Head vent

Howdy, All -

Very happy to be joining you as the proud new (to me) owner of a 1986 E38! Had her out once already single-handing and WOW, what a blast!!

I have been ghosting this great site for a while and you all really helped me with my research and final decision. Gotta love Ericsons!!

Can anyone enlighten me on the function of the head vent? Does the external vent move at all? Is there a shut-off for the vent thru-hull? Any way to tell if the vent line is clear before I attempt to pump out the holding tank? My E38 is the original layout with the head forward to port.

I don't think the PO had pumped the tank in quite a while and I don't want to make a mess or break anything. I will be replacing the Y-valve soon and then pumping out and treating the system with K.O.

P.S. I have never pumped out a holding tank. Any keys to success?

Thanks very much!

Shaggy

Succesful pump out

Don't get any on you

The holding tank vent is nothing more sophisticated then a mechanism to allow air to be replaced by waste pumped into the holding tank. There is no shutoff to this vent, it is always open. The Y valve allows you to 1. pump directly overboard from the head [a very big no no in inland, or coastal waters] or, 2. pump to the holding tank. There is a seacock, that when open, will allow you to pump the contents of the holding tank overboard via what looks like a manual bilge pump in the head.

The Coast Guard and local marine police require the Y valve to be wired i.e. unable to be turned, so that the Y can only pump to the holding tank. You can also remove the handle itself and this usually suffices.

To pump the holding tank at a pump out station all you need to do is find the the fitting marked "Waste", unscrew this cap, insert the pump out hose into the fitting and turn on the system. It is always nice to run some water through the system to help get all the nasties out. If you think it has been awhile since the holding tank has been pumped you might want to run some white vinegar through the system and let it sit awhile in the holding tank to loosen things up a bit.

Congrats on your new boat. Have fun.

I second what Frank said. The vent is there to balance pressure in the tank when pumping in and pumping out also the gassing of the tank as the waste decomposes. There should not be a cutoff on the vent tube as this could build pressure in the tank and cause gassing inside the boat.

If you are going to use the deck plate I assume you will be using a pump out station at a marina. If the through hull, if you can get far enough offshore to be legal then you open the through hull and pump away with whatever pump you have in your boat.

It can be pumped out with a heavy-duty shop vac but is a mess beyond belief.

All that said! When you get to the marina, they will do the pump out for you all you have to do is be sure there are no valves closed between the tank and the deck plate. Don't lose the deck plate cap.

Thanks for the words. I'll keep you advised as to the success (hopefully) of this little venture...

On a side note, I plan to fully comply with the letter and spirit of the law regarding no discharge inside of the 3-mile limit, but will I get fined by the CG for not having my Y-valve wired to the holding tank position? Seems a bit onerous to have to wire and unwire the thing in and out of the 3-mile limit. Can't we just be big boys and honor the no-discharge rule?

Not to fixate on poopie issues, but just curious...

Thanks for the help!

Shaggy

Welcome to the Ericson "family"

Shaggy,
Glad to read that there is another proud Ericson owner on this site. It's a great source of info as you already know. I've owned an E-32 III for just over a year now and, coming from a Hunter 285, was surprised to see the "tangle" of hoses inside the head cabinet. They were old and stank so I removed all of them including the "Y" valve, hand pump and capped off the two through hulls for dumping waste. I now just have a hose that runs directly to the holding tank so there is no possiblity of pumping anything overboard. Gave me a lot more space in the cabinet and made the US Coast Guard very happy when they boarded us for a surprise inspection while we were sailing on the Cheseapeake Bay! The way I figure it we can't dump over anyway so who needs all of that extra hose and valve especially when it was old and stinky. I can always replace all the equipment and hoses if I ever want to have the option of pumping the waste out by hand.

Y-Valve Variation

Shaggy,

My Y-Valve has a little different function that what Paul described. The head outflow goes directly to the holding tank. The y-valve switches between pump-out through the deck fitting and pump-out through a thru-hull via a macerator (only for use off shore). In this case, I don't think the y-valve needs to be wired since dumping overboard would require switching on the macerator (I leave the y-valve in the "pump-out through deck" setting).

Another tip on pumping out I learned on my first experience was to turn the valve on the pump out hose off and then back on several times once the flow seems to stop. I think what this does is build up a little extra vacuum to suck out more stuff. Anyway, it seems to work.

The first time you pump out, tell the dock hand that you've never done it before. That's what I did and I received helpful input from her (not that you can count on this).

A caution on the vinegar -- that's something I learned about just recently and used for the first time a month ago. On the web, there are cautions about not leaving it in your head pump for long because the vinegar can degrade the components over time. I'd flush it through soon after putting it in.

Enjoy your E-38!

John
s/v Red Rover
1982 E-38

Being a Big Boy

Yes, you will be fined and it can be a very costly one. There are no provisions in the law for being "a Big Boy" Apparently there are not enough around

Something that works around here is to simply remove the Y valve handle. That is one screw. I too removed the Y valve and hose to the through hull and run directly to the holding tank. I never really get to where I can legally pump overboard, so it is not a hardship and the CG love it. You can still pump overboard via the holding tank


On a side note, I plan to fully comply with the letter and spirit of the law regarding no discharge inside of the 3-mile limit, but will I get fined by the CG for not having my Y-valve wired to the holding tank position? Seems a bit onerous to have to wire and unwire the thing in and out of the 3-mile limit. Can't we just be big boys and honor the no-discharge rule?

Thanks, Folks -

Off to California and the pumpout station..... Of course, I probably need to sail a bit, too!

Shaggy

No Y-valve

Hi guys,

not sure if my e32-3 1986 has it as a factory install or PO's optimization, but it has no Y-valve. Waste always goes to the tank, and from there it can go to the either of two hoses - manual overboard pump (Gusher) or to the deck for the pump-out connection...

Regards,
Stan