This may or may not be of any help to you, depending on how much you
trailer.
I have the same problem, no marine or marina pump out stations. What we do
have though, is a lot of RV sanitary dumps in rest areas along the highways.
Since we trailer all the time, I thought, if the RVs can dump there, why not
me. I bought a 12 volt Sea-Land Diaphragm type (needs to make vacuum)
sanitary pump and the fittings to hook up to my pump out fitting in the
deck. Now I can just pull into any rest area or any other place that has an
RV dump and empty my tank, just like the RVs do. Built the thing into a
plastic tool box so everything can be rolled up and put inside it again once
it is rinsed off. Then I can store it in the lazerrette or under the seats
until I need it again. It will work as a bilge pump too, if I need it . Got
the pump at West Marine.
When I am lucky enough to hit a marina with pump out facilities, it is just
a simple matter of just using their pump instead of mine.
By the way, my boat doesn't even have a through hull for discharging the
sanitary waste to the water, only the pump out fitting in the deck.
Rik
12 Apr 2002
I gave this some thought before I went ahead with it because this pump is
not all that cheap. I have had the opportunity to try it out while doing
last fall's winterizing. I found it works about the same as the pump at
Light House Landing (KY Lake), which is the only marina's pump out
facilities I have ever used.
I got the tool box at Fleet Supply, one of the local farm supply stores.
It's not too special other than I wanted plastic, I set the top tray that
came with it aside for use elsewhere. The outside dimensions of the tool
box are approximately 20" long x 10" wide, 6 1/2 inches deep, lid open and
9 1/2 inches tall, lid closed. Think I paid $9.99 for it. This one happens
to be a Master Mechanic brand.
The pump is a Sea-Land t-series discharge pump - 12 Vdc, sealand p/n
317301200. I got this from West Marine, WM model # 410878. price $259.00
I was also able to get the hoses and fittings at the Fleet Supply store.
They are really irrigation fittings and I may have gone a little overboard
on the fittings, but I wanted to be able to stow as much of this stuff in
the box as possible when I wasn't using it, and not have to mess around
pushing hoses onto hose barbs and tightening clamps, etc.. All hose
connections other then the ones inside the box are quick disconnects.
All of the hoses for the suction side of the pump are 1 1/2 inch irrigation
suction hose as is the discharge side, up to the fitting where it exits the
box. I thought about bolting the pump to the bottom of the tool box, but I
decided that the suction hose was rigid enough to hold everything in place
by itself if I made the outlet and inlet holes the right height. I used a 1
1/2 inch hole saw to make the holes in the ends of the box and cut the 2
pieces of suction hose so that they just filled the distance between the
ends of the box, when installed on the pump. I then measured up to the
middle of the hoses and centered the holes in the end of the box at that
height. Both the suction hose and the entry and exit fittings are too big
overall to fit through the 1 1/2 in hole, but the hose barb end on the
fittings just fits through. So, when you push the fittings (outside) into
the hoses (inside) from the outside of the box, everything becomes captured
when the ends of the box are pinched between the end of the hose and the
flange on the fitting. When everything is stowed inside all you see is a
toolbox with a fitting sticking out of each end.
The pump is 12 volt, so I just got a cigarette lighter plug and enough wire
to reach to the 12 volt outlet in the cabin. The boats batteries can now
run the pump so I can use it no matter when it is needed for either
discharge of sanitary waste, or in the event of a problem, a bilge pump.
This would also work fine if one was out to sea and wanted to direct
discharge to the ocean, although I don't foresee that happening for me in
the near future.
If you want to know anything else, or if I wasn't clear enough about some
aspect of this project, feel free to ask any question that come to mind. If
everything didn't come through OK let me know.
Rik
13 Apr 2002
The original plan (back when we were buying the boat) was to put a through hull in that could
be threaded to accept a fitting and in turn a hose could be attached to for emptying at
land based sanitary facilities. Then, the macerator pump would have been located inside
the boat, like it normally would be. I think that the first problem with this was locating
a suitable through hull fitting that could be threaded to accept standard size plumbing
fittings. The second problem was, eventually you'd wear it out or damage it, and you don't
need that with a "below the waterline" through hull. Third, legality might have been an
issue. Didn't know how the authorities in different areas might react to a sanitary through
hull in fresh water, even if we could plug it from the outside. I think this system will
let us have the comforts and capacity of the marine head, with the versatility of a
porta-pottie and no through hull.
Rik
14 APR 2002
