holding tank

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Screen shouldn't stop use of a snake...

Best thing you can do is knock it out, 'cuz screens become corroded by waste spills and get clogged up with dust pollen and air pollution.I dunno whether it's "bated" or "baited" either...but I'm just as eager as you are to find out whether the tank can be emptied if he removes the vent line. Best case, it can...worst case, he'll just prove me wrong. Yep, Randy...There is indeed a LOT to recommend a "pumpable" portapotty. J.C., there was no "6th sense" at work. And if Bobcat can't get the tank to empty even with the vent line off the tank, I WON'T be right about his problem. I just remember to ask more questions than most people do before giving advice...and Bobcat hadn't said WHERE the tank discharge is. But even if he doesn't have a pickup tube, a lot people read what all of us write...so your post wasn't wasted...somebody who does have a pickup tube will remember your advice.There can be other issues with pickup tubes too: they can be cut too short...and sometimes they fall out of the fitting.

 

[Tim Welsh]

Is the pumpout station working?

I have had problems with pumpout stations in the past where the pumpouts won't pull enough to suck it out. Tim Welsh S/V Cabo Wabo

 

[bobcat17801]

holding my tank

good morning;well here is the latest on the tank tha won't empty. first, as expected the out bound side of the tank is located on the lower side of the tank, thus no tube. removed the vent line and attempted to empty.no success. all i got out of this was a good soaking. Will trya snake this weekend and then who knows.thanks to all of you folks for your time and ideas.......bobcat

 

[BobW]

I'm getting to much into this!

I'm monitoring the PGA tournament, the 3rd Ashes test (England 221-2 just after tea on the first day) and the stock market, as well as working, but darned if the thing I'm most interested in this morning isthe 'bobcat' report!I need help!Cheers,Bobs/v X SAIL R 8

 

[bobcat17801]

just a note!!!

bob,thanks for the note..ineeded a good chuckle this morning....bobcat

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Wait a sec...

When you took the vent line off the tank, waste spewed out? I'm not gonna argue any more that the ONLY reason you can't pump is a blocked vent...but if waste spewed when you removed the vent line, that means the tank was pressurized. And that can only happen if the vent is blocked...if air in the tank has means of escape. So whether you also have a clog or not, the vent IS definitely blocked somewhere too. And unless you correct it along with whatever else is preventing your tank from being emptied, you STILL won't be able to empty the tank.This really has turned into a soap opera... Join us tomorrow for another chapter in saga of "Bobcat's Holding Tank Woes"...

 

[NautiDuck]

CNN Coverage

CNN is now starting to cover this. They are doing hourly updates on their news reader at the bottom of the TV screen. Rumor has it that Fox News has dispatched Geraldo Rivera to Long Beach to cover "Bobcat's Big Bilge Blowout."

 

[BobW]

Geraldo is still in Aruba with Greta! Film on the

hour! But I'm glad to see that CNN has found something more important to cover.... none of the news networks pay any attention to Iraq anymore... that's just innocent young American kids dying and getting maimed while trying to bring democracy to a bunch of people who can't even spell the word, and wouldn't want it if they knew what it meant... and I do know what I'm talking about on this subject.OK, Bob, off the soap box, this is a sailing forum, not polisci... sorry, 'Over There' was on last night (FX) and that show really gets me worked up....Peggy, it may be pressurized or just overfilled... (I think we're both talking about the same effect - overfilling the tank so it starts to fill the intake and discharge hoses) bobcat reported before that he took the vent off and got liquid out. I'm assuming (and you know what that does) that he let it drain down to the bottom of the vent opening. If he did that again and there was still liquid up to the level of the vent opening.... where did the new liquid come from?bobcat, are you still flushing? Or am I reading more than I should be? Or haven't you let everything drain from the vent opening?I'm going to get my rudder from the shop today and the first thing I'm going to do when I get to the boat is check my holding tank vent! Cause as soon as the rudder is installed I'm going to the pumpout station.My bet is on a foreign object (probably made in China... oops, more politics, sorry ). I'm guessing that sludge would have a tendency to seep into the discharge hose. (I know, it could just as easily be plugged solid)Stay tuned!Cheers,Bobs/v X SAIL R 8

 

[BobW]

BTW, it's bated

[Q] “Where does the term baited breath come from, as in: ‘I am waiting with baited breath for your answer’?”[A] The correct spelling is actually bated breath but it’s so common these days to see it written as baited breath that there’s every chance it will soon become the usual form, to the disgust of conservative speakers and the confusion of dictionary writers. Examples in newspapers and magazines are legion; this one appeared in the Daily Mirror on 12 April 2003: “She hasn’t responded yet but Michael is waiting with baited breath”.It’s easy to mock, but there’s a real problem here. Bated and baited sound the same and we no longer use bated (let alone the verb to bate), outside this one set phrase, which has become an idiom. Confusion is almost inevitable. Bated here is a contraction of abated through loss of the unstressed first vowel (a process called aphesis); it has the meaning “reduced, lessened, lowered in force”. So bated breath refers to a state in which you almost stop breathing through terror, awe, extreme anticipation, or anxiety.

 

[Paul J. Rusyniak]

Bob

Main Entry: 1bate Pronunciation: 'bAtFunction: verbInflected Form(s): bat·ed; bat·ingEtymology: Middle English, short for abaten to abatetransitive senses1 : to reduce the force or intensity of : RESTRAIN <with bated breath>2 : to take away : DEDUCT3 archaic : to lower especially in amount or estimation4 archaic : BLUNTintransitive senses, obsolete : DIMINISH, DECREASE

 

[bobcat17801]

HOLDING TANK FOR A DAY

Peggy,to answer your question as to the liquid from vent tube, it is just overflow...when it reaches what i think is the top of the tank it stops.Bob,to answer your question as to am i still pumping ..YES, it is set up so that all should go over board from the head. Obviously it isn,t.General,just a thought....could the intake lines be soooo lined with salt composets from the years gone by that they won't let the tank empty??Again,as you can see my breath is not baited (bated) but my mind is grasping at any and every thing i can think of.ATTN CNN,The boat will be vacant until sometime saterday afternoon....Need to get thing done at home before they begin to back up.thanks.again thanks to everyone..Peggy for your expertise and ongoing posts, Bob for your ability to cover the items and give me something to smile at, and everyone else for your concern and input. every little bit helps. and I mean that..ther is a solution out there (I hope)!............bobcat

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

The saga continues...

I'm a bit confused... you said, "YES, it is set up so that all should go over board from the head. Obviously it isn,t."Iow, there's a y-valve in the head discharge line that should let you flush directly overboard instead of going into the tank...but that's not happening either???You said, "could the intake lines be soooo lined with salt composets from the years gone by that they won't let the tank empty??"You mean the head and tank discharge lines--FROM the toilet to the tank...FROM the tank to the thru-hull and/or deck pumpout fitting??? If so, that's doubtful...sea water minerals routinely build up in the HEAD intake and discharge line--so that could cause a backup when you flush...but I've never heard of sea water minerals clogging up a tank discharge line, only sludge...and even not sludge very often. Hopefully any sludge in your tank hasn't turned to "concrete"...'cuz it if has, you won't get a snake through it, and nothing will dissolve it that won't also damage the tank.Hokay...if you didn't get a spew, the tank wasn't pressurized. But btw, you don't have to add new contents to a tank for it pressurize...waste generates gasses as it breaks down...they have to be able to escape somewhere. However, if nothing new has gone into your tank in at least a year, all the waste in it has long since finished breaking down...in fact, it's prob'ly not even particularly ripe any more, because after this much time, the bacteria have exhausted their food source and died.I too await with bated breath (thanks for clarifying that, Paul..."bate/bated" is obviously the root of "abate/abated"...or maybe just an alternative form) the next segment of the continuing saga of Feline Bob's Frustrating Fecal (mis)Fortunes.

 

[BobW]

OK, the toilet's connected to a y-valve

Let's call that Y1. Y1Out1 goes to a thru-hull.Y1Out2 goes to the holding tank.The output of the holding tank goes to Y2.Y2Out1 goes to the pumpout.Y2Out2 goes to the macerator, then to a thru-hull.Do you have 2 thru-hulls for waste discharge?Are you sure you can pump directly from the toilet to a thru-hull, without going to the tank first?Here's the BIG question, one we use a lot in my business (computer programming)Are you sure that it EVER worked? Theoretically, there is no way that Y2 could be installed without connecting the tank to one of the output devices (deck pumpout or macerator) in at least 1 position.If you're supposed to be able to pump from the toilet through Y1 to a thru-hull and can't; and the pump-out won't work and the macerator won't work....... I can't see how 1 problem could cause all that.... well, sludge could, but in more than 1 place.Do you suppose somebody didn't like oatmeal and flushed a big tub of Quaker through your toilet? I've seen that turn into what I would have thought was concrete when it just got wet enough.Perplexation continues... who can find the entymology of that word? (I think I just made it up! But there are still 798 hits on it on Google!)I'm on the edge of my seat... can't believe no new episodes till Saturday!Hang in there, bobcat. It's a crappy little problem, but just keep in mind that we'll NEVER forgive you if you give in to the siren song of the PORTA POTTY!!!!! Cheers,Bobs/v X SAIL R 8

 

[bobcat17801]

holding tank completed

Good morning to all,The sage of the bobcat tank is over...sorry! not.............THE TANK IS EMPTY...........The details!!!With rubber gloves, bucket, turkey baster, and tongs on hand i drilled a hole in the top of the tank above the exhaust port and began my probe. What i found was a lsrge blob the size of a soft ball pluging the hole. Removed the object, then was able to pump the tank out. Filled it with fresh water and went sailing. On the way back revisited the pumo out station and again was able to pump out. Success!!!!Peggy, you had asked how with the head going overboard could the tank be overflwing everytime i opened it, well, the y valve ws llowing raw water to seep back thru the valve and into the tank and head. The next step is to empty my garage of the toilet, valve, and hoses and start to replace everything from toilet to tank. My thanks to everyone who gave advice, i used it all.Peggy, you are a life saver. Without your constant questioning and directing i would probably just gotten frustrated and sunk the boat. Thanks for everything.bob in ventura thanks for the many chuckles enjoyed them.thanks to everyone!!!!!!!! bobcat

 

[JC on Bainbridge]

Bobcat: What kind of blob?

Sorry for asking this yucky question, but it would be good for us to know for future reference.Was the blob solid? Rock hard like concrete? soft like a sponge foam mat? Do you think it was something that could be broken up with a snake? Was it caused by someone flushing something down the toilet that didn't come out of their body first?Congrats in getting your holding tank fixed. I know what a joyful feeling it is. When our tank had that pickup tube problem, we just didn't really want to go sailing, knowing we would have had to cross our legs and hold it until we got back to the dock. Now, we are happy campers.p.s. Peggy: A new chapter for your book: "Attack/Revenge of the blobs", starring: Bobcat.

 

[bobcat17801]

THE BLOB

THE BLOB. To be honest i have not spent a lotof time examing the thing. But it seemed to be thick ball of tissue or some type of paper, rather mushy and not completely solid. (nice discription hu?)I had run a snake thru the deck port and found the blob to be wedged or solid enough that i could not clear it out with the snake. .......bobcat

 

[BobW]

The blob strikes again!

Since my bet was on a foeign object, can you please enlighten us, bobcat? (No pictures required, even if you took some!)If you had seawater getting into your tank and/or toilet from the discharge line, you were missing at least 1 of the necessary vented loops (my speciality!!!!!)I'm sure you are aware of all this from previous threads, but for the sake of other viewers, here it is:Since your toilet is below the waterline, you must have one between the toilet pump and toilet bowl.You must have one on the line from the macerator to the through-hull.You SHOULD have one between the toilet and holding tank unless you can be sure that the relative positions of toilet and tank make it impossible for waste to flow from the tank to the toilet. Even in that case, a loop is beneficial. It does not have to be vented, but the pre-formed loops avoid the need to try to bend hose too tightly, and they have neat little mounting flanges on them, too!So, when your toilet is finished, your project boat is finished, right! Congratulations!Geraldo is on his way back to Aruba - Greta has another missing person to chase..... all is well in the world!!!!!Cheers,Bobs/v X SAIL R 8

 

[bobcat17801]

complete

bob,with the completion of the toilet...tank...valve project I am complete with the major projects...YES!!!!but as you know, there is always something to do arountd a boat.I have now learned the the real meaning of B.O.A.T is "Break Out Another Thousand".Thanks for everything .......bobcat

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

WoooooooooHOO!

And so the saga of Bobcat's blocked tank finally ends. Through it all, we cheered him on...learned how to spell "bated" breath...and became almost as intimately acquainted with Bobcat's holding tank as he was...the only thing I regret was not starting a pool to pick the date and time when he'd finally take a hole saw to the d'd thing. Bob, from your description, the BLOB sounds a lot like a tampon. I don't think it's necessary to inspect it closely enough to confirm that or not...the only thing that matters is, you FINALLY solved your problem--AND proved me wrong, but it's not the first time...won't be the last). Now about the vented loops....

 

[JC on Bainbridge]

Inspection Port

Well, Bobcat, you now have an inspection port on your holding tank. When a similar problem occurs again, you can just remove the cover, and clean it out, and go.Now, aren't you now a happy camper?