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Help! No waste holding system. Starting from scratch.

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2019 9:35 pm
by info4all
Hello everyone,

My 32' Marinette Sedan from '76 has a macerator toilet installed but that goes directly out the hull. To be compliant we bought a portable camping toilet last season but I want to be able to enjoy my boat a bit more this season which will require me to get a holding tank installed. I have gone through the few posts that are already on this forum and I think I know what tank to get as well as the external level sensor (thanks Craig and Bill) but since this a fresh install I don't have the vents or pump out locations on my boat and I need some advice.

So lets start from the beginning. Before now, I have never owned a boat with a bathroom. Can I keep this current toilet and have it feed into the tank? I'm not sure the model but if it needs something special I'm going to assume it doesn't have it. (I plan to use this tank as Craig suggested: https://www.tank-depot.com/productdetai ... rt=RH-B233)

How does the physics work? Do I need to make sure the tank is down hill from toilet or do I need to add a pump? Is there anything other than a hose and possibly adapters between the toilet and the tank?

Is there a specific type of hose that lasts longer than another? Does anyone use PVC? Pros/Cons?

I saw the carbon filter design for the vent. I assume those are cheaper to build than buy?

What stuff do I use at the pump out and vent locations and where should I put this stuff?

Am I wasting everyone's time? Is there a company like westmarine that I should call, explain my situation and just get everything from them?

Last but not least, once I get everything in, I plan on doing the install over a 2-4 day time period where I will be gutting the captain's quarters (because it needs remodeled) and installing this system. I will live on the boat pretty much until it is done (because it is on the water 2 hours south of my house). Does that sound like a reasonable amount of time to complete the install from scratch? (assuming my mechanical skills are up to par and I'm not missing any parts.) I have a full compliment of tools for the boat but is there anything in particular that I will need that I might not be think of?

Thanks everyone,

David

Re: Help! No waste holding system. Starting from scratch.

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2019 10:06 pm
by CaptainOpus
https://www.boatersland.com/rarseaera.html Saves about 33% off of msrp. Check out Raritan.com for info and start reading. The setup in the link uses water from the lake to flush. Add the holding tank, some wiring, a thru hull for water pick up and you are half way done. Get the biggest holding tank you can fit, it helps.Hole saws help. The holding tank requires a vent hose and fitting. The pump out requires some hose and a topside fitting. https://www.westmarine.com/buy/perko--w ... ecordNum=6 Double check and measure the locations before any drilling.
Typically the toilet picks up water thru hull just outside the head in the bilge. Add a ball valve to feed the toilet water inlet.The discharge of the toilet goes to the holding tank. The vent for the holding tank goes to a fitting well above the waterline in the v-berth area close to the holding tank. The pump-out hose is routed up the wall, behind the wall board, to the pump-out fitting. This is just a kind of outline of what I have seen in several 32's. Always read and reread the info that comes with the parts.The more hose and valves you source locally usually is easier to get at a better value. Good luck!

Re: Help! No waste holding system. Starting from scratch.

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2019 10:08 pm
by CaptainOpus

Re: Help! No waste holding system. Starting from scratch.

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2019 10:12 pm
by CaptainOpus
Pump Type: I:Integral Pump
Discharge: :Includes Straight & 90 Deg
Voltage: 12:12 Volt
these are the specifics.

Re: Help! No waste holding system. Starting from scratch.

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2019 10:23 pm
by CaptainOpus
Sorry for being so rambling, been a long day

Re: Help! No waste holding system. Starting from scratch.

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2019 7:42 am
by ddependo
Good info from CaptainOpus. I would add to look at another 32 M to see where everything is placed. Don't think factory put a vent filter in but your boat neighbors would appreciate it. Easy to make one with pvc and carbon used for fish tank. After changing out santanary hose twice I went to solid pvc and no odor problem. "Measure twice cut once"
Wayne

Re: Help! No waste holding system. Starting from scratch.

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2019 8:25 am
by bcassedy
Dave,

You (probably?) have a thru hull pickup for your original system (there's just not a readily (if any) thru hull valve to close). So that part's done. In fact, you can, and should keep the existing "processing" system (macerator, toilet, pickup). What you're wanting to do is eliminate the direct overboard flushing. And that I can offer an option! :D I redid my system some years ago.
- your new waste tank should sit lower than the toilet to allow gravity/pressure (from macerator) flow.
- the use of the macerator will greatly assist with pumpout scenarios
- you shouldn't need any adapters between the macerator and the tank.
- you can, after careful measurements at the boat, pretty much build your tank at home for install at the boat.
- I found that fishing the 1 1/2" pumpout hose required:
1. attaching the pumpout fitting to the hose - without the clamps in place at the fitting.
a. Those had to be run from below up the hose and then snugged up**
** this ended up requiring the cutout of the bulkhead wall in the front berth to allow me to reach up and, using a 1/4" ratchet, tighten the
clamps (2) around the fitting that protruded under the deck.
2. fishing the whole pumpout hose assembly down the hole in the deck without the clamps (they get in the way) - see 1a. above.

You can see quite a bit of what I did here:

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=1097

Questions? Just ask.

Bill

Re: Help! No waste holding system. Starting from scratch.

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2019 8:43 pm
by jralbert
Adding a vote to keep that macerator; feed the "output" into the holding tank which you'll probably install under the forward berth. Then plumb the pumpout hose up to the deck fittings. The exception would be if you go for an electric composting head setup. I'm not shilling for any mfr but at one time, Raritan was very good in the customer service and info department.

Re: Help! No waste holding system. Starting from scratch.

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 3:45 am
by carl
BigM

Re: Help! No waste holding system. Starting from scratch.

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 8:47 pm
by info4all
First things first. Thank you everyone for your amazing feedback. Sorry for the late response but I don't get the opportunity to get on the computer and do fun stuff like this very often.

The previous owners installed the macerator toilet and it was of the type with the nice electronic controls. In the following pic you can see the electronic controls are under the sink.
https://ibb.co/fqfy1cH

They also tied into the fresh water system. Since I came from a camping background, and not a boating background, I thought this was normally until I started doing my own research. So it sounds like the beginning of the project is solid. So now I just have to plumb the toilet to the holding tank and I will follow Bill's guide for that. Thank you again bill for doing such a wonderful job of documenting your work. I wish I was as meticulous and thoughtful with my projects.

I will shop around for prices as suggested and try to keep everyone posted.