Holding tank and hose and pipe options - advice requested

Archives
1

Posted by Alan (akusinitz@…>)

I have a Sealand vacuflush head and a 3/8" sealand spec holding tank
and sealand sanitation hose. For 4 years we had no odor. Last summer
we had some odor particular when heeled. The odor was only in the
area of the holding tank, not at the vacuflush pump or head.
No air leaks could be found. Mike Starito at Northeast Sanitation
(SEALAND distributor), Sent replacement hose for free since its
warranted for 5 years and there appeared to be no other source for
the odor (purchasing direct he offers a discount, I think around
$6.50 a foot not the $8 others have mentioned on the board).
On my holding tank there is no dip tube. The outlet is out the side
at the bottom of the tank so sewage sits in the hose. Mike suggested
one of two things:

  1. They sell a dip tube kit. You drill a 3" hole in the top of the
    tank and insert (press fit) a thick white rubber fitting and then
    insert a pvc (or something like it not sure since its black) in
    through the rubber. He claims its a very tight fit and there is no
    odor problem. Then connect hose to that.
  2. Use PVC at the outlet to above the tank so that sewage doesn’t sit
    in the hose.

I’m a little concerned about drilling a hole in the tank and using
the rubber fitting although I think Mike is quite knowledgable. I’m
curious if anyone sees risk in cutting the hole or getting a good
seal this way.
I’ve seen the posting about PVC and vibration but am still tempted to
go that way depending on how confident/or not I become in the dip
tube approach.

Mike also suggested installing their tank saver in the top of the
tank (essentially a fitting that lets air into the tank if there is
an over vacuum situation from a pump out. Anyone ever had a problem?
I’m hesitant to cut another hole and rely on the seal of the tank
saver.

AT the moment I have just a holding tank. I’m installing a sealand
discharge pump to pump overboard where legal. Mike suggested a simple
T (no Y valve) in the current discharge hose and no vented loop. This
seems good to me. The design of the pump doesn’t allow backflow and
even if it did water would just fill the holding tank and go up the
vent hose a bit. In addition I only plan to have the seacock open
when actually pumping overboard (of course I guess I could forget to
close it. Any flaws in this arrangement logic?

Thanks
Alan F-33 Hull #51 SEAPR

2

Posted by lance_ryley (lance_ryley@…>)

Alan,
I’m a big fan of the dip tube arrangement for just this reason. If I
recall, one of my tanks had the press-fit seal and it works as
advertised. The tank saver is a good idea too - the sealand tank I
put in Bright Star had one and it was never a source of odor, but it
did offer some piece of mind regarding collapsing the tank if the
vent line were to get clogged. One of the powerboats at constitution
had one of their (fiberglass) holding tanks implode from this
condition - not a pretty sight and I’m pretty sure the glass guys
charged extra due to the nature of the situation :wink:

The only ‘flaw’ as I see it is to remember to open that seacock
before pumping, or you will blow the hoses right off the nipples, or
at least make things highly unpleasant if the seals are
overpressurized. (Been there, done that).

Lance
— In FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com, “Alan” <akusinitz@…>
wrote:

I have a Sealand vacuflush head and a 3/8" sealand spec holding
tank
and sealand sanitation hose. For 4 years we had no odor. Last
summer
we had some odor particular when heeled. The odor was only in the
area of the holding tank, not at the vacuflush pump or head.
No air leaks could be found. Mike Starito at Northeast Sanitation
(SEALAND distributor), Sent replacement hose for free since its
warranted for 5 years and there appeared to be no other source for
the odor (purchasing direct he offers a discount, I think around
$6.50 a foot not the $8 others have mentioned on the board).
On my holding tank there is no dip tube. The outlet is out the side
at the bottom of the tank so sewage sits in the hose. Mike
suggested
one of two things:

  1. They sell a dip tube kit. You drill a 3" hole in the top of the
    tank and insert (press fit) a thick white rubber fitting and then
    insert a pvc (or something like it not sure since its black) in
    through the rubber. He claims its a very tight fit and there is no
    odor problem. Then connect hose to that.
  2. Use PVC at the outlet to above the tank so that sewage doesn’t
    sit
    in the hose.

I’m a little concerned about drilling a hole in the tank and using
the rubber fitting although I think Mike is quite knowledgable. I’m
curious if anyone sees risk in cutting the hole or getting a good
seal this way.
I’ve seen the posting about PVC and vibration but am still tempted
to
go that way depending on how confident/or not I become in the dip
tube approach.

Mike also suggested installing their tank saver in the top of the
tank (essentially a fitting that lets air into the tank if there is
an over vacuum situation from a pump out. Anyone ever had a
problem?
I’m hesitant to cut another hole and rely on the seal of the tank
saver.

AT the moment I have just a holding tank. I’m installing a sealand
discharge pump to pump overboard where legal. Mike suggested a
simple
T (no Y valve) in the current discharge hose and no vented loop.
This
seems good to me. The design of the pump doesn’t allow backflow and
even if it did water would just fill the holding tank and go up the
vent hose a bit. In addition I only plan to have the seacock open
when actually pumping overboard (of course I guess I could forget
to
close it. Any flaws in this arrangement logic?

Thanks
Alan F-33 Hull #51 SEAPR

3

Posted by Alan Kusinitz (akusinitz@…>)


Thanks. I’m going to mount the pump
switch down by the seacock to avoid that (hopefully). I have my rubber dinghy
resting over my gas fireplace flue. There’s a sign on the fireplace to
move dinghy but I’ve still had some close calls.
Do you think there’s any risk of
damaging the sealand tank with the hole saw?
Alan





From: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com [mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of lance_ryley
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2008 11:52
AM
To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [FreedomOwnersGroup] Re:
Holding tank and hose and pipe options - advice requested




Alan,
I’m a big fan of the dip tube arrangement for just this reason. If I
recall, one of my tanks had the press-fit seal and it works as
advertised. The tank saver is a good idea too - the sealand tank I
put in Bright Star had one and it was never a source of odor, but it
did offer some piece of mind regarding collapsing the tank if the
vent line were to get clogged. One of the powerboats at constitution
had one of their (fiberglass) holding tanks implode from this
condition - not a pretty sight and I’m pretty sure the glass guys
charged extra due to the nature of the situation :wink:

The only ‘flaw’ as I see it is to remember to open that seacock
before pumping, or you will blow the hoses right off the nipples, or
at least make things highly unpleasant if the seals are
overpressurized. (Been there, done that).

Lance
— In FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com,
“Alan” <akusinitz@…>
wrote:

I have a Sealand vacuflush head and a 3/8" sealand spec holding
tank
and sealand sanitation hose. For 4 years we had no odor. Last
summer
we had some odor particular when heeled. The odor was only in the
area of the holding tank, not at the vacuflush pump or head.
No air leaks could be found. Mike Starito at Northeast Sanitation
(SEALAND distributor), Sent replacement hose for free since its
warranted for 5 years and there appeared to be no other source for
the odor (purchasing direct he offers a discount, I think around
$6.50 a foot not the $8 others have mentioned on the board).
On my holding tank there is no dip tube. The outlet is out the side
at the bottom of the tank so sewage sits in the hose. Mike
suggested
one of two things:

  1. They sell a dip tube kit. You drill a 3" hole in the top of the
    tank and insert (press fit) a thick white rubber fitting and then
    insert a pvc (or something like it not sure since its black) in
    through the rubber. He claims its a very tight fit and there is no
    odor problem. Then connect hose to that.
  2. Use PVC at the outlet to above the tank so that sewage doesn’t
    sit
    in the hose.

I’m a little concerned about drilling a hole in the tank and using
the rubber fitting although I think Mike is quite knowledgable. I’m
curious if anyone sees risk in cutting the hole or getting a good
seal this way.
I’ve seen the posting about PVC and vibration but am still tempted
to
go that way depending on how confident/or not I become in the dip
tube approach.

Mike also suggested installing their tank saver in the top of the
tank (essentially a fitting that lets air into the tank if there is
an over vacuum situation from a pump out. Anyone ever had a
problem?
I’m hesitant to cut another hole and rely on the seal of the tank
saver.

AT the moment I have just a holding tank. I’m installing a sealand
discharge pump to pump overboard where legal. Mike suggested a
simple
T (no Y valve) in the current discharge hose and no vented loop.
This
seems good to me. The design of the pump doesn’t allow backflow and
even if it did water would just fill the holding tank and go up the
vent hose a bit. In addition I only plan to have the seacock open
when actually pumping overboard (of course I guess I could forget
to
close it. Any flaws in this arrangement logic?

Thanks
Alan F-33 Hull
#51 SEAPR


\