Poo problem - pump out tank

[andy4502]

Hi Hive mind

 

We have a 1993 ex hire (Cambrian Cruisers, Mon and Brec) 45ft boat Seren-y-dwr, we have owned her for 4 years and had no issues with the pump out. We took her out of the water in Jan this year for work to be done to the hull - overplating. This meant that we didnt use her again until July - we had a pump out before she was lifted. We then cruised for a couple of months down to Tewkesbury where we are now moored. When we tried pumping in Aug some stuff came out but it then seemed to block and wouldnt full pump out. We have tried again today and she is blocked - seems to between the tank and the extraction point.

 

The reason i think this is, no smell in boat, no water/poo in bilge.

 

So we started with a poky stick (as you do) - there is obviously a bend in the pipe about 2ft down - so went and bought a proper groovy pipe unblocker - gets about 5ft down then hits an obstruction we cant get through. So strokey beard time - got a drain unblocker - put it down - got a bit further with the pipe but still not through.

 

Current position:

 

• have put more chemical unblocker down and hope it sorts prob before we come back
• bog is pretty full but not coming out the presentation end (the seat :))
• We need this sorted as the wifes need for a wee every 10 seconds will restrict our cruising somewhat

 

anyone got any thoughts/ideas?

 

thanks

[ditchcrawler]

Type of toilet, drop through, vac or massarator ? If drop through pump out via that to get out of trouble then find the problem

[andy4502]

drop through - hoping the plan i have in place will fix - but not sure what to do if it doesnt!! thank you for commenting on my poo btw

 

[Tracy D'arth]

Try a wet and dry vac on suck and blow (carefully!) to break up the blockage.

 

Get a stick in through the loo ball and poke well around to move the sludge which has probably slid towards the outlet with standing.  

 

If its a stainless or plastic tank a gallon of brick cleaner acid will break any blockage up. Not if its  a mild steel tank.

Edited December 4, 2020 by Tracy D'arth

[Mad Harold]

Buy a Porta Potty for emergency use.

Only about £50

[Alan de Enfield]

13 minutes ago, andy4502 said:

anyone got any thoughts/ideas?

 

Buy a porta-potty type toilet for SWMBO to use until your get you original unblocked.

Longer term look to get the pump-out removed and a proper toilet (cassette) installed.

 

 

 

[Midnight]

Sounds like the contents dried out and a large chuck got stuck in the pipeline. What you are doing will move it, probably back into the tank where you may be able to rake it out. Is there an inspection hatch on the tank?

[mrsmelly]

If ur missus is of that age or u have female children teens and above it could very easily be an accumulation of those fluffy mice many use. I had to clear a blockage of them from inside a holiday boat tank once, precisely same sounding problem that you are having. 

[ditchcrawler]

26 minutes ago, andy4502 said:

drop through - hoping the plan i have in place will fix - but not sure what to do if it doesnt!! thank you for commenting on my poo btw

 

Is the pump out on the roof or gunwale, If its a long hose from the gunwale it may have got kinked before entering the top of the tank. You could try running a flowing hose down the suction pipe after the tank is empty

[andy4502]

thanks to all for replies - 

 

• not tampons
• will see if we can find inspection hatch - good idea
• dont understand the 'flowing hose' response
• dont want to get into the benefits of pump out/porta etc - not the issue at the moment
• dont know type of steel so concerned about super chemical attack!!
• might be worth attacking through the toilet (pump out or wang around - good idea)

more ideas/comments welcome poo comrades

 

[Alan de Enfield]

15 minutes ago, andy4502 said:

dont understand the 'flowing hose' response

Poke a hose down the pipe - with water turned on and flowing - the water will soften any blockage and eventually blast a way thru' it.

 

If the hose doesn't have enough woompf - You can actually get a special hose for a jet-washer with a 'ring' of small holes on the nozzle end, they are used for clearing blocked drains,

[ditchcrawler]

19 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Poke a hose down the pipe - with water turned on and flowing - the water will soften any blockage and eventually blast a way thru' it.

 

If the hose doesn't have enough woompf - You can actually get a special hose for a jet-washer with a 'ring' of small holes on the nozzle end, they are used for clearing blocked drains,

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yosoo-Cleaning-Accessory-Stainless-Penetrator/dp/B07794Z4TF

 

[PaulJ]

Ive had some success with an old control cable with the ferrule end hacked off and the wire sheaf left rough to form a sort of mini wire brush. Managed to pull (with considerable effort) a teatowel that was blocking the outlet pipe after being sucked up there. 

Noone ever knows how things like this find their way into the tank.

[CLAN1]

Try putting boiling hot water down the outlet pipe

[BWM]

When ours blocked on a previous boat due to being out of use we were offered the use of a friend's pump out, he was on a residential mooring and because of the design having multiple suction points it was particularly savage and removed the blockage in a flash. Perhaps someone knows of a similar beast near you?

 To second what Alan said, if you run a small amount of water into the pump out exit pipe it will  certainly help soften the (likely) dry blockage. 

Edited December 7, 2020 by BWM

[Hudds Lad]

problem with a pumpout tank that you've not owned for it's entire life is that you don't know what someone else may have put down years ago.

sludge can sit in the corners etc. trapping things and never get properly removed, then if its sat a while unused and dried out this could then break off and come back to bite you years down the line.

 

i know at some point a pair of specs a previous owner lost in our loo could resurface if they haven't already gone

 

i guess worst case you could replace the flexi hose with the blockage in, if it's easy enough to get to without dismantling too much trim.

[andy4502]

Ok - for those who are fascinated by poo we have an update......

 

• Still wouldn’t pump out - was slightly more able to poke..
• pumped out from down toilet bowl! (Essential to get capacity for wife wee wee)
• looked at tank under bed, pipe which is obviously to allow air in when pumped?? This has come of external fitting, probably due to movement of internal structure when boat was moved in January (see history and time line in original post)
• still won’t pump out

so plan now is to replace/relocate pipe and check or try to find out where the valves are in the system. Tank is HUGE and therefore have some time to resolve this, will add pics when can

 

omg poo on narrowboats is sooo much fun, not

 

[OldGoat]

1 minute ago, andy4502 said:

Ok - for those who are fascinated by poo we have an update......

 

• Still wouldn’t pump out - was slightly more able to poke..
• pumped out from down toilet bowl! (Essential to get capacity for wife wee wee)
• looked at tank under bed, pipe which is obviously to allow air in when pumped?? This has come of external fitting, probably due to movement of internal structure when boat was moved in January (see history and time line in original post)
• still won’t pump out

so plan now is to replace/relocate pipe and check or try to find out where the valves are in the system. Tank is HUGE and therefore have some time to resolve this, will add pics when can

 

omg poo on narrowboats is sooo much fun, not

 

Oh no they aren't (Oh yes they are) - provided always that they are properly and sensibly laid out in the firsr place...

(On a high horse this evening). From what I see on here, so mny folks have boats where the 'facilities' were slapped in without any thought as to what would work or not - but more to just doing enough to satisfy the first customer / boat yard 'inspection'.

 

(as an aside folks think they can treat a boat loo in the same way as a domestic installation - but this latter has 6" pipes, whereas a boat has 2 1/2" . Thus gobbets of cheap loo paper / wet wipes / w.h.y are put down by users - and that blocks the system utterly. Coupled with builders who put the suction socke on the gunnel - where you can't get a good seal for the PU nozzel only adds to the space for disaster....

 

All the goad builders have passed away and all that are left are-------   something else.

 

End

 

[Tracy D'arth]

42 minutes ago, andy4502 said:

Ok - for those who are fascinated by poo we have an update......

 

• Still wouldn’t pump out - was slightly more able to poke..
• pumped out from down toilet bowl! (Essential to get capacity for wife wee wee)
• looked at tank under bed, pipe which is obviously to allow air in when pumped?? This has come of external fitting, probably due to movement of internal structure when boat was moved in January (see history and time line in original post)
• still won’t pump out

so plan now is to replace/relocate pipe and check or try to find out where the valves are in the system. Tank is HUGE and therefore have some time to resolve this, will add pics when can

 

omg poo on narrowboats is sooo much fun, not

 

Have you tried blowing it? If it won't suck, I bet it will blow back into the tank, with a dump through you can get into the tank easy even if it means taking the loo off, its only 4 bolts.