Legend-era interior teak oilAnd now a word from the sponsor...
It's an open and shut caseWell, we seem to have found a topic, with no agreement,,,, from closing everything to closing nothing.
I was looking for the right emoji but didn't find it.You forgot the "click-a-boom".
Don't think anyone suggested leaving them open when away but I suspect many people do just that. I am always tempted to ask why they leave them open all the time but I think the answer is obvious...IMHO, it is stupid to leave the boat floating and leave the thru hulls open when the boat is unused. It's inviting disaster. You can prepare for the expected, but you need to also prepare for the unexpected.
You were lucky that you were aboard when it happened...if you and that guest had left the boat, it would have sunk in its slip. Relying on the wet/dry valve to keep water outside the boat from seeking its own level INSIDE the boat is playing Russian roulette. What's needed that you obviously don't have--and what you'll see in the installation instructions for EVERY sea water toilet installed at or below waterline--is a vented loop in the intake, installed between the pump and the bowl...which requires replacing the short piece of hose the mfr used to connect them with lines long enough to put it 6-8" above waterline AT ANY ANGLE OF HEEL, which on most sailboats puts it 2-3' above the bowl. See the attached photos. You'll also find a drawing illustrating this in the installation instructions for every sea water toilet.The discharge vented loop is only needed if the toilet flushes directly overboard, with or without a y-valve in the toilet discharge line.I learned the hard way after one night around 3:00 AM I stepped out of the bunk into ankle deep water. A guest had fiddled with the wet/dry flush valve and left it in a position where water was overflowing out of the bowl.
I was window shopping at west marine the other day, and it looks like the next generation of ball valves has a zerk grease fitting on the side. Nice solution to sticky valves.Every body has their own system for sure but opening and closing the values is a good thing for sure so that they don't get to the point where they don't open and close easy is what happens if you don't use them.
I normally were leaving everything open most of the time and what happened was 2 values started to get very hard to open and close and got so bad I was afraid it would break so I stopped and at my haul out for bottom job I took them all apart and lubed and to be on the safe side replace 2 of them and so I now close them when away from the boat but open and close them all.
I also replaced all the backing plates.
Nick