Hello TF Gurus. We just purchased a 2005 Mainship 34 T last week.
I had a local expert over this morning to discuss replacing the Jabsco toilet with a VacuFlush. Has anyone with a similar vintage MS 34 replace their Jabsco with a VacuFlush? Hi Bacchus, We’re you able to remove or replace the 1” exit hose from the tank to the holding tank?
The Marine Elegance has way fewer things to go wrong with it compared to a Vacuflush. It does not have the vacuum generator and the other parts to take up room in the boat. Sorry, no one will ever convince me that they are no more maintenance than a ME head. I have a friend that religiously maintained his VF head and had issues with it no matter what. On the other hand the ME I have owned had zero issues. And if it ever were to have issues, they were simple to fix. How many threads have you seen here about VF vacuum leaks and how to trace them down? Many more threads than how to fix the ME heads. I don’t recall one about ME repairs, maybe I missed them but I don’t remember any.
Dilly Dally
I reread your post and my reply and not sure I answered all of what you asked...
I did not replace and hose from toilet to holding tank if that was part of your question. I did pull my toilet this spring to rebuild it and had to cut off a section of discharge hose when reinstalling. Hose clamps had damaged the end of the hose so I needed to get to a new section for a good seal. I was able to pull enough hose as there was some slack but I did not attempt to completely remove & replace.
The new vent to the bow was fairly easy to push forward from the hatch in the fwd cabin sole. Removing the headboard panel provided visibility and room enough to install an additional thru hull and clamp the new vent.
I did use a straight thru hull per Peggie's recommendation to avoid plugging and to aid back flush if necessary.
Have spent 60 straight days aboard cruising and no issues.
__________________
Don
2008 MS 34 HT Trawler "Bacchus"
Hello TF Gurus. We just purchased a 2005 Mainship 34 T last week.
I had a local expert over this morning to discuss replacing the Jabsco toilet with a VacuFlush. Has anyone with a similar vintage MS 34 replace their Jabsco with a VacuFlush?
We had a VacuFlush in our previous boat, a Jabsco electric in this one. The VacuFlush was OK, although it'd would wake the dead at 0300 or so... In any case, I prefer the electric.
Which Jabsco do you have? Quiet Flush, or not? Manual or electric? Fresh water or salt?
Why do you want to change?
Quote:
Originally Posted by catalinajack
Meanwhile Marine Elegance toilets are pretty much flush and forget and when, in say 10 years, something does go wrong a simple swap of the innards at the back of the bowl has you up and pooping in about in hour, good for another 10 years.
The Marine Elegance has way fewer things to go wrong with it compared to a Vacuflush. It does not have the vacuum generator and the other parts to take up room in the boat. Sorry, no one will ever convince me that they are no more maintenance than a ME head. I have a friend that religiously maintained his VF head and had issues with it no matter what. On the other hand the ME I have owned had zero issues. And if it ever were to have issues, they were simple to fix. How many threads have you seen here about VF vacuum leaks and how to trace them down? Many more threads than how to fix the ME heads. I don’t recall one about ME repairs, maybe I missed them but I don’t remember any.
And that, my friend, is exactly the point. My sense is the folks extolling Vacuflush toilets are Vacuflush owners who are stuck with a cranky, high maintenance system. And what amazes me is the fact that a Marine Elegance head isn't all that expensive given the ease of installation and the years of maintenance-free use.
Has anyone dealt with toilet odour on a Mainship 400 2004, does anyone know of the location of breather filter.
The toilet is a Sealand vacuflush system.
I need a bit more information/details. Are you experiencing odor INSIDE the boat, or out the tank vent the toilet is flushed. If inside the boat, where is the odor concentrated--from the bowl? All the time or only when the toilet is flushed? Or is the odor where the vacuum generator, all the hoses and the holding tank are (the bilge?)?
If odor is out the vent (what you called the "breather"), the holding tank--which is not a part of the VacuFlush system--is the source, not the VacuFlush system. Any filter will be in the vent line...there may or may not be one.
Or are you experiencing odor in more than one location?
The smell is seems to originate from both inside the boat from the bilge continuously and the vent when flushed.
The PO hardly used the head, i have already had to cut an access hatch to reinstate the holding tank gauge sender, the sender unit was loose.
One possibility is that it's not really head-related odor. Clean the bilge down to within an inch of its life, see if the odor goes away. And if there's a shower sump in there, clean that. And clean the P-traps on your head and galley sinks.
Another possibility is that maybe your head-related hoses have become permeated. Wipe hard with a hot, wet rag... then sniff. If it knocks you over, you might need new hoses.
The two most common sources of odor inside a boat are wet dirty bilge and permeated sanitation hoses. A wet dirty bilge can make a whole boat smell like a swamp or even a sewer....the cure is a real cleaning instead of just dumping some "miracle" bilge cleaner into it and calling it done. If your bilge(s) are dry, we can rule that one out. Odor from a sour shower sump is usually confined to the head because the odor escapes through the shower drain.
New hoses are the only cure for permeated sanitation hoses (Even a little waste left to sit in hoses can permeate 'em, and toilets that are rarely used are never rinsed after flushing, so it's a good bet that your hoses are the source of your odor.) Wet some clean rags in HOT water--as hot as you can handle...wring each out and wrap it around a section of hose...use a clean rag for each section. When rags have cooled, remove each one and smell it...if you can't smell anything on the rag, that section of hose hasn't permeated...but if you can, even faintly, that section has.
When it comes to replacement, sanitation hoses are NOT the place to go with the least expensive 'cuz cheap sanitation hoses permeate in a heartbeat. Raritan SaniFlex hose Raritan Saniflex Sanitation Hose has proven to be 100% odor permeation resistant and has the added advantage of being so flexible it can be bent like a hairpin without kinking, which makes installing a lot easier than most other hoses.
As for your odor out the vent, remove any vent line filter if there is one and replace the "vent" thru-hull with an open bulkhead or "mushroom" thru-hull...thoroughly flush out your holding tank (NOT to be confused with the vacuum tank in the VacuFlush) and start using No-Flex Digestor Noflex Digestor according to directions.
If you can, replace the sanitation hose with white PVC ridgid plastic pipe. Buy the DWV type PVC which is made for sanitation. There are all kinds of long sweep 90, 45, 22.5 degree bends in addition to couplings. Hose cuffs are available for hose connections.
Any hose, will eventually permeate odor. Hoses permeate because of it's composition to make it flexible.
Bellmouth pipes flow better with less debris hang-up than regular PVC with connectors. I don't know if it can be had in thick-walled pipe tho. The fewer bends and connections the better to keep clogging possibilities to a minimum. Long sweeping bends keep things moving better than tight 90-degree street style elbows. Think more along the lines of PVC conduit elbows.
This type.
Not this type.
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Also....an old electrician trick...you can bend PVC pipe into any shape needed, by heating with a propane torch or hot air gun. Then set it by cooling with a wet towel.
Those would work great. They're hard to find in my area without going to a plumbing supply house or ordering them.
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Originally Posted by greysailor
Also....an old electrician trick...you can bend PVC pipe into any shape needed, by heating with a propane torch or hot air gun. Then set it by cooling with a wet towel.
I use a $9 Harbor Freight gun. Sweeping 90's are to do without a jig and filling the pipe with BBs or sand.
__________________ This is my signature line. There are many like it but this one is mine.
When it comes to replacement, sanitation hoses are NOT the place to go with the least expensive 'cuz cheap sanitation hoses permeate in a heartbeat. Raritan SaniFlex hose Raritan Saniflex Sanitation Hose
Peggie, would you suggest the saniflex on the raw water intakes as well or will the Trident 148 suffice?
Try closing the raw water in take and flush with fresh water from a gallon jug or the shower head if it reaches. If that makes a difference plumb the head to fresh water with a back flow preventer or from a separate tank. Used the shower on my old trawler and solved issue. Simple solution