Head - Hoses

[GaryHLucas]

Just a little information everyone may find useful. The reason that the sanitary hose is so hard to work with is that it has a nylon spiral reinforcement that is does not soften at the low temperature that softens the PVC of the hose. So the hose fittings must be exactly the right size for this hose. It also should be a fitting with at most a single barb on the end, not multi-barbed.

Another tidbit. NO ONE makes hose fittings from PVC. If you see a barbed fitting made from PVC you are looking at a fitting for the black poly tubing which is not inch sized like hose, it is nominally sized like threaded pipe. So it will NOT fit any hose properly.

[tdw]

Seems to me I have my answer and it is in the fact that the barbed fittings should not be there in the first place. Think I'll try grinding off the barbs.

Point taken re double clamping, though presently only the attachment to the skin fittings are double clamped. Not sure I see the need to double clamp fittings above water line but it can't hurt.

Thanks all for the advice.

[gc1111]

Just to note that dealing with this hose is such a common, miserable experience that West Marine is now selling a lubricant specially for this job!
My experience is that dish washing detergent or ordinary soap works just as well and is a lot cheaper.

[dohenyboy]

You can use my little tool I invented. I will do my best to describe it.

first assemble a hammer, hacksaw, a large pair of vise grips, a wooden bung like the type you would use to plug an errant thru hull (the bung should be the size you would use to plug up the sanitation hose) , and a nylon hose coupler the size of the hose. I see there is a Seafit part 357010, WM part 208041 which has a barb on it. I used a coupler that is smooth and that is what you should look for, but here at 1 am I did not find an example online. I bought mine at West Marine. Or you could take the part 357288 and file off the threads inside.

Take the nylon coupler in your hand. you will notice there is a flange in the middle of the coupler, that the two hoses being joined butt up against. You are going to cut all the way through the coupler just on one side of the flange. You will then have two pieces of nylon pipe, one with a flange and one without. Take the piece that still has the flange on it. Try to insert it into your sanitation hose. Its a tight fit, right?
take it and cut it lengthwise. You can now slip it in the hose with ease.
But not yet
First take your heat gun and heat the end of the hose really well, not enough to discolor it, take your time. then slip in the nylon halves, and push the bung in. Now hit the bung further into the hose with the hammer, until the gap between the nylon halves is about 3/16 to 1/4 inch on each side. At this point, the bung will not be fully within the hose; there will remain about 1/2 inch that you can clamp the vise grips with.
What you have now is a hose that is temporarily stretched out.

let this whole assembly sit for about 20 minutes. If you let it sit for less time, the stretch does not hold long enough
I recommend dish soap on the fittings where you will place the hose.
then, quickly, twist the bung out with the vise grips, pull out the nylon inserts, and you will have 15 seconds or so to twist that hose on before the hose closes up on you.

[sailingdog]

be aware that it is pretty easy to overstretch the hose, and doing so will pretty much insure that you have sewage leaks on your boat.

Originally Posted by dohenyboy

You can use my little tool I invented. I will do my best to describe it.

first assemble a hammer, hacksaw, a large pair of vise grips, a wooden bung like the type you would use to plug an errant thru hull (the bung should be the size you would use to plug up the sanitation hose) , and a nylon hose coupler the size of the hose. I see there is a Seafit part 357010, WM part 208041 which has a barb on it. I used a coupler that is smooth and that is what you should look for, but here at 1 am I did not find an example online. I bought mine at West Marine. Or you could take the part 357288 and file off the threads inside.

Take the nylon coupler in your hand. you will notice there is a flange in the middle of the coupler, that the two hoses being joined butt up against. You are going to cut all the way through the coupler just on one side of the flange. You will then have two pieces of nylon pipe, one with a flange and one without. Take the piece that still has the flange on it. Try to insert it into your sanitation hose. Its a tight fit, right?
take it and cut it lengthwise. You can now slip it in the hose with ease.
But not yet
First take your heat gun and heat the end of the hose really well, not enough to discolor it, take your time. then slip in the nylon halves, and push the bung in. Now hit the bung further into the hose with the hammer, until the gap between the nylon halves is about 3/16 to 1/4 inch on each side. At this point, the bung will not be fully within the hose; there will remain about 1/2 inch that you can clamp the vise grips with.
What you have now is a hose that is temporarily stretched out.

let this whole assembly sit for about 20 minutes. If you let it sit for less time, the stretch does not hold long enough
I recommend dish soap on the fittings where you will place the hose.
then, quickly, twist the bung out with the vise grips, pull out the nylon inserts, and you will have 15 seconds or so to twist that hose on before the hose closes up on you.

[tdw]

Well after all that, I took the hose, ran a bit of dowel inside said hose that was a near perfect fit but not tight, locked the whole thing into a well padded vice, put the fitting into the end and beat the crap out of it with a rubber mallet.

Job down.

Thank you all. We now return to our scheduled programme.

[Valiente]

I have used a vise and a through-hull tapered plug to "encourage" hose stretch.

You have to remember to lube the plug, however!

I have a Lavac as well. I scrubbed it out yesterday, just because it's such a great head I actually enjoy keeping it spotless...

[SteveInMD]

Well I guess I'm too late with this since the job is done, but for anyone else...

I purchased the WM hose lube. I figured I was paying way too much for soap but I would give it a try. It turn out to be much more like KY water based lube than soap. It worked really well. I would recommend WM lube (or KY) and a heat gun. That combo did the trick for me using the white hose, even on barbed fittings. Use enough heat on the hose to get it nice and soft, but not burned. Put the lube on the male fitting.

[tdw]

Originally Posted by Valiente

I have used a vise and a through-hull tapered plug to "encourage" hose stretch.

You have to remember to lube the plug, however!

I have a Lavac as well. I scrubbed it out yesterday, just because it's such a great head I actually enjoy keeping it spotless...

Yeah , they are good aren't they ? Not the most expensive item on a boat, yes the Lavac is twice the price of most other crappers, but that's still not a whole heap of buckazoids. Peace of mind.

Now look guys, this thread is starting to sound the intro to a porn video.

I'll hear no more of lubed plugs, do you understand ?

I don't know.

[sailingdog]

TDW-

I'm surprised you haven't gotten sailhog posting in here, with all the talk about lubed plugs...