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Sanitation Black water hose

Discussion in 'Technical Discussion' started by woolleybugger, Feb 13, 2010.

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  1. woolleybugger

    woolleybugger New Member

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    Location:
    Merimbula NSW Australia
    Has anyone had experience with sanitation hose breakdown. I am currently on a Broward 1998 vintage, PT aft cabin is getting bad sullage smell. All pipework is in tact with no leaks. I imagine that the sanitation lines for the PT & STB breathers on the sullage tank are original. The breather lines appear to be ok but can the odour permeate the sanitation hose after 12 years of life. The hose is marked "FFI premium flex hardwall sanitation hose 1011-1120 made in malaysia. "
    I have put my nose to the hose but cant smell any odour permeating. But i cannot trace all the hose as it dissappears. To replace these lines is to rip half the boat apart to access. I have eliminated most other things as far as i can see.
    In a lot of industries workers receive double time and a half pay when working with raw sewage. Somehow i dont think that will ever happen in the yachting industry.
    Thanks
    The sewer rat
  2. Beau

    Beau Senior Member

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  3. Henning

    Henning Senior Member

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    Replace it with Triton hose. It takes the longest to get permeated with stank.
  4. saltysenior

    saltysenior Senior Member

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    stuart,fl.
    been there --- done that

    my prayers are with you, and while doing the job,remember the third commandment ::(
  5. Brooke's Buddy

    Brooke's Buddy New Member

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    Do you have Vacuflush?? if so the vacuum pump would cycle often it their was a leak in the hose. Vacuflush heads discharge with 1 1/2inch hose and some others use 1inch. If your head is 1inch and you have a hose adaptor right at the head brought up to 1 1/2inch with a short length of 1inch you can move the adaptor right up to the tank and run 1inch all the way. Good luck with the repair.
  6. dennismc

    dennismc Senior Member

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    If the hoses smell bad, you can do a quick fix till you get around to doing the job...wrap the hoses in "Saran wrap" must be Saran, make sure it stcks well, heat gun helps...
  7. Henning

    Henning Senior Member

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    Interesting trick, how many wraps does it take? Sometimes I do a delivery and the boat just wreaks so bad it's nauseating to sleep onboard.
  8. dennismc

    dennismc Senior Member

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    Just a twice around does the job usually. It's a frustrating job, that Saran wrap just wants to stick to itself, if you can, put it on length wise, is easier.

    It worked for me till I replaced 5 hoses with NO sags....
  9. Beau

    Beau Senior Member

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    I wonder if cuts of shrink wrap and a heat gun would work, too? Myself, I can't even wrap a sandwich with that "clingy" saran wrap. Interesting that this would work since a lot of the hose would be behind bulkheads, etc and impossible to wrap.
  10. dennismc

    dennismc Senior Member

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    Well, you have to realize that it is impossible to wrap it all, if you get most of it, then you are at least helping the situation.
  11. Beau

    Beau Senior Member

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    Agreed! That smell is nauseating
  12. dennismc

    dennismc Senior Member

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    One other thing that can create the smell, is the location of the vent to any partially open portlites, and a full holding tank will aslo help to keep sewage in some of the lines. As the head Lady Peggy Hall says, flush holding tanks monthly, how many do that ???
  13. CR CRUISER

    CR CRUISER Member

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    Does the head use fresh or sea water to flush? There's no sewage on earth that smells as bad as stagnent sea water in the summer heat. I've converted many heads to fresh water flush to eliminate this problem.

    Is there standing water in the bowl after flushing? This water acts as a vapor barrier to stop sewage gas from coming back up the discharge hose from the holding tank. There may be a duckbill valve in the discharge outlet that is supposed to prevent the gasses from coming back but in most cases it is not a complete seal.
  14. dennismc

    dennismc Senior Member

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    Just pour a cup of fresh water from the tap after flushing and it neutralizes the salt water algae smell.
  15. saltysenior

    saltysenior Senior Member

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    before you tear up the boat and your hands and arms,i would clean out and flush the system w/ fresh water.....then i would figure out a way to temporary use fresh water to flush the heads....try this for a while,if it works, it will be well worth the effort......:)
  16. woolleybugger

    woolleybugger New Member

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    The solution of the stank

    Thanks all for the posts. On the hull the sullage breather outlet and the grey water discharge line are very close to each other. I noticed the stank in the cabin closet. I pulled it apart and found the grey water discharge line ( there is no grey water tank ) has a breather vent with a small spring loaded diaphram type valve ( the correct name i am unsure of) that supposedly allows easier drainage of grey water. During a sea trial i noticed this diaphram valve flapping up and down caused by a ventury effect at the discharge point approx 1 foot above the waterline. I have a feeling that the sullage smell was getting sucked up the grey water outlet line and emitting its stank into the cabin thru the faulty diaphram breather vent in the closet where the air conditioner unit air handler is also located, sucking up and blowing the smell thru the cabin.
    I have sealed off the grey water breather vent valve with no apparent effects to the discharge of grey water and the smell appears to have stopped. I have also purchased carbon activated sullage vent filters to eliminate the stench outside the hull and will eventually get around to replacing the sanitation breather lines also.