Holding Tank Woa's, The Saga Continues

[JCAL]

Return of the boat from HELL, (The SAGA Continues)!Well you want believe it, Launched my 1990 27 the other day and was exercising the head pumping water through it, then decided to pump out the tank, noticed the inlet fitting on the waste holding tank was cracked Uh Oh, Oh No! No problem, a trip to the store a few plumbing parts wormed my way into the compartment a little later and the problem is fixed, Yes, Oh No! Exercised the head some more, noticed bilge filling up with water, GREEN WATER. Traced it to the drain hose fitting on the waste holding tank. Why I asked myself. It was late so I pumped out the tank/bilge and went home. Thought about this during the night. Returned to the boat with plans to remove the tank however decided to check out the complete system. It seams the problem steamed from a stopped up vent, dirt dobber does it again. The vent stopped up with the previous owner and cracked the top fitting, the system continued to work, it was empty when I bought it, one would not know this unless they totally filled the tank or pressurized the tank during inspection. It seams that fixing the inlet fitting caused the tank to preasurerize and blow out the bottom fitting. Does anyone know of an adhesive that will fix this? If not I will remove the tank and weld it or buy another one. This blew out too easy, must have been cheap tanks or other problems!Jim

 

[Peggie Hall/Head Mistress]

Replace the tank

It's highly unlikely that, without proper spinwelding or heat welding equipment, any weld will hold. There's an object lesson here: if you'd checked the tank vent thru-hull for a blockage (and not only the holding tank, but ALL the tank vents) during your "prepurchase inspection," it would have given you a major clue that it would be a good idea to inspect the tank a lot more closely. You'd have seen the cracks...and a new tank would have been the seller's problem/expense instead of yours.Btw, as long as you have to replace the tank, replace all the hoses too...and prob'ly the toilet, if it's still original.

 

[LaDonna Bubak - CatalinaOwners.com]

Those pesky vents!

Don't know the answer to your question but can relate to vent problems. I couldn't get rid of the slight tank smell in my lockers - didn't smell up the boat, just the lockers. I really cleaned out the tank, replaced hoses, etc. STILL wouldn't go away so I finally squirted water back down the vent line. Took awhile but finally cleared out whatever was built up in there & now everything smells like roses! Well...almost!LD

 

[jcherubini]

Pesky vents! Fie! Fie!

Hoding-tank vents should always be located in the OUTSIDE of the boat to avoid the stinky problems LaDonna mentions. Most reputable boats I've seen have them just above the cove stripe and fitted with screens so it is unlikely they will ever siphon water down into the tank at responsible heel angles. But I've seen plenty of builders 'cheat' and put them in lockers too. Rotten trick to do to your one clean shirt and dinner jacket!JC 2

 

[Peggie Hall/Head Mistress]

John, CG regs REQUIRE holding tanks to be

vented to the outside of the hull, John...as do ABYC, NFPA, and ISO standards. It has nothing to do with odor--there isn't a boatbuilder on the planet who gives a damn whether a boat stinks or not...to boatbuilders, holding tanks are just added cost that adds -0- value--it's because methane is flammable. If you think a spill from a leaking holding tank is a problem to clean up, you haven't lived till you've seen the mess after a tank has exploded. It's rare, but it does occasionally happen if the tank isn't properly vented or leaks inside the boat. Although I've seen a few owner-installed tanks that weren't vented to the outside of the boat, I've never heard of any builders that don't...any boat on which the the tank is vented inside the boat couldn't pass a CG inspection. As for any screen in the thru-hull, it's not there to keep water out...it's supposed to be spark arrester. All it really does is corrode and get clogged up with dust, pollen and waste from tanks that overflow.LaDonna, I have no idea how cleaning out your tank vent line got rid of odor inside the locker. Unless the vent hose had permeated, how could odor escape from inside the hose?Otoh, if there's a vented loop in a hose in that locker, and if the one-way air vent that's only SUPPOSED to let air in, nothing out, got dirty and allowed gasses to escape...cleaning the valve or replacing a vent line off it (which would only be necessary if the air valve is missing) could get rid of odors. The end of your odors MAY be coincidental with cooler temps...bacteria get VERY sluggish below 60 F, so odors are greatly reduced too. Let me know how the locker smells next July.