Toilet Humor

[redline]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Actually, peeing in a bucket and dumping it overboard is illegal, because a bucket is considered a marine sanitation device if it is used to hold human waste.

Perhaps the cop who told me that fastening made the difference was wrong. It made sense at the time; easier to regulate based on what something IS rather that what you DO with it. If peeing in a bucket makes it an MSD, would never having peed in a marine head make it NOT an MSD? "use"
Worse yet, by the latter logic, back when my daughter was 2, she apparently turned the aft berth into an MSD... I don't think so.

[redline]

Not to hijack this thread, but rather than start another so closely aligned...

Our 1998 Jeanneau SO45.2 has two 50-gal holding tanks, one under the aft port berth, anothe under the forward berth. They are plumbed for dual outlets; a deck pumpout and (decommissioned) overboard offshore discharge, so the tanks each have one inlet, one vent, and two outlets. The heads always flush into the tanks, and each has a Whale diaphragm pump (currently missing several 4' sections of hose) to discharge 'overboard.

Last summer I noticed a blue stain in the bilge coming from the aft tank and tracked it down to a quantity of pinholes in the lowest forward-inboard corner. Attempts by a local shop to weld the pinholes did not go well; they kept burning through the thin metal. As I was in mid-cruise, we coated the affected part of the tank with JBWeld and reinstalled it. So far so good, but... this time were were lucky in that I discovered the leak a few miles from a good shop.

I am wondering... how long the epoxy will hold out. How long the rest of the tank will hold out. How long the forward tank will hold out.

I wrote Jeanneau America asking how long stainless holding tanks normally last, and was told that given the varied use, they can't say. Likewise, I can't say whether it was the PO's first 5 years that started the process, or something we've done since we've owned the boat - though for us it's the "guest head" and generally gets less use than the fwd one.

Part of me just wants to never deal with a sewage-in-bilge affair again (this "blue stain" was nothing, I've had a few experiences I prefer not to recount, ever), and simply replace both tanks, especially before taking the boat south in two years.

Because of the odd shape, dropping in the OEM original tank would be the simplest approach, though surely the most expensive (about USD 880 PLUS TBD shipping from France).

I plan to ask for local quotes to either replace the tank, or if practical, weld on a new bottom (keeping the complicated plumbing in the top half).

A plastic tank might be an option, though I had that on my previous C&C... and until recently thought stainless was superior.

All of this to say - comments, ideas? Stick with stainless, or not? Anyone know a good tank fabricator in upstate VT/NY?

[eolon]

Yep - It turns out that Thetford changed the 465 MSD to comply with fixed MSD devices. so the 465 MSD has a hold down kit with pump-out fittings. The "regular" 465 is exactly the same, except no hold-down kit, and has a spout for pouring into a toilet.

My marina charges $7 to pump out - so a little over $1 a gallon - but oh, well - it's still better than carrying it around with me.

Best Regards,

e

.::.

[mitiempo]

redline
There is a reason corrosive liquids are most often shipped in plastic containers. Metal has no place as a holding tank material, whether stainless or aluminum. Change to good plastic tanks and end your problems for a decade or two. Preferably thick plastic. Effluent is way too corrosive for metal tanks as the builders that have used metal have found out.

[sailingdog]

You really don't want to make a holding tank out of metal. Urine is a rather corrosive liquid... and the best material for a holding tank is either fiberglass or plastic.

I'd point out that if you have one set of holes in the tank, it is pretty likely that other seams or areas of the tank are close to giving way...so replacing the tanks ASAP is a good idea.

For fuel, stainless might be better than plastic, since it won't permeate...but for waste tanks, plastic and fiberglass are the best.

Originally Posted by redline

Not to hijack this thread, but rather than start another so closely aligned...

Our 1998 Jeanneau SO45.2 has two 50-gal holding tanks, one under the aft port berth, anothe under the forward berth. They are plumbed for dual outlets; a deck pumpout and (decommissioned) overboard offshore discharge, so the tanks each have one inlet, one vent, and two outlets. The heads always flush into the tanks, and each has a Whale diaphragm pump (currently missing several 4' sections of hose) to discharge 'overboard.

Last summer I noticed a blue stain in the bilge coming from the aft tank and tracked it down to a quantity of pinholes in the lowest forward-inboard corner. Attempts by a local shop to weld the pinholes did not go well; they kept burning through the thin metal. As I was in mid-cruise, we coated the affected part of the tank with JBWeld and reinstalled it. So far so good, but... this time were were lucky in that I discovered the leak a few miles from a good shop.

I am wondering... how long the epoxy will hold out. How long the rest of the tank will hold out. How long the forward tank will hold out.

I wrote Jeanneau America asking how long stainless holding tanks normally last, and was told that given the varied use, they can't say. Likewise, I can't say whether it was the PO's first 5 years that started the process, or something we've done since we've owned the boat - though for us it's the "guest head" and generally gets less use than the fwd one.

Part of me just wants to never deal with a sewage-in-bilge affair again (this "blue stain" was nothing, I've had a few experiences I prefer not to recount, ever), and simply replace both tanks, especially before taking the boat south in two years.

Because of the odd shape, dropping in the OEM original tank would be the simplest approach, though surely the most expensive (about USD 880 PLUS TBD shipping from France).

I plan to ask for local quotes to either replace the tank, or if practical, weld on a new bottom (keeping the complicated plumbing in the top half).

A plastic tank might be an option, though I had that on my previous C&C... and until recently thought stainless was superior.

All of this to say - comments, ideas? Stick with stainless, or not? Anyone know a good tank fabricator in upstate VT/NY?