Adding ice to the holding tank...

[Hudson Force]

I like this plan that I've kept for many years:



This diagram is simplified and some of the levels are not accurate.

[Ocean Girl]

Hmm, so the macerator would replace the manual diaphragm pump to empty holding tank overboard..? Offshore of course.

Why the heck am I just now hearing about this? Is sounds awesome, well as awesome as pumping crap into blue water can get that is.

What are the drawbacks?
E

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

What are the drawbacks?
E

My boat is the same basically as Captn Force.

The downside is there are less floaters behind the boat when emptying the tank and people can not tell you did it as well.

[Hudson Force]

Many don't seem to realize that when the deck plate is closed the vacuum pulls the contents of the holding tank to the macerator and when the macerator is off the vacuum allows the pump out from the deck. There's no Y-valve to lock for compliance with this system , but I lock the cabinet to the through hull and I have the handle to the seacock removed.

[jr_spyder]

I replaced all the plumbing on my two holding tanks last year as the old hoses had permeated and were always smelly. As part of this job I put in new 1" vent lines with open thru hull fittings (no screens). Now during a pump-out I can simply put the cut off end of a garden hose down the vent and give each tank a good flush. The evidence can easily be seen in the pump-out hose viewer. One important lesson we learned is only run the garden hose while there is suction on the pump-out deck fitting - otherwise the water you're putting in comes shooting back out the vent around the garden hose, and it isn't pretty!

JR

[hellosailor]

So Don, why use a pricey macerator where you only need a pump? Got a two-fer special at macerators-r-us ?

[jgbrown]

Originally Posted by CaptForce

Many don't seem to realize that when the deck plate is closed the vacuum pulls the contents of the holding tank to the macerator and when the macerator is off the vacuum allows the pump out from the deck. There's no Y-valve to lock for compliance with this system , but I lock the cabinet to the through hull and I have the handle to the seacock removed.

We often use key switches for the pump. Can't pump without inserting key and turning. Works a treat.

[Kijit]

We have the same set up as CaptForce. Works great and we just lock the handle of the thru hull.

Gerhard

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

So Don, why use a pricey macerator where you only need a pump? Got a two-fer special at macerators-r-us ?

Boat came with the macerator pumps, plus it pumps twice as fast.

I just looked up on Defender and the macerators are less expensive than a waste diaphragm pump.