how does this macerator thing work?

[tgr23]

On our new 2004 Journey it has a macerator and I'm unfamiliar with how they work and how to winterize them. We've had portable heads on our past boats and were quite happy with those. I'm not really excited about trying to find a pump out service in my area. One thought was can I unplug this and go back to the portable.

Any and all advice on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Travis

 

[Rustygaff]

I just went through the same deal with our 255 Freedom. Our boat has the Jabsco toilet with the pump handle and the holding tank with the macerator. I did a bit of research and there is no good way to winterize those toilets short of disconnecting some of the components. The problem is clearing the hand pump and the hose that supplies water to the toilet of water.
I ended up flushing the system with fresh water (tank was empty of any sewage)and blowing it out onto my lawn through the macerator since my boat is trailered right now. Now that I had a clean, empty tank I dumped a gallon of RV AF into the toilet and flushing it into the holding tank which was later dumped through the macerator. . The only component left that could be holding fresh water would be the thru-hull intake line connected to the hand pump. I disconnected the hose from the hand pump and dumped some AF into the intake making sure it ran out the thru hull and left it disconnected. I have one of those "Fake a Lake" thru hull devices but I could not push AF into the intake because it is sitting on a trailer roller and inaccessible.
This may be overkill but I know there is no water in the system. Good luck.

 

[Fishtales]

Hi,
I only did it once, since then I have the dealer do it.
First you need to empty the holding tank. Then determine if fresh or raw water. Likely raw water, but check. Assuming so, connect a hose to the outside of the seacock. I used Duct Seal in the past to ensure a tight seal. Drop the hose in a gallon of pink antifreeze. Open the inlet seacock and pump the anti freeze through the pump and bowl and into the holding tank. Prob best to run 2 gallons through the system. Then, get a bucket, open the seacock for the discharge and run the antifreeze through the discharge line and into the bucket. Prob only need to pull about 2-3 cups of antifreeze through it. Shut down all seacocks, dispose of the antifreeze properly and save the bucket, duct seal and flexible hose for next year.

 

[jbrinch88]

That's exactly how we winterize them at my yard. Empty holding tank (we have a pumpout station), pull off the raw water hose that feeds the head on the pump handle assembly and run some antifreeze through it pumping it into the bowl. Pour some antifreeze through the other direction until it comes out the thru-hull. Now either fill the holding tank with some antifreeze by either pouring it into the bowl and flushing or pour some down the pump out deck fitting. Run the Macerator until you see antifreeze come out. Head system done.

Some boats have a selector valve you may have to switch from pumping out the waste from the deck fitting, or pumping it out with the macerator/thru-hull.

 

[tgr23]

I'd like to add an image of the system diagram out of the manual but I'm not sure how to do that. From what I can tell the portable head just has a small tank built into the head itself. I don't see anywhere fresh water runs through the system at all. Unless it's like the old head we had where you ring a hose onboard and fill it up a little. Maybe I can take the unit off the boat in the winter? I'll get back there and look at it closer next time out to the boat.

Man I'd love to just take this thing off. It's seems like way more trouble than it's worth. Has anyone ever done that?

Thanks for all the advice!
Travis

 

[DennisG01]

So you have a porta-potti with the upper half being your water tank - and then you push that little plunger down a few times to add water? On the back side, you should have a small (1"?) hose that goes to a vent. Then you'll have the larger (1-1/2") hose that goes either directly to the macerator, or possibly to something like a Y-valve that can be switched to allow the "stuff" to be either sucked out via a pump-out fitting above decks or switched to the macerator.

Either way, yes, you can plug it off. You may be able to find screw-on "caps" and then you can remove the small/large hoses and screw on the caps. Then close your seacock, remove the handle and the hose, and install plug instead of the pipe-hose barb. The line will still smell (and now they're open) so you'll have to do something with that. If you can't find caps, a new porta-potty is $100-ish bucks.

 

[tgr23]

That's exactly what I have!

Questions:
So I have the 1 1/2" hose that goes to a Y valve. If I switch the Y valve to the Macerator pump it looks like it just will end up going out the seacock. So this usage is only if I'm out far enough in the ocean that is legal to do that?

The other option is to the Deck Pump-Out cap. So in this instance the holding tank is the little tank on the port poti and it will only get emptied when we find a pump out station. In that instance they put a pump on the outside of the boat pump it out? This seems like a lot of work for such a small system.

Thanks

 

[DennisG01]

You are correct on all accounts... including the "lot's of work" account! :mrgreen: If you wanted to stick with the current system, but add a larger "holding tank" so you wouldn't have to pump out as often, you can get a new potti that has a 5 gallon bottom unit (holding tank part)... assuming your current one is the typical 2.5 gallon, that is. The fitting sizes should be standard, so the old hoses should screw right onto the new tank. BUT, make sure you get a new tank with the connections for hose (I believe they are usually the "MSD" version). A basic porta-potty is just that - a porta-potty with no connections for hoses on the back side.

On my Sea Ray, I fabbed up a way to do pump-outs at home, so I wouldn't be stuck only going to marinas. It was a 10,000lb rig, but I always trailered it - unless we were going for long weekends. But that had a Vacu-Flush system, which is different. Although, in the end, the same thing was accomplished.

 

[tgr23]

Ok that makes sense. Thank you so much for helping explain! Think I'll just continue with the policy of "get it done" on shore people!

 

[tgr23]

I finally had some time to poke around the boat today and found that the large hose and small hose the run directly off the head stop abruptly in the second empty deck compartment in the helm. This compartment is accessible via the deck access plate. It's weird. Almost like they were never plumbed through to the pump out port. Is this possible?

On another note. If I pull the big access plate what silicon do I use to put it back down with? Specifically what color? Should I get this from Grady?

Thanks!
Travis

 

[DennisG01]

Travis, did you physically verify that the hoses are not run all the way to the deck fittings? Or are you assuming based on a limited angle of viewing (maybe the hoses go through holes in a wall)? It would be REALLY odd for those hoses to just stop there - in essence, it would mean that someone cut the hoses. If you're not 100% sure, and before you do anything else, try blowing compressed air into the deck fittings - the air should end up at the potty-end of the hoses if they're intact.

Do you not have a snap-out or screw-out access plate in the area you're talking about?

 

[tgr23]

I will confirm next time I'm on the boat, but I'm 90% sure they were capped off where they ended. I'll see what happens at the deck fitting.

It's a snap out plate.

 

[DennisG01]

If someone cut the vent and pump-out line and capped them... well... that's just a ridiculous thing to do. That basically means you can't use the toilet. You can't use it as a pump-out, nor can you use it as a regular porta-potti since you can't remove the bottom half of the potti from the boat. If they would have capped the fittings on the back side of the toilet, that would have made sense. But from what you're saying, it sounds very strange. I hope it turns out differently than what you think you're seeing. But regardless, you can still try and find a cap kit for the toilet's fittings, or just get a new one.

 

[tgr23]

I will update the thread when I can confirm what's going on.
Travis