Best Head Hose

[sailorboy1]

Well the time has come to replace hoses on my head. I have the "standard" white type head hose, you know the stuff that wouldn't bend and you can not really get a fitting to go into it without a huge battle:

So what is considered the BEST sanitation hose!!!!!!!!!!! Far as I'm concerned given the importance, length of time the hose really lasts, nastiness of the job, price of the hose is NOT a consideration.

[accomplice]

I just replaced all my sanitation hose with Shields Poly X. The boat yard sold me on the lifetime warranty against odor permeation. Should I ever call upon the warranty, though, I'm sure it won't cover the labor.

[Robertkwfl]

Add a vote for Shields Poly X. It's pretty gutsy to offer a lifetime warranty against permeation. I used it on my installation 3 years ago and so far so good.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Robertkwfl

Add a vote for Shields Poly X. It's pretty gutsy to offer a lifetime warranty against permeation. I used it on my installation 3 years ago and so far so good.

ABS pipe, only hose is 6" connection at toilet and tank. Almost 20 years, no leaks, no odor.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

So what is considered the BEST sanitation hose!!!!!!!!!!!

PVC pipe. If you keep your boat so long that that needs replacement, then spring for another $20 worth and do it again.

Mark

[model 10]

Originally Posted by colemj

PVC pipe. If you keep your boat so long that that needs replacement, then spring for another $20 worth and do it again.

Mark

Oh no, it takes $50-60 worth of PVC/ABS fittings and you may get to return $30 worth after you get done. That or go to the plumbing store 10 times. If it clogs up with deposits, you will have a pattern for a new $20 set-up.
A super cool feature with a PVC plumbing job is you can glue short pieces of PVC hose into PVC fittings. It really streamlines the install.

[thinwater]

Poly-X is still fairly stiff, though not as much as the white hose. Fittings are easier, but some K-Y and rubber faced garden gloves make twisting it on easier. Very durable, very easy to clean.

For tight spots Raritan's brown hose is super easy to work with and has a better permeation record than the white hose, though it hasn't been on the market long enough to say past ~ 7 years. I recall during a 3-year test it was the only hose that was rated easy to remove; slid right off.

[Terra Nova]

The problem with PVC pipe is that every fitting and turn is a serious potential for a clog. Better to run one length of the thickest neoprene wet exhaust hose available.

[colemj]

Not sure I agree about the fitting part - the diameters do not reduce inside fittings. As for the bends, PVC can be either heated to bend, or one can use a series of 30* and 45* to make a bend. These elbows are all smooth on the inside - there are no "corners".

Done either way, there is no practical difference between bent PVC and bent hose.

Mark

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by colemj

...the diameters do not reduce inside fittings. As for the bends...
These elbows are all smooth on the inside - there are no "corners".

Done either way, there is no practical difference between bent PVC and bent hose...

BS. Every fitting creates a restriction for a clog to get started.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

BS. Every fitting creates a restriction for a clog to get started.

Ours do not. Common PVC fittings are full-flow fittings. The internal diameter of our PVC fittings is exactly the same as the pipe. When joined, there is a smooth transition with no restrictions. I think you will find this is true for all common PVC plumbing.

And again, PVC pipe can be heated and easily bent the same as hose.

Here is a 90* sweep bend that is full-flow, no restriction and no corner.

Mark

[IdoraKeeper]

+1 for PVC....don't get hosed Don! PVC pipe one time, no odors, no clogs...no problem.

[sailorboy1]

Well even though I said price wasn't an issue that Poly X stuff (I found a site that sold in by the inch)was just out of the world at over 100% that the Trident 101 hose that is well known. And even if the Poly X stuff does last forever it hasn't been around long enough to prove it.

So Trident 101 it is. Maybe some time in the future I will replace the pump out suction hose with the super Poly X stuff since it always has liquid it it. But the regular white hose has lasted 12 years!

I also in my research found a concern about PVC and glycol for my winter layup.

[a64pilot]

I've had a 5th wheel travel trailer for the last ten yrs or so, of course it has a holding tank almost identical to our boats, biggest difference that I can tell is they empty by gravity, and there are no hoses, all plumbing is ABS I believe.
The other difference, is you NEVER have a holding tank odor issue, never.
My 5th wheel flexes more than my boat and it's plumbing doesn't break apart. I have to believe the biggest reason hose is used in boating is it's always been that way, and boats are more likely a hand built, low production vehicle where things like plumbing aren't as well planned.
A great many travel trailers are winterized year after year with the same anti-freeze we use in boats.
Why is ABS used instead of PVC, is it cheaper?

[thinwater]

For rigid pipe guys: how do you get the joker valve out? In my case, for example, the hose goes straight back, through a bulkhead which it is caulked tight to (it is a flotaion bulkhead, so re-caulking the hose each time is silly). With hose I can swing the flange to the side, but how do you manage this with pipe? No room for a union, and yeah, the angle is odd.

I supose not many RVs have water tight bulkheads.