Replacing Holding
Tank Hoses
I have a '96 (?) 320, (#445) and put in a Raritan PH-II
head. Actually went in fairly easily. My biggest concern was removing the old
head, without dribbling bad stuff around. I left the old exhaust hose attached
at the head, and removed the tank end. Using a cutting wheel/Dremel tool got thru the wire reinforced hose fairly
easily, which then made it easy to remove from the tank fitting. Stuffed
newspaper and plastic into the open hose end, and then covered the end with
plastic and some duct tape. Also stuffed some plastic into the open tank inlet..never smelled or saw any
bad stuff. Unbolted the old head, carefully removed it and the attached hose,
and placed it into two, heavy duty garbage bags. Dragged up, and heaved over
the side, for two points into the garbage pail. I filled the old Jabsco mounting holes with white Marine Tex. First time I
used the stuff, and I'm not in the craftsman category, so there are two small, noticeable
dimples where the old holes are. More effort would make it look better...I'll
need to work on that. So much for the removal.
I spent a good bit of time placing the new head. Required much test sitting, measuring, and analysis.
Fortunately, it provided a good place to sit and read the instructions. Also
note that the exhaust hose fitting needed to be rotated 90 degrees....easily
done on the
Put in place the new exhaust hose, Trident Super Premium
(#102) white sanitation hose, through the bulkhead hole, and then attached the
head end. Moved the head into place, lining up the holes.
The toughest holes were in the back, with the one under the exhaust fitting the
toughest. Used 3M 4200 around the bolts/washers, and installed the head.
Note that I removed the hose that came on the head from the
flush water pump outlet to the bowl inlet, and used the vented loop hoses for
that segment. Also needed a new hose from the raw water
strainer to the raw water inlet on the head pump. That's a bit
different, as the water inlet for the Jabsco is in
the rear (as I remember) of the unit, and on the
Finally cut the appropriate length on the tank end of the
hose (used a hacksaw), put a bit of Ivory soap on the fitting, and on to the
tank it went (remembering to remove the plastic stuffing first). Still have to do
the hose support mounts on the two wooden cross pieces that sort of hold the
tank in position. And of course, need to test it, end-to-end, once the boat launches.
dave
"Wind Chill"
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When I bought the boat last fall it had a 'distinctive' odor, so one task last winter was pulling the entire black-water system and replacing the hoses. Let's see what I can remember:
- The discharge of the holding tank is slightly above the bottom of the tank. So even when you've sucked the tank empty there is probably still some stuff in it.
- Easiest way to get rid of the current hoses was to cut them in sections and remove them in pieces. They're wire-reinforced. Working in tight spaces I found it easiest to cut them with a knife, and then use a cutoff wheel in a Dremel for the wire.
- There is adequate room to remove/replace the tank.
- The most difficult section of hose to replace was to the pumpout fitting. To do that I had to remove the medicine cabinet, the fiddle around the shelf, the light, the trim under the light, etc. There is a nasty little s-turn the hose needs to make right at the pumpout fitting. My solution to connect the new hose was to remove the fitting from the deck, push the new hose up through the deck, secure the fitting, and then push the whole assemble back down and rebed.
- I used AVS96 as the replacement hose. Don't believe it is available in this country any more. It was a bit stiffer than the original and I couldn't readily make it bend in the run from the head to the tank. I wound up placing a 90-degree elbow in this run. Didn't want to do that, but figured that since there was already a 90-degree turn to go from the
host to the tank, an additional one wouldn't hurt. So far no problems at all with this choice.
(Best hose now according to Peggie Hall is Trident 101/102.)
- A little judiciously applied heat from a heat gun made getting the hose on fittings easy as pie.
- After pulling the whole system I *still* had a little smell. Scrubbing the holding tank area didn't seem to help. Gave it a washdown with some cheap enzyme-based urine remover from the local pet store. (Another Peggie Hall suggestion.) Worked like a charm - no more odor.
All this was well worth the effort. Nice to have a boat that just smells like a boat.
Dave Anderer
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I believe I purchased 13 ft of 1 1/2' hose and I had a a foot or two left over.
That said I would remove the cabinet in the head (4 screws) and the
cover above the cabinet ( 4 screws if it is the same as my hull #88). With
these open and the cover off the holding tank area. you can measure the hose
lengths and get a more accurate #. Other than that I flushed the tank a few
times to make things a little cleaner to work with and used a heat gun on
low setting (a hair drier or hot water may have the same effect) and a little
dish soap and it went fairly smoothly no pun intended,
Darrell
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It's a '96 (?) 320, (#445). Actually went in fairly easily. My biggest
concern was removing the old head, without dribbling bad stuff around.
I left the old exhaust hose attached at the head, and removed the tank
end. Using a cutting wheel/Dremel tool got thru the wire reinforced
hose fairly easily, which then made it easy to remove from the tank
fitting. Stuffed newspaper and plastic into the open hose end, and then
covered the end with plastic and some duct tape. Also stuffed some plastic
into the open tank inlet..never smelled or saw any bad stuff.
Unbolted the old head, carefully removed it and the attached hose, and placed
it into two, heavy duty garbage bags. Dragged up, and heaved
over the side, for two points into the garbage pail. I filled the old
Jabsco mounting holes with white Marine Tex. First time I used the
stuff, and I'm not in the craftsman category, so there are two small,
noticeable dimples where the old holes are. More effort would make it
look better...I'll need to work on that. So much for the removal.
I spent a good bit of time placing the new head. Required much test
sitting, measuring, and analysis. Fortunately, it provided a good place
to sit and read the instructions. Also note that the exhaust hose fitting
needed to be rotated 90 degrees....easily done on the Raritan.
Then marked the six mounting hole locations and carefully drilled.
Put in place the new exhaust hose, Trident Super Premium (#102) white
sanitation hose, through the bulkhead hole, and then attached the head
end. Moved the head into place, lining up the holes. The
toughest holes were in the back, with the one under the exhaust fitting the
toughest. Used 3M 4200 around the bolts/washers, and installed the head.
Note that I removed the hose that came on the head from the flush water pump
outlet to the bowl inlet, and used the vented loop hoses for that
segment. Also needed a new hose from the raw water strainer to the raw
water inlet on the head pump. That's a bit different, as the water
inlet for the Jabsco is in the rear (as I remember) of the unit, and on the
Raritan it's on the front.
Finally cut the appropriate length on the tank end of the hose (used a
hacksaw), put a bit of Ivory soap on the fitting, and on to the tank it
went (remembering to remove the plastic stuffing first). Still have to do
the hose support mounts on the two wooden cross pieces that sort of
hold the tank in position. And of course, need to test it, end-to-end,
once the boat launches.
dave
"Wind Chill"