Home Pump Out - Part 2

[Lazy Daze]

Last year I experimented with screwing a macerator directly into the pump-out deckplate -- http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25205&highlight=home+pump -- It worked fine, but I still wanted to make it easier. So....

My boat is kept on a trailer, and I have an on-board T-Pump (similar to a macerator) that was routed to a thru-hull (bottom of boat) seacock, just like a lot of you. Accessing this thru hull is, needless to say, quite difficult. So, I added another waste deckplate underneath the swim platform (just above the water line) and re-plumbed the 1-1/2" hose off the T-Pump to this new deckplate. I removed the seacock and plugged the actual thru-hull. If one wanted to, a Y-Valve could be installed to keep both the existing thru-hull (bottom) and new deck plate active. Another thing I made sure to do was to have the 1-1/2" hose (on the inside of the boat) plumbed so that it would gravity drain.

The idea here is to easily and quickly (and very importantly... mess free!) attach a hose to this new fitting and the other end of the hose to my house's 4" sewer vent pipe and perform pump-outs at home. The following pics show the basics (Thank you to Frank W for the tip on the cam-and-groove quick connects!).

In a nut shell, it works like this: Click one end of the hose to the boat, click the other to the house and press a button. Done. Now, you may be wondering... "Press a button"? Aha! The best part! I found a 12v wireless remote control and wired it in parallel to the current T-Pump/macerator key switch. I don't even have to get in the boat to turn the T-pump on!!!!

I hope this can help anyone else that is stuck with a trailerable boat and young kids!

One last word of caution... when using a T-Pump, you can not size down the hose too quickly - your pump won't like it. A regular macerator isn't affected by the back pressure.

 

[KeithD]

Excellent job! And thank you for not showing us a picture of the clear hose "in action".

 

[Nehalennia]

Nice.

 

[dpmulvey]

Interesting approach. Quite ingenious.

Question. Is there a need to bond above the water line thru-hulls to the electrical ground bond? On my last boat the pumpout was bonded. I never could figure out why. In that you are in the business, I was hoping you could inform me.

TIA.

 

[Two Peas]

Excellent job! And thank you for not showing us a picture of the clear hose "in action".

Good lord yes - thank you for sparing us the wonders of the clear hose. I can't even stomach my marina's "mostly opaque" hose when it is in use...

 

[Lazy Daze]

Interesting approach. Quite ingenious.

Question. Is there a need to bond above the water line thru-hulls to the electrical ground bond? On my last boat the pumpout was bonded. I never could figure out why. In that you are in the business, I was hoping you could inform me.

TIA.

I honestly don't know. I can't think why it would have to be bonded. I looked through here: http://www.uscgboating.org/regulations/federal_regulations.aspx But didn't find anything - actually didn't find anything at all about waste systems. I'm not sure where that info would be.

"Clear hose": Unfortunately, I felt this was an important part of the system... and I did take a picture... :smt001

 

[JohnEGraham]

Hey, Dennis. Are you using you "freash air vent" to your homes cesspool to dump into? Have you noticed any problems with your home drainage? The freash air vents is needed for proper flow and if you fill it with water / waist there maybe a problem.
JG

 

[Lazy Daze]

Hey, Dennis. Are you using you "freash air vent" to your homes cesspool to dump into? Have you noticed any problems with your home drainage? The freash air vents is needed for proper flow and if you fill it with water / waist there maybe a problem.
JG

John, that was a concern I originally had, as well.

I have city water and sewer. But, yes, I am using the vent. In my case, it simply goes horizontal for about 3 feet, then straight down into the main sewer line. I made sure that the black mounting plate you see in the picture is spaced away from the vent opening to avoid the problems you are thinking about. Haven't noticed any problems. If I do, I can space the mountiong plate further away or drill holes in it.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Just another pic - this is a universal kill switch that I attached to a piece of scrap aluminum that I cut to size (I had the sticker made at a local sign shop - more durable than what I could make on my computer). It will get mounted near my main battery switch, which is inside a small storage compartment just inside the transom door. The + wire that goes to the T-Pump will first go through this switch.

 

[techmitch]

Hey Gary ...aaaaaa, i mean dennis. What happened to your thumb?

 

[Lazy Daze]

Hey Gary ...aaaaaa, i mean dennis. What happened to your thumb?

Good question. Let me answer it by saying:

When using a drill press to bore a large hole (even though you step-up the drill sizes incrementally) through a small piece of scrap aluminum, use a clamp to keep the aluminum from spinning when the drill bit catches in the aluminum. And, for Pete's sake, don't be so lazy that you can't be bothered to put on your gloves... which are in a bin that is all of two feet from your drill press.

 

[rabyers1]

Dennis,

Is the kill switch just an extra measure of safety in case your remote won't shut off the T-Pump during an emergency in the middle of pumping out, or is there another purpose that I am missing?

 

[Lazy Daze]

Dennis,

Is the kill switch just an extra measure of safety in case your remote won't shut off the T-Pump during an emergency in the middle of pumping out, or is there another purpose that I am missing?

Last fall I had some lengthy discussions with a few guys here and also a couple USCGA and USPS people. The topic was whether or not I would be "legal" in the eyes of a CG boat inspector, since I eliminated the seacock from my system (partly because everything is now above waterline). At the time I was anticipating simply using electrical spade-disconnects at the T-Pump, along with the locking cap on the transom.

This method seemed to appease everyone as the law seems generally centered around "preventing accidental discharge". It does mention a seacock, but it does not say one must use a seacock. It's actually a little vague and seems to merely mention the seacock as one possibility.

On the recommendation of one of the USCGA guys, I scrapped the spade connectors in favor a something more permanent (and nicer looking). The original idea was to use a key switch, but I opted for this kill switch, instead.

So, to answer your question, the lanyard will normally be unattached - rendering the T-Pump inoperable and unable to be accidentally turned on (whether it be by the remote switch or the OEM key switch in the head). With the use of that and the locking cap, I feel I have met the intent of the law to prevent accidental discharge.

You mentioned using it to turn off the T-Pump in case of an emergency. That's a good thought, and one I hadn't even considered. Being that it will be mounted in an easily accessible location, it will be convenient to simply yank the lanyard off, if needed. Thanks!

 

[rabyers1]

Ok, I get it - the kill switch disables the circuit for your remote fob. Without the remote add-on (which is very cool) I would think that just removing the key from the pump switch in the head when not in actual use would satisfy the accidental discharge language, wouldn't it?

 

[Lazy Daze]

Ok, I get it - the kill switch disables the circuit for your remote fob. Without the remote add-on (which is very cool) I would think that just removing the key from the pump switch in the head when not in actual use would satisfy the accidental discharge language, wouldn't it?

I'm not sure. Maybe, maybe not. Since the key is also used for the VacuFlush, it doesn't take much to accidentally bump that key (or for a kid to play around with it). But, because I wasn't using a seacock - and most people are so used to seeing them, and expecting to see one, I thought it best to take an extra step.

The kill switch disables the T-Pump through both the remote key-fob and the switch in the head.