Cassette

[dmr]

1 hour ago, davem399 said:

Probably the best pump outs we ever had were when we were based at Stockton Top Marina.  The chap doing them used to put the nozzle of a Karcher pressure washer down the opening of the bowl to give the tanks a good blast after the initial pump out.

 

Potential for it to go horribly wrong ?

 

As mtb observed, we do something similar with a length of 10mm copper, bent and flattened at the end to produce a reasonable jet with just mains water pressure, or even boat water pressure. Like many pumpouts ours has both the suck and flush pipes at the same end below the gunnels which is not optimum so by putting the "poo pusher" down the bog I can move all the solid stuff towards the suction pipe. A less effective, but good second best is to continually fill the bog with with water and flush during the pumpout whilst also rocking the boat.

 

Once per year we used to pumpout, fill with water and pumpout again, but this needs a co-operative boatyard or paying twice at the pumpout machine, but by flushing down the bog we no longer feel a need to do this.

 

..............Dave

[davem399]

1 hour ago, dmr said:

 

Potential for it to go horribly wrong ?

 

Yes, maybe.  At the time the boat was new.  Not sure if it would be wise on an older boat with years of corrosion though.

[MtB]

2 minutes ago, davem399 said:

Yes, maybe.  At the time the boat was new.  Not sure if it would be wise on an older boat with years of corrosion though.

 

Ah yes. An ex-GF of mine had a magic poo tank that never needed emptying. The automatic bilge pump used to operate strangely frequently though.

 

The one day the bog pan went all wobbly and it was assumed the fixing bolts had rusted through but no, on inspection she found the top of the poo tank was thinner and holier than lace. 

 

 

This why I like a cassette....

[cuthound]

19 hours ago, dmr said:

I think the story about poo tanks filling up with sludge is a bit overstated, though my experience of this is only for the dump thru' where you can easily see any problems developing. I suspect that really a lot of tanks are just too small, and some inexperienced boaters just put far too much water into them. Because it looks like a proper bog does not mean its like a house bog with infinite capacity. However there are an increasing number of boatyards who just suck the contents out without any attempt at boat rocking or flushing and this is asking for trouble.

When we started boating the local services were run by a long term liveaboard who, (once we had convinced him that we were not wan***s) taught us a whole load of useful stuff, including the art of a good pumpout.

 

A pumpout that can go less than about 6 weeks is less use than a cassette..

 

Non boaty visitors can be a bit of a problem too.

 

.............Dave

 

 

 

I have one of these for non boaty visitors. ?

 

 

Edited June 22, 2019 by cuthound

[Ray T]

15 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

I have one of these for non boaty visitors. ?

 

 

When I skippered offshore one of my instructions to any newbies was,  "apart from loo paper, what goes in the loo must have gone in your mouth first."

 

Also, "you block it you clear it."

[NewCanalBoy]

I haven't had the delights of dealing with a pump out yet or emptying a cassette.

 

When you go to get pumped out - if you were say 3/4 full could you not fill it with water to soften things up overnight before you arrived at the pump out ? Don't they flush them through at the end with a squirt of water to get the remainder out ?

 

Last but not least, when you flush your toilet, does it use canal/river water or fresh water from your tank ? (Reason I ask this is I am use to sailing boats that use salt water to flush not fresh water supplies) 

[haggis]

Just now, NewCanalBoy said:

I haven't had the delights of dealing with a pump out yet or emptying a cassette. Oh the joys you have ahead of you! 

 

When you go to get pumped out - if you were say 3/4 full could you not fill it with water to soften things up overnight before you arrived at the pump out ? Don't they flush them through at the end with a squirt of water to get the remainder out ? The movement of the boat as you go along breaks things down nicely and the sludge goes through the pump out hose nicely - unless something that shouldn't be in the tank is ? . Most yards will put some water down to rinse the tank after a pump out but it is best to be prepared with a few pails of canal water ready to put down the loo at the end just to clean the tank out a bit more. 

 

Last but not least, when you flush your toilet, does it use canal/river water or fresh water from your tank ? (Reason I ask this is I am use to sailing boats that use salt water to flush not fresh water supplies)  The flushing water usually comes from the boat water tank but I understand that there are a few boats which use canal water for the flush. 

haggis

[Alan de Enfield]

40 minutes ago, haggis said:

I understand that there are a few boats which use canal water for the flush. 

Ours is one of those - would be a shame to waste potable water by pouring/flushing it down the toilet.

[mrsmelly]

16 hours ago, NewCanalBoy said:

I haven't had the delights of dealing with a pump out yet or emptying a cassette.

 

When you go to get pumped out - if you were say 3/4 full could you not fill it with water to soften things up overnight before you arrived at the pump out ? Don't they flush them through at the end with a squirt of water to get the remainder out ?

 

Last but not least, when you flush your toilet, does it use canal/river water or fresh water from your tank ? (Reason I ask this is I am use to sailing boats that use salt water to flush not fresh water supplies) 

Just use a cassette or porta bog, its a no brainer.

[NewCanalBoy]

Going by this thread they sound Infinitely worse ?!

[haggis]

1 hour ago, NewCanalBoy said:

Going by this thread they sound Infinitely worse ?!

You will find that on this site (and probably among boaters) there are those who swear by cassettes and those who swear by pump outs and every time the subject crops up both sides repeat what they have been saying for years ? . I'll include myself as I have extolled the benefits of pump out systems over cassettes for years, having used both.

Then of course, we now have the composting loo brigade saying their bit too ?

 

haggis

[NewCanalBoy]

Ah I see !! 

 

I can't even begin to imagine what the composter toilets are like and I'd rather not know right now !!

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, NewCanalBoy said:

Ah I see !! 

 

I can't even begin to imagine what the composter toilets are like and I'd rather not know right now !!

I would consider it on a new build but I wont be ripping out what I have to replace it, unless it goes pear shaped 

[Sea Dog]

5 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

Just use a cassette or porta bog, its a no brainer.

Trouble is, after a visit to the Elsan station in the original post, folk are then quite likely to start calling you Mr Smelly!

 

[ditchcrawler]

41 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Trouble is, after a visit to the Elsan station in the original post, folk are then quite likely to start calling you Mr Smelly!

 

I think his wife objected to being called Mrs Smelly

[peterboat]

9 hours ago, haggis said:

You will find that on this site (and probably among boaters) there are those who swear by cassettes and those who swear by pump outs and every time the subject crops up both sides repeat what they have been saying for years ? . I'll include myself as I have extolled the benefits of pump out systems over cassettes for years, having used both.

Then of course, we now have the composting loo brigade saying their bit too ?

 

haggis

I just camt believe that people have to empty their toilets so often!! Its ages since I had to empty my composting loo, and then its only into my composting bin 5 yards away

9 hours ago, NewCanalBoy said:

Ah I see !! 

 

I can't even begin to imagine what the composter toilets are like and I'd rather not know right now !!

Much easier and better than the two other types is the answer

[NewCanalBoy]

Do you shovel them out ? Do you fill a hole with sawdust/cat litter ??

 

I genuinely don't know how they work.

[peterboat]

1 minute ago, NewCanalBoy said:

Do you shovel them out ? Do you fill a hole with sawdust/cat litter ??

 

I genuinely don't know how they work.

Google is your friend separate villa is the name of mine plenty of others out there

[mrsmelly]

57 minutes ago, NewCanalBoy said:

Do you shovel them out ? Do you fill a hole with sawdust/cat litter ??

 

I genuinely don't know how they work.

Look on every boat brokerage and see how many boats are pump out and how many are cassette and how many are composting. Probably fifty fifty on pumpout and cassette, then count how many are composting and ask yourself why??

[TheBiscuits]

1 hour ago, peterboat said:

Google is your friend separate villa is the name of mine plenty of others out there

Separett Villa

 

14 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Look on every boat brokerage and see how many boats are pump out and how many are cassette and how many are composting. Probably fifty fifty on pumpout and cassette, then count how many are composting and ask yourself why??

Because people with composting/separating systems keep their boats? 

[NewCanalBoy]

Oh no - what have I started ??!!

[Tumshie]

25 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

then count how many are composting and ask yourself why??

Because composting toilets are quite expensive, if I was selling "my boat" then I would keep my composting toilet and buy a brand new never been used elsan to leave on the boat for the new owners. 

 

2 minutes ago, NewCanalBoy said:

Oh no - what have I started ??!!

Every body loves a good toilet debate, they get started regularly. So you've added a fresh angle which is good. 

[TheBiscuits]

10 minutes ago, Tumshie said:

Because composting toilets are quite expensive, if I was selling "my boat" then I would keep my composting toilet and buy a brand new never been used elsan to leave on the boat for the new owners.

You're just being sensible now ...

[Tumshie]

1 minute ago, TheBiscuits said:

You're just being sensible now ...

Ooops sorry 

 

It's not like I do it that often, it was a genuine over site. 

[Alan de Enfield]

16 minutes ago, Tumshie said:

Because composting toilets are quite expensive,...………………...

WHAT !!!

 

I realise you are a Scot, but a plastic 3gallon bucket and a bag of shavings could not be considered expensive when compared to the rest of the boating expenses.

18 minutes ago, Tumshie said:

Every body loves a good toilet debate, they get started regularly. So you've added a fresh angle which is good. 

I don't think it matters what type of toilet you have, if you get the angle wrong it makes a mess !!!