Ok, well it seems my thread got off course while I wasn't looking. Back to it. Hope ya'll didn't scare Peggie away!
I just got my "new" boat back after a month of being in the yard -- during which time I stayed aboard my prior, now-for-sale boat which reminded me how fresh smelling a boat can be, particularly when it has exceedingly short sewage hose runs and no low spots.
Anyway, after all the fixes with the vent line, tank inspection port, and a (mostly) deep cleaning, the "new" boat stinks even worse than I remembered when I left it at the yard. Two nights ago I removed as many removable parts around the tank and hoses as I could, did a couple rounds of soaking, scrubbing, and spraying the bilges, hoses, tank and surrounding surfaces with diluted ammonia and baking soda, and then sprayed everything with a white vinegar solution (honestly not sure how I came up with this cleaning regimen).
Last night, after all that had dried out, the odor was still there. On my hands & knees sniffing around like a dog, all signs point to permeated hose(s). I'm going to get clean rags and do the rag test tonight. Mind you, this is 5 month old Trident 101 for the in/out, which was still wrapped in plastic when I walked it out of the chandlery, and it still had that new-hose rubber smell upon installation. Vent hose was also brand new Trident Vac XHD.
I know Peggie's book mentions hose as new as 3 months getting permeated, and with my luck, I won't be surprised if I got a bad batch of Trident. Still, really disheartening.
Questions:
(1) Has anyone ever pursued the Trident "10 year warranty" claim? How does that even work, do you send them a sample of the hose(!)? Was there a warranty card I was supposed to fill out when I bought it?
(2) I know I should be able to rely on quality sanitation hose as I have in the past. But frankly I'm fed up and don't want to repeat the exercise of muscling new hose in place and gambling another $600 in the process.
Assuming it is the outlet hose with standing sewage that is permeated, I'm planning to replace that part with PVC pipe. Any tips or examples of doing PVC for marine sanitation appreciated. I've never worked with PVC before but have to imagine it's more fun to measure, saw, and glue than it is to wrangle those %^@#$ hoses. Orders of magnitude cheaper, too, so I can screw up all I want until I get it right.
(3) A quick look at Home Despot shows most 1.5" PVC elbows & such are rated for 5 psi. That seems problematically low. Is there a particular category or type of PVC pipe and fittings one works with in marine sanitation?