Waste tank..

Great Lakes

Well-Known Member
Oct 11, 2016
1,444
Lake St. Clair - Michigan (MacRay Harbor)
Boat Info
2008 - Formula 400ss
Engines
Volvo Penta D6-350
At the bay Saturday my head stop working of course. Sunday morning I wake up to investigate and I pull the inlet hose and find this (picture below). I put on gloves and cleaned out what I could reach. I was shocked by how much toilet paper was packed in the bottom of the tank just sitting there. I could feel it but not grab it. It’s only a matter of time before it builds back up again. The head works great now for the little bit of toilet paper I cleaned out.

My question is, how do I clean the toilet paper out of there. Use a hose and flush it? Pull the tank out of boat?

Any thoughts?
4D809D76-5AC7-4F18-B110-6D50F5505D32.jpeg
 
Is that pic your waste holding tank or the tank on the vacuum generator pump? Either way you sure have a mess. I would remove the tank so you could turn it on its side and wash it out with a high pressure hose. It will not be a fun job.
 
Yes the tank on the vacuum pump sorry about that.
I assume/hope that tank comes off separately from the waste tank? I’ve never had issues with this system on all my boats. I guess it’s just my time..
 
What chemicals are you using in your head system? I use a "digester" in mine and when I pump out everything comes out in liquid form with small "chunks".
 
ugh!

It might be time to have a talk with the family about paper quantity, but also look at the type of paper to make sure it's MSD friendly.

I wouldn't take drastic steps yet - since the head is working now. I'd flush massive amounts of water through the system to see if it will clear itself. (make use of that dockside pumpout) A rolled-up bath towel will hold the pedal down nicely, let the water run and pour an occasional bucket of water down.
 
I’ve never used chemicals in the head system. Will that help break down the toilet paper in the vacuum tank?

Holy cow with all the boats you had .... you must be one lucky guy for this to be your 1st head problem.

There's countless forum chats about toilet paper..... after my 1st clog I switched to RV/Boat TP which breaks down pretty fast and always use some type septic tank treatment. Certain types of TP clog up going through the duck bill valves which in turn will not allow the system to build vacuum to get the job done.

Over the weekend I just started to use Happy Camper septic tank treatment.
 
I use friendly TP for the head. I’ve literally have never had this kind of issue and this is my 4th boat with vacufluah. Sounds like I’m a lucky guy...well was.

Seth, I may call you this week about your suggestions.

Is it possible to just pull the elbow (like my pic) and put a hose in at that spot to flush it whlie the pumpout is running? Wouldn’t that just bypass the head portion
 
Yeah, that's the inlet elbow correct? So the duckbills on that model are at the output fitting and under the bellows? I prefer to keep my distance and just use the head, but I don't see why you couldn't just put a hose there if you wanted to.
 
Pump-out while you're at this btw. By having an empty holding tank when you send a bunch of water through, it will enter the tank at the top and splash down to the bottom, often dislodging other gunk in there.

I also suspect that perhaps aside from just too much paper, the family isn't using enough water. The factory recommendation is a 3-second flush, but doubling that might keep you happier on future Sundays...
 
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Yes the inlet elbow and correct about the duckbills being below the bellows

You’re the second person that said we’re not using enough water at flush. I personally don’t even come close to 3 seconds. Now I’m starting to understand why 3 seconds is important..

I’ll def have the pumpout running during this process. Going back to boat tomorrow.

Thank you as always
 

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