Head discharge lines clogged with marine growth?

[Alan Wheeler]

That hard deposit on the inside of hoses is Calcium. Acid from Vinegar desolves Calcium. But you have to have enough acid to desolve all of it. So you need to have a high concentrate of the Vinegar. White Vinegar is best as it doesn't have the strong smell. Phosphoric Acid is another one to use.

[hellosailor]

"*I'm a stone's throw from Manhattan (NYC) - there is no swimming"
What, you didn't get your shots?!<G>

I wouldn't *want* to go swimming in the harbor, even if it is relatively clean now. I'd suggest either sailing down to Sandy Hook or up to Haverstraw and swimming there, or asking for a lunch haul someplace. Swimming, you can ream it out. But hauling overnight would let you ream it out then throw some bottom paint up there with a bottle brush.

Yeah, the intake/discharge hoses really need bottom paint in them if you're going to keep the valves open.

Muriatic might dissolve them...but it might eat into "boat parts" too. Easier to go swiming, or buy an hour from a diver with a dry suit. Any of the hull cleaning guys should be able to do that for you.

[ssullivan]

Results:

Aft head cleared. I tried a snake that has a rotating head that you attach to a power drill. It hung up somewhere before the clog and didn't do a thing. Next, I broke out the "Drain King" - a little jobby that expands in the hose to create a seal, then blasts garden hose pressure water down the pipe. It blew the obstruction out. I then dumped 50% water 50% HCl (Muratic Acid) down and let it bubble a bit to eat out more crud. I stuffed the "Drain King" back down and PRESTO! A fixed head.

The forward head is a bit more challenging. The "Drain King" didn't budge the obstruction. I dumped nearly full strength HCl down and it's happily foaming nasty brown bubbles everywhere. It's been in there for about 2 hours now. Hopefully, it will eat away the obstruction and not too much of my hose or seacock in the process. Once the water level drops in the hose, I'll stick the Drain King back in and try to blast whatever it is out of there.

Stay tuned... it's fun being covered in head goo... especially when puke was the last thing going down. Now if that's not the grossest thing I've read on here, I don't know what is!

[Tropic Cat]

It has my vote ....YUK

[Brent Swain]

When I had that problem I installed a 1 1/2 inch sch 40 stainless standpipe with a pipe union on top, to above the waterline. Now if it plugs, I can undo the union , and push a stick right thru it while still in the water.
A certain time of year jelly fish are just the right size to plug the intake . I put a bent welding rod in the intake until they grow a bit.
Brent

[rtbates]

It's times like this that make the old oak bucket seem like the way to go. Pun intended.

randy cape dory 25D

[GordMay]

Head Maintenance ~ by Don Casey
(Don Casey Tip # 8: http://www.boatus.com/howto/howto_lib.htm )

Saltwater and uric acid (don't ask!) produce calcium scale inside marine toilets and discharge hoses. Such deposits cause the toilet to get progressively harder to flush and can lead to total blockage. Avoid this unpleasantry by pouring a pint of white vinegar into the bowl once a month and pumping it slowly—a single stroke every 4 or 5 minutes—through the toilet. The mildly acidic vinegar dissolves fresh scale deposits.
To keep the pump operating smoothly, follow the vinegar with an ounce or two of mineral oil or a lubricant specifically formulated for marine toilets.

[ssullivan]

We do what Gord suggests all the time. We just have this new type of marine growth now in the north east USA around this area. I put one of those zinc "fish" in the water 3 days ago. It has about a 1" blanket of marine growth on it after only 3 days in the water! It never was like this before. Also, EVERY sea cock and all of our instruments are bogged down with this growth. Our galley sink just plugged yesterday. I got it out pretty quickly though.

These are different times... the ocean is behaving differently.

[Pblais]

I've noticed this year to be way more than ever befoe. The Jelly fish are more than double the size and the diver I use has to work hard each month to keep up (still charges the same). My hose was plenty old and we just re did it all only so I could sell the boat. It sure was stinky this year, but not any more! When the wet cloth smells, the hose needs to come out. You really can't cure stinky hose.

New boat has a Raritan Purasan MSD I system. Uses electric power, a big chlorine tablet and fresh water but we don't keep any waste on board. The jury is still out - but it does not smell.

[svHyLyte]

After replacing the seacocks and hoses on both our fwd and aft heads in the spring of '02, we have been using a product known as "Salt Away" in both heads. We keep a plastic bottle with a mix of Salt Away in both head compartments and after every use, a good dose is dumped into each head and pumped into the lines. (We figured out how many pumps were required to fill the hoses by first using food coloring in the heads and counting the pumps until we began to see it issue from the thru-hulls--10 pumps for the fwd head, 6 for the aft.) We also use a mix of Muriatic Acid and Water per the Lectra-San maintenance guide at intervals; and, a dose of head lubricant on the last Saturday of every month. With the foregoing, everything seems to work well and quite easily--at least thus far!

Cheers,

s/v HyLyte

[markpj23]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

I put one of those zinc "fish" in the water 3 days ago. It has about a 1" blanket of marine growth on it after only 3 days in the water! It never was like this before. Also, EVERY sea cock and all of our instruments are bogged down with this growth. Our galley sink just plugged yesterday. I got it out pretty quickly though.

These are different times... the ocean is behaving differently.

You realize, of course, that it's all Al Gore's fault don't you??!!

[Tropic Cat]

oh boy....

[ssullivan]

Damn Al Gore! ha ha ha. I know he's a "poser" when it come to environmental issues at his own home - read that a few weeks back, but how did he grow all this stuff on the bottom of my boat? Is it his secret hemp stash? lol

Okay... silly post, but I had to bite and find out why Al Gore is responsible for my marine growth issues.