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Oh yeah, those drain plugs. We usually remove them and plug. There’s no reason to open them, you can drain the system from a hose and they often just result in nuisance leaks.
Flush with clean water and some powdered dish washing solution. Run, flush, run, flush until you get clean water coming out.
The engine won’t heat up to operating temp in neutral. Run it under load at the dock to get it to heat up.Use red, heavy duty, silicate free anti freeze.
Chuck
Jack, I own Sea Duty. The cover is off, I’m tweaking the engine alignment. If you want photos of anything let me know.
Chuck
@Joseph Steiner wrote:
My wife and I are wondering if there is a better toilet. We have a Raritan PH II, manual.
It has been rebuilt 6 times in 3 years of live aboard life plus 2 winters of 4 months cruising.
She wants a new one. I am of the opinion that saltwater is the culprit, not make or model.
What has been your experience??
Joe, saltwater reacts with the products from our bodies and does result in more odor and acidic damage to equipment and hoses than a fresh water sourced toilet. The PH II is pretty standard example of a basic pump style head. The pump can be rebuilt and can also be replaced as a complete unit. Usually the pump isn’t the source of smell but mostly nuisance leaks. A leak in the wrong plumbing can be more than a nuisance. A weeping leak may never be seen, as it can dry up before traveling far. It still stinks.
BTW, I don’t rebuild pumps for customers, a new pump is cheaper to install than disassembling and replacing all the innards. Even then they still sometimes leak.
The usual culprit is the hoses. They become permeated over time. If a hose has a tacky feel, it’s way past gone and the boat probably smells like lilacs and poop. Lilac seems to be the universal air freshener applied to this situation for some odd reason.
Hose runs should never hold/trap effluent. Ideally all hose runs should be downhill to the holding tank. Often in a boat this not possible. Any runs that will hold product till the next flush can be replaced with schedule 40 PVC. Usually this is best done where a stack leading to a top loaded holding tank that is parallel or higher than the head. A vented loop will create the same situation.
On holding tanks. All fitting at the top. ALL FITTINGS AT THE TOP.
Tank vents must be maintained, a full tank with a clogged vent can be ruptured at a fitting or boss by a user that is unaware of the physics of putting something in a space without first removing something. Vents can be filtered too, these are expensive (yet they work wonderfully) and will be ruined if the tank is overfilled to the point where the vent becomes full.
My ideal setup for a light cruiser, bay sailor, have the friends on board type of boat…
Vacuflush system with a small holding tank, say 25 gallons.
Con: System does use dc power and fresh water and does require annual maintenance.
Pro: You’ll not find yourself face to face with the last movement of the crew member that simply can’t grasp the marine head concept.
No smell. Uses only about a quart per flush (you can make it use less).
Do the math, 25 gallon tank, 60-80 flushes before emptying.This is nice for the cruising crowd that chooses not to dump in the same anchorage the kids are swimming in. Go for a sail, empty the tank.
The composting head gets some weird looks from people, simply out of ignorance. For a boat that spends a lot of time at or around marina’s it probably doesn’t make sense as it would turn off potential buyers, once again ignorance. “No honey, I want to store all my poop on board in a tank, not some icky system that has coconut peat in it”.
What do I have: nothing the head is gutted right now but Pete sold me on the airhead and that is going in this winter. I’ve met so many cruisers that use these and are happy with it I decided to try it out. All my plumbing was foul, before I replaced it I thought I’d try the ‘garden variety’…
Joe, if the Vacuflush system interests you I have a new bowl and vacuum generator if you are interested. Neither have been installed. The plumbing on the toilet is side discharge on the left side (seen while sitting on the throne). I was going to put the vacuum generator under the sink.
Hope this helps.
Chuck
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I found a couple more photos of repair in process. I added them to the photo album.
Chuck
This is a weak spot on the boat. Moisture intrusion can come from both inside and out.
If your bilge is perpetually damp this may very likely be the source. Once compromised the laminate collapses inward when blocked and water migrates through the voids. Eventually you’ll see the distortion above the block it rests on.
Finding dry solid laminate around the cracked area with a grinder can be tedious. A sawzall made for short work. You can see the results.
The fix was solid, pie shaped stack of FRP laminated, shaped, bonded and tabbed to the existing laminate. Just above the hole some ribs were glassed across to provide some rigidity to the existing keel and provide more bonding surface. The whole assembly has several layers of 1708 glass mat around it and extends well up onto the existing laminate.
Presently it carries the weight of the boat when blocked and the bilge is dry as a bone.
To make the repair the rig should come down. The skeg will carry the load of the aft end of the keel when blocked.
To do it again I’ve got some thoughts on making it better. Its a tedious repair but not all that difficult.
Harken is discontinuing the Cruising Unit series and replacing it with a current equivalent. I think the MKII is the unit you would want for a 424 Jib.
One of my suppliers is offering attractive pricing on the discontinued units still in stock. Good product.Chuck
To tab to the hull or stringers you’ll need to expose clean laminate or it will separate. Another concern about reinforcing things is creating hard spots on th hull. Mr. Shaw expected some flexing of the hull.
A 6×6 across the hatch should support it. Raise it up enough to get some cribbing under it and replace the pan in the boat.
If you want to remove it you’ll need to take off the alternator and the exhaust manifold. An adjustable engine hoist chain helps. You’ll need to angle it about 30 degrees to get it out of the companionway. Put blue tape on all you trim then cover with duct tape.
ChuckMark the threads with finger nail polish so you can retension them to the same spot. Slacken the opposite stay at the same time.
If you decide to remove the chain plates you should have new ones ready to install. The effort to remove them is significant but not difficult. For less than $400 you can replace the mains.
Bill was the one I gave you a valid template for yours?
ChuckJack, I don’t have an electrician here today but may be able to get one to come in. I’m in the office above the marina.
Chuck
Bob, let me verify they are still in the shed.
You sure that is the route you want to go? They are enormous and only produce about 60 amps (in a perfect world). You could get something off the shelf much smaller with internal regulation that would probably give you years of service.Chuck
Soundown is the product we commonly use. Comes in sheets and I think in a couple different configurations. Make sure you order a mounting kit.
Chuck
