Y-valve location

Post by **mhanna** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 6:50 am

I just discovered the location of the Y-valve for the heads maciator. I have to be wrong in assuming this is it because of its location. It is almost impossible to get to, I found it when removing the panel under the captains seat. It is 4" off of the bottom connection of the tank and buried under other hoses, ect...
I know 'they' dont wish to make it easy to use this feature, but......
I am guessing a cable could be attached to the valve handle or something,,, has anyone done such ?

Matt

jcollins · Post by **jcollins** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 9:40 am

mhanna wrote:I just discovered the location of the Y-valve for the heads maciator. I have to be wrong in assuming this is it because of its location. It is almost impossible to get to, I found it when removing the panel under the captains seat. It is 4" off of the bottom connection of the tank and buried under other hoses, ect...
I know 'they' dont wish to make it easy to use this feature, but......
I am guessing a cable could be attached to the valve handle or something,,, has anyone done such ?

Matt

Around here (inland waters) they are capped off. I think it's a law. Others from the Chesapeake should chime in here and let me know if I'm right.

Post by **Richard** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 9:53 am

John:

When I took delivery on my new boat last year the valve for the overboard discharge was left open by the dealer. By simply turning on the macerator pump it would have pumped "stuff" overboard. I closed it and took off the valve handle. I was told that if you get stopped and the overboard dump system is not disabled you will be fined.

Post by **Mariner** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 3:29 pm

I regularly pump overboard using the discharge. The depth of the water, strong tidal flushing, and general vastness of the space makes it a non-issue environmentally. Nonetheless, I treat every tank and only empty when in open water on an outgoing tide.

There is more damage being done by shoreside septic systems than pleasureboaters. I've only been boarded by the CG once, and they had no problem with our head system, which had no Y-valve, only a macerator pump that empties over the side, and a seperate deck fitting. This setup on our old boat is exactly the same as on our 2003 Albin.

Over the border in Canada, it is not only perfectly legal to pump untreated sewage over the side, but the city of Victoria still does it with their entire municipal sewer system. For a while, Americans made a big stink (pun intended) about it, but testing revealed it was a non-issue.

Post by **mhanna** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 8:52 pm

I understand it is legal to discharge 3 miles or more offshore. But when inside that limit the valve needs to be shut off (or set to the pumpout connection)
http://www.boatus.org/onlinecourse/Revi ... info4c.htm

What I dont get is that the valve to discharge waste directly overboard (bypassing the tank) is right under the bathroom sink (too easy to grab). I have to imagine that the maceration valve was positioned there to be easy for the builder. I will try to reach it from the battery area but I really dont think I can get to it.
If I were buying this boat new and saw this I would make them fix the location before I paid for the boat.
I will have to rig up a cable system to the valves handle to use.

On a similar topic.... I have been told that if I disconnect the water input hose (saltwater to the head) and connect it to the fresh water tank, that the head is kept cleaner.. Not leaving stains and smells from bay water. Does anyone have comments on this ? with a 28gallon freshwater tank and a 6gallon holding tank this is not an issue, if it keeps things "nice".

Matt

Post by **DougSea** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 12:54 am

mhanna wrote:
On a similar topic.... I have been told that if I disconnect the water input hose (saltwater to the head) and connect it to the fresh water tank, that the head is kept cleaner.. Not leaving stains and smells from bay water. Does anyone have comments on this ? with a 28gallon freshwater tank and a 6gallon holding tank this is not an issue, if it keeps things "nice".

Matt

I'm thinking of doing the same. In the meantime I've got my family trained to use the shower in the head to fill the bowl. No little sea creatures dying (and stinking) in our head. No problems with "head smell" so I'd say it proved the value of fresh water flushing.

Post by **chiefrcd** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 2:02 pm

I don't think you can hook it directly to your fresh water tank without some risk of contaminating that tank, thus preventing you from using it for anything else. You're really going to have to make sure that absolutely NO chance exsist that you get any backfeed contamination.

Post by **mhanna** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 6:29 pm

VERY IMPORTANT POINT
Hmmm. that would be bad (':shock:')

Maybe with a check valve.... There must be one on the head pump itself, and maybe add another...
Or play it safe and use the shower wand....
I have to do more thinking, thanks for the advice Chief...

Matt

Post by **Denis** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 5:00 pm

You will want to add a vacuum breaker to the water line and make sure it is above the rim of the toilet. That way there can be no backup of water into the water tank.

Post by **SpaceCoaster** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 7:30 pm

I keep a plastic cup in the sink, fill with fresh water then pour some in to flush clean. This helps keep the odor down. Never thought to use the shower wand like Doug recommended. That's simple enough!

Jorge

Post by **Mariner** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:15 pm

Our vacuflush head uses freshwater to flush. Before you go and switch over to freshwater for your head flushing, be sure you understand just how much this will impact your water usage. We have a 200 gallon water tank and the head adds considerably to our consumption. I would much prefer to use raw water for the head, but it is not advised for the vacuflush due to corrosion problems that come up. In previous boats, I never found the saltwater head to cause smells. If you don't like the smell of saltwater, then what are you doing on the boat in the first place? If your head smells, its because of the waste, not the saltwater. I suggest the green head deoderizer sold at West Marine. This stuff is VERY effective at eliminating odors.

Post by **DougSea** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:35 pm

Perhaps there's not quite the same abundance of little marine creatures in the Pacific Northwest - but a head full of Long Island Sound water that sits for a week (in the heat) STINKS.

I'm just sticking with my shower fill method.

Post by **Denis** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:21 pm

I am going to be installing a new head in a few weeks. I am sick of the manual head I have now always clogging up. They recommend one pump for every foot of run on the waste line. If I did that I would be pumping ten or twelve times to get the waste to the tank, and the tank would be full in no time. So I am checking all the different electric heads out there. Some with a macerator built in, some fresh water some raw water etc. I would like to see about the vacu-flush heads but they are very expensive. Let me know what brand you have and if you are having any luck with yours.

Post by **Richard** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:51 pm

Denis:

I have a Vacuflush head and I am extremely happy with it. It does not use much water per flush and a result it does not fill up the holding tank very quickly.

Post by **Pitou** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 1:05 pm

I run the Jabsco electric head installed when the boat was built by Albin. It has self priming that rinses the bowl while the built-in macerator scavenger pump grind up waste to either be sent to the holding tank or directly overboard. Pretty noisey when the button is pressed and if you don't pay attention it can use alot of water. Not bad for those that pay attention. When the day comes I'll probably replace with the Vac-U-Flush. As stated earlier / very little water use

.

Installing a Sani-Gard filter on the vent will make those on deck, at the dock and the Captain at the helm (vent just below outside helm seat) all that much happier. They do work. They recommend the filter be replaced annually, but I have found every other season works fine too. This is now that every other season for this change.

Albin Owners Group

Albin Owners Group

Y-valve location

Y-valve location

Re: Y-valve location

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