The Dreaded Head

[Apex]

Last year I replaced the entire system. Just yesterday in the boat enjoyed the "sweet" smell of rubber hoses, not leaking gases.

Replacement was prompted by a poorly placed holding tank, which included the vent line connected by silicone caulk ONLY (yes, a hole drilled in the tank and then the vent line caulked in place. I replaced it with Ronco Bow style tank, including building a floor in the bow to hold the tank. All new hoses and 1.5" vent lines. Raritan PHII head, with a new head floor thanks to newfound foam cored glassing skills. I enjoy having the v-berth filler area open again, and no smells.

 

[Ed.S]

Thanks Peggy and Tally Ho, the information is much appreciated. I will try a little muriatic acid but will eventually replace the hose probably sooner than later.

 

[markgoldfarb]

I have a 1994 Hunter 37.5. I have changed the joker valve and ran a snake into the tank. And yet when i return to the boast the head is filled with liquid even after pumping it dry. Any thoughts?

 

[jssailem]

What type of head do you have?
Your query says you replaced the joker valve. The assumption is that the replacement was properly installed, yet the liquid is still leaking back from the tank.

Thoughts:

• Bad replacement joker valve.
• Installed the joker valve incorrectly
• Leak is coming from other than the Joker valve i.e. the raw water source from flushing
• The tank is above the head, so liquid in the line flows with gravity back against the joker valve. Reroute the flush line so that it rises at the head above the level of the tank and flows at a gradual grade to the tank. The pumps for the head can lift your head contents 3-4 ft, which enables you to let gravity help move the contents to the tank.

Get the book from @Peggie Hall HeadMistress . It is an encyclopedia of solutions to Head problems.

 

[Richard19068]

Get the book from @Peggie Hall HeadMistress . It is an encyclopedia of solutions to Head problems.

Yes. Get the book. Read it through and then ask your questions. You probably won't have many at that time but if you do they will be more concise and probably easier to answer.

 

[markgoldfarb]

thanks, Ordered!

 

[thinwater]

...

• The tank is above the head, so liquid in the line flows with gravity back against the joker valve. Reroute the flush line so that it rises at the head above the level of the tank and flows at a gradual grade to the tank. The pumps for the head can lift your head contents 3-4 ft, which enables you to let gravity help move the contents to the tank....

This. You can't expect a valve to be perfect. The smallest bit of anything between the lips and it will seep. By running it up to a high point first, you will only get that short run.

Also:

• Pump enough stokes to get the waste all the way to the tank. Typically, 10 if it is close, more if it isn't. Many boaters try to economise on pumping so that they do not have to pump as often. But then the waste is thicker and they have more troubles. 10 stokes at least.
• Folks argue over TP. Then they want to lecture their guests to either bag the TP or limit themselves to 2 squares. Please. Instead, explain that heads can clog, and if (in plain terms) that it is a heavy load, it will help if they flush more than once, and if they need to use a good bit of TP, flush a few strokes halfway through that. Then no problems. Both waste and TP need to be diluted with water. Simple. Easy.

Yes, the tank will fill up a little sooner, but every thing will work well.

Also, when pumping out, lay ALL of the loops of the hose on the dock before starting. When pumping waste, there is some air in the line and the siphon principle does not work. Every loop on the stand is a separate lift, and 10 loops, combined with the lift from the tank and suction friction, will add up to more than the pump can lift.

 

[High Current]

Stories huh?

My first overnight on my first boat, we’re coming back into the harbor. My 6 year old daughter is complaining that the head won’t empty and is about to overflow. She’s pumping it and I am guessing she just has the lever on the wrong side. Then I smell sewage and notice some running down the deck from the pump-out fitting. So I yell to her to wait and send my dad below to investigate. Apparently missing the main cause for concern, he simply checks the lever and starts pumping aggressively. “STOP!!” Too late. At this point there is not only a generous stream of sewage running down the deck, but it has squeezed out of every tubing joint onto my brand new bunk cushion and into the inaccessible regions of the bilge.

We finally get to the dock and I go below to investigate. I didn’t know yet how my head was plumbed, and I don’t recall exactly what I was trying to do - divert the head away from the tank, I think, so it would stop back-filling. All I know is: it wasn’t dump the whole tank into the harbor, but that’s exactly what happened when I opened the valve. Oops!! But at that point I was too defeated to care.

And yet, I am still sailing :-D

For what it’s worth, I later realized that the head plumbing was all sorts of janky - rigid PVC with short lengths of plain rubber hose used as flexible couplers (and single hose clamps of course).