I installed a new marine head after literally throwing my composting toilet in the trash. I put a t into the galley sink drain for the sea water side. Now the sink barely drains. To make maters worse, air and liquid is coming out of the vented loop on the waste side. I am at my wits end. All parts are new....any ideas??
Leaking vented loop and slow draining sink
- Thread starter MaryC
- Start date
Well i can at least use the sink even thoigh it drains slowly..the most pressing issue is the vented loop spraying out liquid....ideas on that?.
Ok...time I got into this...Neither of your problems is hard to solve.
First your spouting vented loop: it's missing its air valve. You weren't shorted anytning when you bought it...Air valves are a separate replaceable part that are separately from the loops. Air valves only open to allow air INTO a line through which liquid is being pulled...it doesn't open when anything is being PUSHED through a line. So get and install an air valve (it threads into the nipple in the top of the loop) and that will solve THAT problem.
About your sink drain... if I read it correctly, you teed your toilet DISCHARGE line into the sink drain line??? Nooooooooo... NOT what you should have done! It's a violation of every marine plumbing standard--because it puts any food in your sink at risk of e-coli contamination. Only the toilet INTAKE line should ever be teed into any sink drain line.
So...first, re-run your toilet discharge line to it's own thru-hull (she's not the US guys...cool your jets).The vented; loop in that line needs to be at least 6-8" above waterline AT ANY ANGLE of HEEL--which would put it at least 2' above the toilet bowl on your boat.
It would have saved you a lot of problems if you'd asked for help BEFORE you made all these changes that you shouldn't have instead of waiting to ask until you needed rescue!~-but now that you have, I'll be glad to help you end wih a system that won't be more trouble than it's worth.
First your spouting vented loop: it's missing its air valve. You weren't shorted anytning when you bought it...Air valves are a separate replaceable part that are separately from the loops. Air valves only open to allow air INTO a line through which liquid is being pulled...it doesn't open when anything is being PUSHED through a line. So get and install an air valve (it threads into the nipple in the top of the loop) and that will solve THAT problem.
About your sink drain... if I read it correctly, you teed your toilet DISCHARGE line into the sink drain line??? Nooooooooo... NOT what you should have done! It's a violation of every marine plumbing standard--because it puts any food in your sink at risk of e-coli contamination. Only the toilet INTAKE line should ever be teed into any sink drain line.
So...first, re-run your toilet discharge line to it's own thru-hull (she's not the US guys...cool your jets).The vented; loop in that line needs to be at least 6-8" above waterline AT ANY ANGLE of HEEL--which would put it at least 2' above the toilet bowl on your boat.
It would have saved you a lot of problems if you'd asked for help BEFORE you made all these changes that you shouldn't have instead of waiting to ask until you needed rescue!~-but now that you have, I'll be glad to help you end wih a system that won't be more trouble than it's worth.
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Oh good...That's a relief! Surely you wouldn't have done that if your sink drains above the waterline....although it would work if you teed the sink drain line into the head intake line instead.
Either way, neither way of doing it should interfere with the sink's ability to drain unless the head intake line runs downhill from the tee in the drain before it heads up to the toilet. You might want to check the drain for a buildup of fats etc in it or maybe some animal or vegetable life has set up housekeeping on the thru-hull...
But btw...why did you tee into the galley sink drain instead of the head sink drain line...was that because the toilet and head sink are on opposite sides of the keel?
As your spouting vented loop: An air valve--aka vacuum breaker--will solve that problem. Contact the loop manufacturer for information about how to get one.
Either way, neither way of doing it should interfere with the sink's ability to drain unless the head intake line runs downhill from the tee in the drain before it heads up to the toilet. You might want to check the drain for a buildup of fats etc in it or maybe some animal or vegetable life has set up housekeeping on the thru-hull...
But btw...why did you tee into the galley sink drain instead of the head sink drain line...was that because the toilet and head sink are on opposite sides of the keel?
As your spouting vented loop: An air valve--aka vacuum breaker--will solve that problem. Contact the loop manufacturer for information about how to get one.
By teeing off the head intake line you are now sucking up water the previously exclusive discharge line. This makes the line prone to sucking in obstructions. Check for a plastic bag, sea grass or even a critter to have crawled in there.
Peggy, thanks for the advice...i used the galley sink beacuse the head sink is above the water line...also i do have the valve on the t....oddly enough afterputting my finger over the opening on the valve and flushing with water for about five minutes the problem seems to be resolved..maybe there was a clog?? I will also try a plunger on the gealley sink and see if that helps... thanks again
This will work much better than a plunger:
“C.P. Cleans Potties” is an amazing product, part of the product line my own company developed and sold to Raritan in 1999.. Although the name implies that it’s only a toilet bowl cleaner, it’s a bio-enzymatic cleaner that not only kills odor on contact, but the enzymes in it also “eat” hair, soap scum, galley grease, body oils etc. It does need time to work, though, which is why you need to use it when it can stand at least overnight..
Sink drains: close the seacocks...put an ounce or two of C.P. down the drain...fill the drain with water. That's it. When you come back, open the seacock and flush out the drain with clean water.
To clean sumps: Make sure the sump is about 1/4-1/3 full of water...put 2-3 ounces of C.P. down the shower drain. That's it. When you come back, run plenty of clean water through the sump to rinse it out.
Although C.P. ceases to accomplish anything after about 24 hours, it can sit in drains and sumps indefinitely without any problem, so no rush to get back and flush it out. Use it once a week, or just before the boat will sit each time and your drains and sumps will stay clean and sweet smelling and screens and sump pumps will remain clog free.
And oh btw, C.P. is also an outstanding toilet bowl cleaner that’s compatible with any tank treatment and safe to use in any Type I or II MSD.
“C.P. Cleans Potties” is an amazing product, part of the product line my own company developed and sold to Raritan in 1999.. Although the name implies that it’s only a toilet bowl cleaner, it’s a bio-enzymatic cleaner that not only kills odor on contact, but the enzymes in it also “eat” hair, soap scum, galley grease, body oils etc. It does need time to work, though, which is why you need to use it when it can stand at least overnight..
Sink drains: close the seacocks...put an ounce or two of C.P. down the drain...fill the drain with water. That's it. When you come back, open the seacock and flush out the drain with clean water.
To clean sumps: Make sure the sump is about 1/4-1/3 full of water...put 2-3 ounces of C.P. down the shower drain. That's it. When you come back, run plenty of clean water through the sump to rinse it out.
Although C.P. ceases to accomplish anything after about 24 hours, it can sit in drains and sumps indefinitely without any problem, so no rush to get back and flush it out. Use it once a week, or just before the boat will sit each time and your drains and sumps will stay clean and sweet smelling and screens and sump pumps will remain clog free.
And oh btw, C.P. is also an outstanding toilet bowl cleaner that’s compatible with any tank treatment and safe to use in any Type I or II MSD.