SailNet Community banner
  • SailNet is a forum community dedicated to Sailing enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about sailing, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, repairs, reviews, maintenance, and more!

Holding tank plumbing question

2K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  Ritchard 
#1 ·
My question is below in BOLD, it follows this that I posted in the Endeavour forum a couple of days ago:

I had been talking above about the holding tank. My 32 year old one was was pretty skanky. The head had been replaced in the summer, along with the lines, but the brown old tank needed to go.

I had carefully measured the locker, and determined that the Todd 15 gal tank would fit. Westmarine was happy to order it for me. I wrestled out the old tank on a cold day, so any residual nasty contents were frozen into a yucksickle. The removal went pretty easily.

So I go to fit in the new tank, and was disappointed to learn that I did not measure quite as carefully as i thought I had. Due to the nature of compound curves, and their fundmental dislike of rectangles, the box was just a bit too big in the forward port corner. I spent quite a bit of time trying every which way to solve this spatial relations puzzle, but it appeared there was just no way to coerce this tank to fit - and it was SO close. I had a decision to make, return the tank the Westmarine, or act impulsively. This of course was an easy decision. I immediately got going with my heat gun and a hammer.

The heat gun did not deliver enough heat - especially on a cold day in January, so I carted the tank home for more heat. I ended up having my firebug 15 year old heat the tank with a torch, so I could bash it on the concrete floor of my basement workshop. We went a little bit at a time, and it turned out to be relatively easy to sort of cave in the corner an inch or so in each dimension. I ended up smoothing up the melted poly using what else but my newly cleaned and polished propeller that had been sitting on the workbench. It was like icing a cake. I let the tank cool, did a quick and dirty pressure test, and took the tank to the boat. It fit like a glove. Very happy.

Of course, wrestling on all the hoses to the fittings was a frustrating task, but I got it all done, thanks in great part to the application of personal lubricant.

last remaining bit of the task is the nasty old vent line. Just ran out of time.


I got a mailing from practical sailor a few days ago with an update on Holding tank testing. Sealand said to them "we have found plastic pipe sealant to provide a more consistent seal than the plumber's tape." I had installed the elbow fittings with teflon tape, and in retrospect they don't seem all that tight or secure. Do I use more, ie. a greater thickness of teflon tape, or the abovementioned plastic pipe sealant. My real question is, what is plastic pipe sealant? I have never heard of it. Where do you get it, and what else might it be called?
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Go for the composter and eliminate the problem. C-head has come up with one a fraction the cost of the Airhead and Natures head. They even sell components, which let you do more of your own work.
 
#7 ·
Of all the reports I've seen on these sites, from people who have gone for the composter, I haven't seen anyone who has gone for one, even considering going back to having a tank full of sloshing sewage on board.
 
#10 ·
I have been using silicone sealant for thread sealing on waste connections for several decades with no seeps or leaks.
Since this is for our own boats and not done professionally, it's not like I have a lot of different boat experience, though.

Still, over the years, this has worked out OK. Also, on our last boat the factory had used gray butyl rubber goo for all of their hose and thread sealing, and it never leaked, either. They used it for all of the deck hardware, too, and none of those leaked.:cool:

So, more than one... "right answer."

My $.02 worth....
 
#13 ·
Kayamore,

I read a thread today on the now defunct Endeavourowners.com site (Endeavour Sailboat Owners Discussion Forum) which repeatedly described that, like mine, the tank is located in the port side locker in the V-berth area, just forward of the head. This appears to be the factory location. What's in that locker on your boat?

Per the first post in this thread, mine now contains a 15 gal Todd holding tank. I think the original was 13.

On my boat there's plenty of room to install a macerator and such, under the floor of the head, or inside the bathroom cabinetry, though I haven't done so. My head is is plumbed straight to the tank. We just never sail on days after all-you-can-eat steak dinners.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top