Head - Hoses

[dgmace]

Nice picture of the belle
peanutmace

[xort]

I struggled with this also. And the heat on the hose and soap on the barb worked pretty well for me too. I was always uncomfortable with the amount of heat needed. But it works.

[tdw]

At this juncture the bronze fittings is academic as that hose is already 'you beaut no smell'.

For reasons I am yet to understand the hose from the through hull is broken in the middle and has a joiner piece then another length of hose to the pump. The hoses I have removed go from the head to the pump, pump to the pop off, pop off to the joiner.

Tried heat, sat the hose end in boiling water for what I would have thought was a reasonable period of time , didn't seem to help cos it doesn't soften the reinforcing.

I've now got the whole assembly in the workshop and maybe with better equipment to hold the hose, things will improve. Will try heat and detergent, maybe heat and silicon. Brute force is of course not to be dismissed.

Hamish' suggestion re the 'barbed' fittings does make sense, cos it was the 'barb' that was giving me the most grief.

[pegasus1457]

Originally Posted by tdw

Tried heat, sat the hose end in boiling water for what I would have thought was a reasonable period of time , didn't seem to help cos it doesn't soften the reinforcing.
Hamish' suggestion re the 'barbed' fittings does make sense, cos it was the 'barb' that was giving me the most grief.

I think not all of the posters are talking about the same kind of hose --

There is an odor-free hose sold in the US made of a white plastic substance that has no reinforcing, but is still a bear to get on the fittings. But I believe it is compatible with barbed fittings.

I think wombat is referring to the hoses with spiral metal wire running through it. Probably not compatible with the barbed fittings.

I have redone the waste plumbing on a previous boat with the white stuff ($9/foot!) and it really does keep the odors out of the boat interior. I am in the middle of removing the hoses with spiral reinforcing from my recently purchased boat, and let me tell you, the odor was unbearable until I got rid of them.

IMHO the only odorfree hose over the long term is the white stuff -- expensive as it is -- it should last forever.

[GBurton]

Nah...come on ....really? You have the wrong size hose. Sheesh, what next.

Originally Posted by tdw

Hmm.....Womboat has a Lavac, which is basically irrelevent to this thread but if I don't say it SD will undoubtedly wanto know.

OK, pump not well. Henderson MK thingymebob, again irrelevent.

Ripped it out, went to install new one, figured I might as well redo all the hoses as well.

Got some of that you beaut no smell toilet hose but for the love of me I cannot convince the stuff to go onto the fittings. I've heated it, I've coated it in vasoline, I've cajoled, I've cursed, I've had a beer or ten while I sat and pondered. Yes it is the correct size.

Anyone ??????

Help...he whimpered quietly.

[tdw]

Interestingly enough odour had never been a problem until the pop off valve and pump ran out of life expectancy. I put that down to it being a Lavac. They are simply wonderful. Anytime in the future I buy a boat if it doesn't have one it will very soon after get the keys.

New hose is definitely correct size.

It does appear to be the ribbing that's the problem. I've taken the pump/pop off valve and hoses into workshop at work and will attack on dry land tomorrow. Judicious use of hot water and brute force. We'll see what happens. Don't have a heat gun but that will come next if necessary.

[midnightsailor]

I have done many head installations and you are getting good advice. First, make sure you have the correct hose fittings. They sell specifically made sanitary hose fittings that are slightly smaller in diameter, they are smooth, without the ribs, as previously pointed out. If you can only find the regular ribbed fis , you can grind off the ribs and get them to fit. Second, use heat on the hose, hot boiling water will work but it can be hard to keep the water hot enough for a long enough time, I prefer judicious use of a heat gun, just be careful not to over heat them. Third,liquid soap is a good lubricant to use , any excess eventually will wash away, it also gets sticky when it dries, unlike lubricants such as silicone which will remain slippery. Be sure to double clamp all your connections. Also, when twisting the hose on, be sure to twist in the opposite direction of the coiling so as to help expand the hose as it goes on. If you notice , twisting on in one direction will seem to be harder, tighter, than the other. I believe twisting the hose on in a counterclockwise direction is the way to do it. Hope this helps.

[werebeagle]

But since Fuzzy's down under, would that mean he needs to twist clockwise?

[sailingdog]

LOL bad beagle...

Originally Posted by werebeagle

But since Fuzzy's down under, would that mean he needs to twist clockwise?

[TaylorC]

I've had bad luck trying to get the PVC based hose to fit, sometimes I can get it to go on with the hot water and soap trick, but mostly I can't. Once I ended up with a cut in the hose from twisting it hard.

Sealand has their Odor Safe hose, it is very expensive (as are all 1.5" san hoses), and they seem to have convinced many people that PVC is the way to go, and that Sealand's is somehow better.

Meanwhile, Trident has a couple of PVC sanitary hoses (#140 and #148), but their premium stuff is still rubber with a wire helix and it has a five year warranty for runner vs a three year warranty for PCV..

So maybe Sealand's Odor Safe is better, but I don't think so. If you shop hard you can find #101 (and more rarely #102, which is white) for less. The bonus is that the rubber hose is much more forgiving when it comes to getting it installed on old barbed fittings. At least it was for me.

Trident's page:
Trident Marine: Sanitation Hose

Best price I could find: 4.62/ft for 101 - 102 is slightly more.

http://www.shipstore.net/SS/HTML/TRC/TRC1011126.html