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Clogged Sanitation Hose
posted 08-03-2019 by Terry Cox
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Aft electric toilet will not send the bowl contents to the tank. Disconnected the hose from the toilet to determine whether the joker valve (boat document says our model has a flapper valve) was blocked. Clear! Connected a city water hose to the toilet discharge hose to see whether water pressure would break through the clog. Nope! Disconnected the hose from the tank to see whether the clog was at the tank connection. Nope!
So, what I seem have is a sanitation hose that has some sort of a blockage; likely calcium build-up. My plan is to run a small plumber snake through the hose to see whether I can break it up. Began from the toilet end and the snake came up against a hard block right at the lowest part in the hose, which is next to the galley sink through hull valve. Worked for about an hour to break through. Nope zip nada.
Then I tried from the tank end. Again, nope zip nada. My next step is to use a Marine San Un-chloric Acid product made in Seattle, which is very similar to Sew Clean, only this is a powder that you mix with water. It is supposed to remain in the hose for 24 hours, enough time to dissolve the mineral deposit.
Went to the boat Monday and poured about one half quart total of the non-chloric stuff into both ends of the hose. You could tell right away that this stuff went to work. Lots of brown bubbling and some smell emitted. I let it work for about 22 hours. Grr. This so called un-chloric acid stuff has been stewing in both ends of the sanitation hose for two weeks. This last and fourth application was double the concentration. Did not work.
Just pulled the plug (no pun intended) on some new Raritan sanitation hose for the Defender sale price of $8.70/ft. to replace the original 1991 Lawrence hose that has a mineral deposit clog in it that would not dissolve with this non-chloric acid stuff
Went to the boat yesterday to replace the old clogged sanitation hose with the new Raritan stuff. Used a one inch plastic butt barb fitting between the old and new hose at the toilet end then wrapped them together with one inch black electrician tape. Placed a plug in each end of the old hose to prevent any pooh from escaping. Skipper pushed from the toilet end while a helper pulled from the tank end. Used plenty of liquid soap on the new hose to help it slide through.
When I originally measured the distance using a tape measure, it seemed like fifteen feet would be ample to do the job. Hard to say since most of the hose route is enclosed, buried in the bowels of the stringers and limber holes. To be on the safe side I added another foot to my order. After all is said and done, there was eight inches left of new scrap. That was close.
Hooked everything back together, poured two gallons of fresh water into the aft toilet and pressed the flush button. Well what do you know, boom, it emptied the bowl contents just like that.
Crusty mineral deposits from years of use. Combination of sea water flushing and human waste, some of which never made it into the holding tank at the end of a cruise would remain at a low point in the hose until the system became active with the next cruise. I place a lot of blame on the PO. Ive been very diligent about flushing fresh water through both toilets at the end of each cruise. But it is what it is. New hose works great.
So, what I seem have is a sanitation hose that has some sort of a blockage; likely calcium build-up. My plan is to run a small plumber snake through the hose to see whether I can break it up. Began from the toilet end and the snake came up against a hard block right at the lowest part in the hose, which is next to the galley sink through hull valve. Worked for about an hour to break through. Nope zip nada.
Then I tried from the tank end. Again, nope zip nada. My next step is to use a Marine San Un-chloric Acid product made in Seattle, which is very similar to Sew Clean, only this is a powder that you mix with water. It is supposed to remain in the hose for 24 hours, enough time to dissolve the mineral deposit.
Went to the boat Monday and poured about one half quart total of the non-chloric stuff into both ends of the hose. You could tell right away that this stuff went to work. Lots of brown bubbling and some smell emitted. I let it work for about 22 hours. Grr. This so called un-chloric acid stuff has been stewing in both ends of the sanitation hose for two weeks. This last and fourth application was double the concentration. Did not work.
Just pulled the plug (no pun intended) on some new Raritan sanitation hose for the Defender sale price of $8.70/ft. to replace the original 1991 Lawrence hose that has a mineral deposit clog in it that would not dissolve with this non-chloric acid stuff
Went to the boat yesterday to replace the old clogged sanitation hose with the new Raritan stuff. Used a one inch plastic butt barb fitting between the old and new hose at the toilet end then wrapped them together with one inch black electrician tape. Placed a plug in each end of the old hose to prevent any pooh from escaping. Skipper pushed from the toilet end while a helper pulled from the tank end. Used plenty of liquid soap on the new hose to help it slide through.
When I originally measured the distance using a tape measure, it seemed like fifteen feet would be ample to do the job. Hard to say since most of the hose route is enclosed, buried in the bowels of the stringers and limber holes. To be on the safe side I added another foot to my order. After all is said and done, there was eight inches left of new scrap. That was close.
Hooked everything back together, poured two gallons of fresh water into the aft toilet and pressed the flush button. Well what do you know, boom, it emptied the bowl contents just like that.
Crusty mineral deposits from years of use. Combination of sea water flushing and human waste, some of which never made it into the holding tank at the end of a cruise would remain at a low point in the hose until the system became active with the next cruise. I place a lot of blame on the PO. Ive been very diligent about flushing fresh water through both toilets at the end of each cruise. But it is what it is. New hose works great.