248 Voyager with installed Porta Potty, holding tank and macerator. I have trouble getting the liquid to drain into the holding tank. The marina has not had much success in pumping out the tank since it is not draining. I have checked the hoses for crimps etc and there are none. Since I am on a lake, the macerator is not an option. Any suggestions?
Porta Potty
- Thread starter Oldparatrooper
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I had a similar problem. My macerator would run for 20 seconds and trip the breaker. I replaced the macerator and the same thing. Turns out a mud dauber plugged up the vent line. Also clogged the drain from the instrument panel. I would check vents for sure.
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I had it happen to me on a Gulfstream - replaced the macerator with a brand new one and still no pumping. I took every hose apart and inspected and there were no issues. After trouble shooting every possible avenue came to the conclusion that I must have a faulty new macerator. Took it back to the dealer and they said they never heard of a new one being bad but gave me a second one to try out. Hooked it up and everything flowed perfectly
Do you have a SECOND holding tank, or do you mean the holding tank that is part of the porta-potty? Although I'm not familiar with your setup, typically a porta-potty uses it's own holding tank, while a "flushing" potty will have a separate holding tank. Can you verify this?
Aside from the accurate comments of clogs in one of the lines/vent, there may be a Y-valve to divert the effluent between the pump-out fitting and the macerator. If it's in the macerator postion, pump-out won't work. If this is the case, and there is not a second holding tank, the reason the potty won't drain is because it's full and backed up... from the potty all the way to the seacock. This means you will need to pull the boat, put a bucket under the seacock and then open the seacock to drain the system.
In any case, a macerator (whether it's good/bad/clogged) shouldn't affect pumping out since it's effectively on a different "circuit" than the pump out circuit.
EDIT: Forgot to mention... check your manual - there's likely info in there about doing pump-outs vs overboard discharge, along with the various types of systems that were an option on your boat (for whatever model year you have).
Aside from the accurate comments of clogs in one of the lines/vent, there may be a Y-valve to divert the effluent between the pump-out fitting and the macerator. If it's in the macerator postion, pump-out won't work. If this is the case, and there is not a second holding tank, the reason the potty won't drain is because it's full and backed up... from the potty all the way to the seacock. This means you will need to pull the boat, put a bucket under the seacock and then open the seacock to drain the system.
In any case, a macerator (whether it's good/bad/clogged) shouldn't affect pumping out since it's effectively on a different "circuit" than the pump out circuit.
EDIT: Forgot to mention... check your manual - there's likely info in there about doing pump-outs vs overboard discharge, along with the various types of systems that were an option on your boat (for whatever model year you have).