I just purchased a real nice '95 26'. I want to replace the portahead with a real one and a holding tank and a pump out. has any one done this post factory? what unit{S} did you use? what did the hunter factory use? What didn't work and what did...rich
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Maybe you do...and maybe you only THINK you do...
With a 26' boat, you're right on the borderline between whether a fancy portapotty or a head and holding tank is the best way to go. If the portapotty is one of the larger (5-6 gal) "pumpable" models, you may be in better shape than you would be with a "real" toilet and a holding tank...'cuz it uses so little water that holds as many flushes as "real" toilet puts into a 12-15 gal holding tank, plus it's all self-contained...whereas a holding tank is gonna take up quite a bit of otherwise useful storage space. Then, unless you're on a fairly clean inland lake, there's the matter of sea water intake odor...hoses that can permeate with odor and stink...and preventive maintenance on the toilet. Even if your current portapotty isn't one of the larger "pumpable" models, one will fit in the same footprint...Thetford even makes an "electric" model that runs on 6 D-cells! And you can still install a y-valve and pump to dump a pumpable portapotty at sea, so if I were you I"d give it a bit more thought. However, if you're determined...a head and holding tank aren' t too difficult to install. Unless there's already one there, you'll need an intake thru-hull & seasock for the head flush water intake, a pumpout fitting on deck, and a vent thru-hull for the tank. Some hose, a y-valve so you can dump it, a pump, another thru-hull and seacock to dump it out of, a vented loop between the pump and that thru-hull...and, of course, the tank and the toilet. Total cost: $500-700. We can help you with the tank...as for the toilet, I'm partial the Raritan Cricket, but the manual Jabsco toilets are on sale right now for $99...for that price, I'd buy two and keep one as a replacement instead of rebuilding. Give this some more thought...and if you're still convinced you want to do it, I'll be glad to help you with the installation.
With a 26' boat, you're right on the borderline between whether a fancy portapotty or a head and holding tank is the best way to go. If the portapotty is one of the larger (5-6 gal) "pumpable" models, you may be in better shape than you would be with a "real" toilet and a holding tank...'cuz it uses so little water that holds as many flushes as "real" toilet puts into a 12-15 gal holding tank, plus it's all self-contained...whereas a holding tank is gonna take up quite a bit of otherwise useful storage space. Then, unless you're on a fairly clean inland lake, there's the matter of sea water intake odor...hoses that can permeate with odor and stink...and preventive maintenance on the toilet. Even if your current portapotty isn't one of the larger "pumpable" models, one will fit in the same footprint...Thetford even makes an "electric" model that runs on 6 D-cells! And you can still install a y-valve and pump to dump a pumpable portapotty at sea, so if I were you I"d give it a bit more thought. However, if you're determined...a head and holding tank aren' t too difficult to install. Unless there's already one there, you'll need an intake thru-hull & seasock for the head flush water intake, a pumpout fitting on deck, and a vent thru-hull for the tank. Some hose, a y-valve so you can dump it, a pump, another thru-hull and seacock to dump it out of, a vented loop between the pump and that thru-hull...and, of course, the tank and the toilet. Total cost: $500-700. We can help you with the tank...as for the toilet, I'm partial the Raritan Cricket, but the manual Jabsco toilets are on sale right now for $99...for that price, I'd buy two and keep one as a replacement instead of rebuilding. Give this some more thought...and if you're still convinced you want to do it, I'll be glad to help you with the installation.
who are you?
who has the jabsco on sale? and who responded to my question? we sail on the cleanest fresh water. lake george is 200 feet deep and the water is very clear and drinkable. you can see bottom in 30 feet. there is no discharge of any kind and lots of pumpouts. i was going to put in a jabsco and a todd holding tank. with a deck pumpout. and a deck fill to a flexable fresh water tank. the flex tank will go in the bow locker under the v birth. the porta head pump out to the deck seems cheesy. I would cut holes in the deck but I am un easy about sawing a hole below the water line. would the system I discribed need any valves? and what is on the bottom if the head unit, that is ...what kind of hook up is it? thanks ...Richard
who has the jabsco on sale? and who responded to my question? we sail on the cleanest fresh water. lake george is 200 feet deep and the water is very clear and drinkable. you can see bottom in 30 feet. there is no discharge of any kind and lots of pumpouts. i was going to put in a jabsco and a todd holding tank. with a deck pumpout. and a deck fill to a flexable fresh water tank. the flex tank will go in the bow locker under the v birth. the porta head pump out to the deck seems cheesy. I would cut holes in the deck but I am un easy about sawing a hole below the water line. would the system I discribed need any valves? and what is on the bottom if the head unit, that is ...what kind of hook up is it? thanks ...Richard
Head or not to Head
The unknown author of the first response is right on. Trying to run plumbing, installing a shelf, etc.. costs alot and it is not easy to put in although I have done it. Easy way is the suggestion by the unknown author. Thank you whoever you are. Crazy Dave
The unknown author of the first response is right on. Trying to run plumbing, installing a shelf, etc.. costs alot and it is not easy to put in although I have done it. Easy way is the suggestion by the unknown author. Thank you whoever you are. Crazy Dave
Who else could it be?
That gives such expert advice and then offers to help at the end. Besides, the "I'm partial to the Raritan Cricket" statement and buying a second head instead of rebuilding are dead giveaways. I'm sure the expert advice was provided by our illustrious Head Mistress, Peggie Hall. If not, I apologize for miscrediting.
That gives such expert advice and then offers to help at the end. Besides, the "I'm partial to the Raritan Cricket" statement and buying a second head instead of rebuilding are dead giveaways. I'm sure the expert advice was provided by our illustrious Head Mistress, Peggie Hall. If not, I apologize for miscrediting.
Sounds like Peggy....
Although I'm surprised that she mentions hoses permeating and stinking, I thought she had that all figured out.
Although I'm surprised that she mentions hoses permeating and stinking, I thought she had that all figured out.
I don't know what you think I've figured out...
but there's no cure for hose that has permeated except replacement. Hose permeation can be prevented, however. Unlike the toilet at home, when you stop pumping, whatever is in the system stops moving. Ceasing to pump as soon as the bowl is empty leaves sewage sitting wherever it is in the hose until the next flush moves it along a little further...and the next flush a little further...meanwhile, the sewage is "stewing" in the hose. All hose is water-absorbent to some degree--some more or less than others, and over time the odor is absorbed all the way through it. But if only clean water is left standing in the lines, the permeation factor is reduced considerably. Read the article "Flush With Success" in the Head Mistress reference library to learn how to completely flush the bowl contents all the way through the system without filling up your holding tank with flush water. And each time you close up the boat at the end of a weekend, pour a quart of fresh water down the head and pump that all the way through system, so that not even sea water is left standing in the hose to ferment and permeate it.
but there's no cure for hose that has permeated except replacement. Hose permeation can be prevented, however. Unlike the toilet at home, when you stop pumping, whatever is in the system stops moving. Ceasing to pump as soon as the bowl is empty leaves sewage sitting wherever it is in the hose until the next flush moves it along a little further...and the next flush a little further...meanwhile, the sewage is "stewing" in the hose. All hose is water-absorbent to some degree--some more or less than others, and over time the odor is absorbed all the way through it. But if only clean water is left standing in the lines, the permeation factor is reduced considerably. Read the article "Flush With Success" in the Head Mistress reference library to learn how to completely flush the bowl contents all the way through the system without filling up your holding tank with flush water. And each time you close up the boat at the end of a weekend, pour a quart of fresh water down the head and pump that all the way through system, so that not even sea water is left standing in the hose to ferment and permeate it.
I was referring to your figuring out...
methods of prevention. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure eh?
methods of prevention. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure eh?
'Tis I...I seem to have lost my cookie!
Didn't mean to be anonymous...in fact, I didn't think it was possible to post without SOMEthing in the name line. Now I can't access any of the shared forum posts...so bear with me till Phil gets that fixed, and then I'll answer all your questions.
Didn't mean to be anonymous...in fact, I didn't think it was possible to post without SOMEthing in the name line. Now I can't access any of the shared forum posts...so bear with me till Phil gets that fixed, and then I'll answer all your questions.
Hmmm
Hi Peggie - Your cookie should reappear once you've made another post. the darned things live inyour web browser and can be kind of unstable. A good crash can corrupt them all, too. but it should reset easily. Regarding the shared forums, I can't seem to duplicate the error. Can anyone shed some light on it? How are you accessing the shared forums: from the individuall forum menu, the Recent Activity button on the home page, or the "24 hour" link on the posts, or on the posting confirmation page? You may also want to try quitting your browser and launching it again; let me know if that helps!
Hi Peggie - Your cookie should reappear once you've made another post. the darned things live inyour web browser and can be kind of unstable. A good crash can corrupt them all, too. but it should reset easily. Regarding the shared forums, I can't seem to duplicate the error. Can anyone shed some light on it? How are you accessing the shared forums: from the individuall forum menu, the Recent Activity button on the home page, or the "24 hour" link on the posts, or on the posting confirmation page? You may also want to try quitting your browser and launching it again; let me know if that helps!
Wanna Define Some of that?
Phil, What's the Posting Confirmation Page? (Wait, it just hit me....DUH!) I also assume the "24 Hour" link on the posts is the one below the screen attached to an original article or a response. Or do you mean the "24 Hour" link available AFTER writing a response or article. (Aren't they all the same link?) Here's HOW I do my daily do: 1. go to www.hunterowners.com 2. Click GO under Recent Activity box. (Preloaded with 24 Hour option) 3. Go to oldest response I remember from yesterday or last Friday (On Mondays I select 72 Hours in Recent Activity box.) 4. I almost always click on the article link and NOT the response link so I can remind myself of the previous conversation before reading the latest post/response. When reminded, I read ALL the responses for that article, then just keep clicking Back until I'm at the Recent Activity list. 5. After reading all Responses, I go to the Articles column and look for articles that I missed or have 0 responses. Obviously, the article link must be clicked; for Shared Forum Articles it takes me to a blank screen with "Document Done" 99.999% of the time. To read the article, I have to return (Back) to the Recent Activity list to determine what forum it is. I then open another browser window and browse to that forum and article. After reading it and its responses, I return to the original window and continue looking for new articles. I did find one difference in the Shared Forums operation today though. Clicking the article link in the Response column works more times than clicking the response link in the response column (almost never works.) I am using Netscape 4.5 on Windows NT
Phil, What's the Posting Confirmation Page? (Wait, it just hit me....DUH!) I also assume the "24 Hour" link on the posts is the one below the screen attached to an original article or a response. Or do you mean the "24 Hour" link available AFTER writing a response or article. (Aren't they all the same link?) Here's HOW I do my daily do: 1. go to www.hunterowners.com 2. Click GO under Recent Activity box. (Preloaded with 24 Hour option) 3. Go to oldest response I remember from yesterday or last Friday (On Mondays I select 72 Hours in Recent Activity box.) 4. I almost always click on the article link and NOT the response link so I can remind myself of the previous conversation before reading the latest post/response. When reminded, I read ALL the responses for that article, then just keep clicking Back until I'm at the Recent Activity list. 5. After reading all Responses, I go to the Articles column and look for articles that I missed or have 0 responses. Obviously, the article link must be clicked; for Shared Forum Articles it takes me to a blank screen with "Document Done" 99.999% of the time. To read the article, I have to return (Back) to the Recent Activity list to determine what forum it is. I then open another browser window and browse to that forum and article. After reading it and its responses, I return to the original window and continue looking for new articles. I did find one difference in the Shared Forums operation today though. Clicking the article link in the Response column works more times than clicking the response link in the response column (almost never works.) I am using Netscape 4.5 on Windows NT
Here's what happens
Each 'page" you move through has to carry a number of values with it: these are what the server has to remember from page to page so it know what site you're in, what thread you're reading, what forum it's in, etc. It gets more complicated for the shared forums, as many are not written in HOW, so the server goes through a quick conversion process by looking at the forum it was originally posted in, then converting it to the HOW equivalent. If it didn't do that you'd sometimes be jumping into a Catalina, O'Day, or Beneteau site! It is possible that not some of those values (especially the shared forum conversion) are not surviving the repeated Back button clicks. In the little nav box in the middle of every post and reply there is a "24 hour activity" link. Try using that instead of the Back button and see if that improves your results. Let me know!
Each 'page" you move through has to carry a number of values with it: these are what the server has to remember from page to page so it know what site you're in, what thread you're reading, what forum it's in, etc. It gets more complicated for the shared forums, as many are not written in HOW, so the server goes through a quick conversion process by looking at the forum it was originally posted in, then converting it to the HOW equivalent. If it didn't do that you'd sometimes be jumping into a Catalina, O'Day, or Beneteau site! It is possible that not some of those values (especially the shared forum conversion) are not surviving the repeated Back button clicks. In the little nav box in the middle of every post and reply there is a "24 hour activity" link. Try using that instead of the Back button and see if that improves your results. Let me know!
Computers
I can putte but cannot computer. Phil, once I was trying to figure out this computer and was banging on the table which of course I am crazy but my wife heard the commotion and told me to stop or I would be living in the outhouse. The funny thing was that she was on the other side of the house downstairs. Maybe one day I will figure out this gadet. Crazy Dave
I can putte but cannot computer. Phil, once I was trying to figure out this computer and was banging on the table which of course I am crazy but my wife heard the commotion and told me to stop or I would be living in the outhouse. The funny thing was that she was on the other side of the house downstairs. Maybe one day I will figure out this gadet. Crazy Dave
My sentiments exactly, Dave
Matter of fact, I was banging the table trying to figure this thing out just today. My wife was across town (fortunately) but Bly told me to knock it off anyway.
Matter of fact, I was banging the table trying to figure this thing out just today. My wife was across town (fortunately) but Bly told me to knock it off anyway.
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