Macerator install

W

Water Boy

Member
Aug 17, 2015
35
Hampton, New Brunswick
Boat Info
1997 sundancer 250
Engines
350 mercruiser w/bravo II
Hi,
I bought a 1997 250 sundancer this summer from Ontario and towed home to the east coast. Boat was originally sold inland so no macerator, just a vacuflush head going to the holding tank then to the pump out fitting on the deck.

The area that we boat has some great places to stop and visit but not a lot of full service marinas. In fact I haven't found any yet that offer a pump out service. So now I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do. I'm thinking that I'll be taking the boat out of the water 2 or 3 times a summer for cleaning so maybe I could stop by a local septic pump out guy who could hook his truck up to it. Or I'm going to have to install a macerator and discharge system. I've been reading a lot about what I'd have to do and it doesn't seem too bad in terms of components needed.

Can anyone who has one already installed on their boat explain how it's plumbed from the factory? Does the through hull fitting have to be below the water line?
 
Have you checked to confirm that you can legally discharge where you'll be boating?

So far I've owned two boats with macerators, neither of which I can legally use in Michigan. One was plumbed through a thru-hull below the waterline that was a factory option. My current boat has a macerating pump installed with a thru-hull above the water line that was clearly DIY.

The rig I have now looks to be quite simple. The prior owner bought a macerating pump, plumbed it to the bottom of the black water tank and added a thru-hull near a couple of others on the side of the boat near the transom. Looks factory in terms of location but I'm not sure black water should be pumped out in this way.

If you're comfortable cutting a hole in your boat, and above the water line discharge is legal, I'm betting this could be done for a few hundred dollars. The pump is not that fancy...
 
See if your black tank is setup for a macerater... mine had a removable cap that was taken off and a dip tube added. Add the macerate pump and a though-hull sea cock below the water line.
 
I am now boating on the east coast in coastal waters. I can get out far enough to legally dump. My wife isn't crazy about it but putting the whole thing in to perspective... I don't see the little bit we're going to dump having much negative impact in our area.
My current setup has the line from the vacuum pump going in at the top of the tank. The line from tank to the pump out also comes out the top but i think extends down to the bottom of the tank inside. It was suggested by a few on some sail boat sites that I could simply put a y valve on the line going to the pump out and branch off of that to the pump and from there to the through hull. Sounds simple enough. I'm not sure until I see my boat again just how much room I have for everything. I also hate the idea of pitting a hole in my boat but I guess it's already full of holes with all the other drains and even my depth finder goes through the bottom of the boat.

One point someone made that sounded like it made a lot of sense was keeping the pump and all that above the water line. I think that wouldn't be a problem in my boat as all the plumbing for the head seems to be above the water line.
 
I've told the story here before...but I failed a USCG safety inspection a couple years back because my macerator seacock was not closed and locked. I asked the USCG member (only half joking) why that mattered when the local municipality just gone done dumping millions of gallons of untreated sewage into the river just a few hundred yards from my marina.

USCG did not find my question humorous. :) And it did not win me a sticker!
 
I've read that the valve has to be locked or zip tied so it can't be easily opened.

For those of you that have a factory installed pump where is the through hull typically located?
 
Water Boy said:
I've read that the valve has to be locked or zip tied so it can't be easily opened.

For those of you that have a factory installed pump where is the through hull typically located?
Click to expand...
Mine is below the water line, on the transom, port side.
 
Ours has a pump slightly below the holding tank. The pump is plumbed to a seacock located below the water line just to the outside of the port rudder.
 
Do you have any interest in doing a pump-out at home, directly into your sewer? You can do it without changing or modifying anything currently on your boat.
 
For those of you that said valve was on the bottom, do you mean through the bottom of the boat or through the transom?

Lazy Daze: I've thought of a couple of ways I could do something like that as I'm sure I'll have the boat out of the water a couple of times a season. I'd like to hear your idea?
 
Discharge is typically thru the bottom of the hull. I'm not sure if there's any regulations regarding this, but that's where I always see them. Definitely don't want it above the waterline... A/C discharges leave an unsightly stain........ can you imagine?

http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/home-pump-out-easy.25205/

http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/home-pump-out-part-2.30177/

Looks like the pictures are no longer showing. Hopefully the description gives enough info until I can find the pictures and reload them.
 
Thanks for the links. Great read and very clever idea. Makes a lot of sense. You've got me thinking. I keep my boat at our camp and it has its own septic system with easy access to the plumbing under the building. I could easily install a clean out or something along those lines to hook up to.

The only thing I'm wondering though is that since I am actually allowed to dump off shore and I'd have to buy a pump and fittings to make it work on the trailer, am I just better off to plumb the boat With the equipment to do it in the water?

So did you find that the pump would work if it was directly threaded in to the fitting on the boat? That would save a bunch of fittings.
 
You gotta buy a pump no matter which way you go. I thought I mentioned that the macerator can be screwed right into the pump out fitting on the boat in one of the articles - one of them was about just that. But if not, yes, you can screw it right in.

Yes, you "can" pump out in the sea. And, yes, it's not going to make a dent if you do it... but what if everyone did it? I'm not a tree hugger by any means - but that's my public service announcement on the subject :)
 
The people we bought ours from had one installed by a local shop. Ours is plumbed out the bottom near the AC pickup just in front of the engine. There is a ball valve on the thru hull and a Y valve on the holding tank.
 
So I ordered a pump this morning and I think I'll start out by trying to pump it out while it's on the trailer. I need to empty now before winterizing it so I'll decide later if I want to do something different. Ingot a pump that can tolerate running dry and claims to be self priming.

I was thinking about getting enough hose and fittings to be able to hook it up and have the pump hanging down the side of the boat. It would give me enough hose between the deck fitting and the pump to attach a "y" that I can hook a garden hose to . My thinking is that this would allow me to prime the pump and also flush out the hole pump/hose assembly once the tank is empty.

There's a clean out on the main line to my septic tank that I can take the cap off and feed the hose in to. It's easily reached from my trailer with not too much hose to have to deal with.
 
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