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Plumbing broken -- underway on delivery voyage

Discussion in 'Technical Discussion' started by niftyc, Jul 1, 2021.

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  1. mapism, Jul 5, 2021
    #41
    mapism

    mapism Senior Member

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    Well, you are missing something, by ruling out the whole Mediterranean.
    Glorious sunshine included, I can tell you that! :D
  2. Norseman, Jul 5, 2021
    #42
    Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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    I love the Med dearly, have been a frequent visitor in my younger days, but as far as sailing, I always headed East to the Bahamas, then South to the Exumas, or just South to the Florida Keys.
    Spent t00 much time working on boats on the North Sea, and the Norwegian Sea in the 70s, hence I always head South these days, lived in Caribbean and in Florida for over 25 years, thin blood, 25N is the limit.:cool:
  3. mapism, Jul 6, 2021
    #43
    mapism

    mapism Senior Member

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    Not arguing with the principle - I'm also a warm weather lover - but I just wouldn't set an absolute limit.
    I mean, I understand 25N in FL, also because it rules out Miami, which isn't one of my favourite US spots, to put it politely.
    But the southernmost part of the Med is around 30N, along the Lybian coast, and it can be unbearably hot.
    In fact, I'm close to 40N where I'm based, and any Med boaters would consider it a very warm southern location.
    I can also do without hurricanes, btw! :)
  4. niftyc, Jul 16, 2021
    #44
    niftyc

    niftyc New Member

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    Detroit, MI
    The end of this story: We completed the delivery voyage with only one working head. After our delivery voyage was completed with a little more time I managed to unblock all of the many independent clogs in every part of the waste system using warm water and enzymatic treatment over several days.

    The real hero to emerge out of this is Rodger who helped my delivery captain through the Welland Canal. Funny thing: My captain said that a stranger showed up and asked him "Is this the boat with the plumbing problem?" Which left him totally mystified -- who is this man and how could he possibly know that? Then Rodger said that he was from the forum.

    More plumbing notes now that I have sat with it a while:

    There is no discharge at all, and no sump. Everything goes in the black tank.

    I wonder if the small air vent is part of the problem, it is only 1/2" and if it were clogged with bird poop or something this wouldn't help. It is open to the sky and seems like a nice place for a bird to sit.

    There is a DIY-looking valve just aft of the forward head and I wonder if there were problems with odor. Seems like traps would prevent this problem but maybe there aren't any?

    Almost all of the plumbing is metal so I don't see myself tearing it out and starting over. I'm hoping I can baby it back to health. I still think there was some sort of backpressure scenario where all of the lines were filled with stuff. Perhaps combined with poor maintenance and no winterization.

    Thank you for all of these ideas and for helping me to talk this out.

    Here are some more photos as requested:

    https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FFnTUOlcVfzeRGsFQQFUUDMPc5xXhXZ4?usp=sharing
    mapism and TahoeJohn like this.
  5. Capt J, Jul 16, 2021
    #45
    Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    Yes, the tiny vent could be the problem. I would put an elbow on it so it isn't open to the sky and the opening ponts downward. Or even just plumb and run a second vent completely. I would find a way to split the grey from the black water. Pumping out a huge black water tank at many marina's is going to be a huge, time consuming hassle. Perhaps, if it's steel you could simply cut the tank top open and weld a wall in the middle or 1/3,2/3 of the tank and make that existing tank into 2 seperate tanks (grey and a black). Have the grey pump itself out automatically like every other yacht.

    I will repeat this again. Steel pipes used for water drains (and sewage etc) grow burrs on the inside when they are used for shower drains and such where they sit not completely full of water. Very easy for hair, soap, etc. to catch on the burrs and create a clog.
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