson]

No harm, no foul

That would work for starters.

The vented stanchion base extends down through the deck and then attaches to the hose. There is the possibility that the rust is from the bedding of the stanchion, which would then indicate the stanchion should be removed and re-bedded. Those stanchions and their placement near where folks get on and off the boat, take a lot of abuse and bedding, leading to a lot of bedding issues.

 

[Bad Obsession]

Yep....then there is the problem of getting to it. Let me mess with it a little bit. I have a feeling that the brown stuff, which was actually inside of the vent hole of the stanchion may be "Brown Stuff" that built up over time from having a full head. Previous owner may have not emptied it that much.

 

[Stephen K]

Another alternative

If you want to fix it right, I'd scrap the vent hose to the stanchion...the vent hole is crappy ... and too small to be effective. There is a small cabinet with an access door above the holding tank. That cabinet is a great place to install a thru hull (just below the rub rail). Your vent hose can be run almost straight up from the holdong tank to the thruhull.
There has been recent discussion whether to put a vented loop in the vent hose or not. My boat has a vented loop, but I think it is limiting the air flow, so I'm going to replace it wtih a straight piece of hose and see how that works. I'm not that concerned about having my rail underwater for any extended amount of time given my sailing area.

 

[Bad Obsession]

Whew....what a stinky job. I solved the problem for now and if it comes back I think that I will just install a new stanchion.

I figured out how to take off the bathroom cabnet. There are two screws in the salon bulkhead and two screws in the V berth bulk head.

Once the cabinet was removed I was able to remove the hose. That is when the stink began.

The hose was clogged. Being that I am leaving the day after tomorrow, the hardware store was closed last night, and I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to to finish it I just removed the hose and cleaned it out, totally. It isn't as bad as it could be and that is as far as I will go for that. It will work, it doesn't leak, etc etc etc.

Then I cleaned out the inside of the stanchion from inside the cabin. I did this several times. I then took a hose and forced water through the vents in the stanchion until I was able to get a good flow of water through the stanchion.

Re-installed the hose, cleaned up the mess, put the cabinet back in place, and my vent is working again.

This stuff was not rust.....it was...well....um.....stuff. I cleaned the area very well and no left over odor, thank God.

If the problem continues later on it is new hose and new stanchion.

 

[Glenn17467]

I assume your holding tank is under the port seatee. The vent is on top and has to lay horizontally for some distance before going vertical to the stanchion. With a full holsing tank and heeling, stuff will get into the vent hose, more sailing and heeling, more stuff in the line. I guess it eventually worked its way to the stanchion. Just another thing to check periodically. I was lucky in that mine was clogged only on the horizontal.