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Tank levels. + When to pump out


zubeye

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I'm wondering what the signal is to pump out a barge toilet. I live solo in a bost with a big tank. It doesn't smell after three weeks unless you keep the flush open. Do low users empty less regularly or is there a set period?

 

Does water go straight through?

 

Speaking of water, what's the signal that the water needs refilling?

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It depends on usage and tank capacity. We dont have an indicator or guage on our tank, but by tapping the tank, the difference in noise gives us an indication of level and we check each time we're on the boat. We pump out when its needed or before a holiday

 

It's simple, but works for us

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Hi ya,

Have you got any Tank level indicator Gauges For Both Fresh & Holding Tank or Waste water Possibly sited somewhere at the Helm instrument Panel, Look for the Fuel Gauge as well.

On some systems you may have to turn the key to the first click to activate, as you would on a Car.

Edited by Paul's Nulife4-2
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I'm wondering what the signal is to pump out a barge toilet. I live solo in a bost with a big tank. It doesn't smell after three weeks unless you keep the flush open.

 

Do low users empty less regularly or is there a set period? Empty it just before it is full. We empty when near a pump out and the tank is nearly full about eight to ten weeks. shops, pubs assist in the tank lasting longer

 

Does water go straight through? No

 

Speaking of water, what's the signal that the water needs refilling? The pump starts to run continuously but you should have refilled before this happens.

 

Get to know your own boat and how you use it, it takes a little while but you will get there.

 

No two tanks, boats and usage are the same, so all any one can say is, how their boat works but not yours.

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I'd say, to the first question, when it's full, and to the second, when it's empty. But apart from that the rest is down to experience, a bit like when does the gas run out and when does the fridge need refilling.

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I'm wondering what the signal is to pump out a barge toilet. I live solo in a bost with a big tank. It doesn't smell after three weeks unless you keep the flush open. Do low users empty less regularly or is there a set period?

 

Does water go straight through?

 

Speaking of water, what's the signal that the water needs refilling?

Look down the hole and see how full it is.

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Make a dip stick - a piece of clear flexible pipe taped to a cane or length of something which will not collect .... Put down hole, put thumb over end of pipe retract from tank and you can see the level. It does help to put a marker on it at top of tank level.

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Personally we do our pump-out tank and water based on seeing the level. We have a dump-through pump out so the level can physically be seen (with the help of a torch). And on the water tank, we have a dipstick nearby. Never run out of water yet; and never overflowed the loo either.

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We've had various trips on both hire and private boats over several years.

 

A wooden broom or mop handle makes a good dipstick for the fuel tank...on our three week cruise from the Midlands to the Thames and back a few years ago, we found it invaluable. As we had to pay for our own fuel past the first two weeks, we wanted to make sure that we didn't run out or even worse, overfill the tank and waste money! Mark the stick with each dip and you'll know how much you're using and when it's time to fill up.

 

We've never had a boat with a water gauge, but we've never run out. We usually fill up every other day at least, when it's convenient. I'm sure we could leave it longer, but we like our hot showers!

 

Janet

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I can see down the level down the hole, but I havn't got much idea about what constitutes full. It's at least a foot away!

 

Also, I'm on a river and when I am hit by a good wave i can stuff sloshing from side to side. Is that normal? I'm hoping it's the water tank!

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I can see down the level down the hole, but I havn't got much idea about what constitutes full. It's at least a foot away!

 

Also, I'm on a river and when I am hit by a good wave i can stuff sloshing from side to side. Is that normal? I'm hoping it's the water tank!

Only you can make an allowance for the length and diameter of any 'header pipe' feeding your blackwater tank, but "Full" would be when it's reached the bottom of the header pipe. "Really really full" is when the waste matter has reached the top of the header pipe.

 

And, with regard to hearing a 'sloshing sound', I believe that both water and human waste can make a sloshing sound, (although water is the easier to "slosh" providing it's of a lower viscosity and particulate content than the waste)

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watch for a change in the way you boat sits in the water. when our water tank (under the bow deck) is empty the waterline is below a rubbing strake, when full its just at the top of it.
I've seen some boats with pump outs with a pronounced list when their tanks are full but obviously that depends where your tank is.

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Our boat develops a distinct list when a pumpout is required, this is highlighted when on board by a pendant vase hanging between the kitchen and saloon, known as the "poo tank inclinometer".

Likewise, the fore-aft trim shows the state of Diesel (tank at the back) and Water (tank at the front).

We do use a dipstick on the diesel tank to be sure, and try to keep the water tank full when cruising, as she handles better with the bow lower in the water.

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You need to get to know your boat and have a good/fairly accurate way of measuring the water and poo levels.

The other big factor is your lifestyle, if you run out of water, or get a full poo tank is that a disaster or just an inconvenience? (ooh thats almost a joke).

If you live in a marina with a handy pump out and a convenient loo then you can be relaxed about these things. If you are cruising (or even CCing) and might have guests onboard then the poo tank must not get full!

I aim never to have the poo tank more than 2/3 full,and to always have at least 150litre of water in the water tank, but then we do have space for 1000.

 

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

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As a continuous cruiser, these are the 2 things that run my life more than anything else. I tend to top up whenever I pass a tap and I pump out as needed. I do have a metre that tells me my water tank level but there's no way of seeing when my pump out tank is full. I get a sense of when it's pump out time though by how far my boat is listing. Then it's a case of finding a working pump out machine (there are far less of those than there are elsan points).

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  • 4 weeks later...

You need to get to know your boat and have a good/fairly accurate way of measuring the water and poo levels.

The other big factor is your lifestyle, if you run out of water, or get a full poo tank is that a disaster or just an inconvenience? (ooh thats almost a joke).

If you live in a marina with a handy pump out and a convenient loo then you can be relaxed about these things. If you are cruising (or even CCing) and might have guests onboard then the poo tank must not get full!

I aim never to have the poo tank more than 2/3 full,and to always have at least 150litre of water in the water tank, but then we do have space for 1000.

 

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

We carry a portapotty just in case, we have had to use it twice in 12 years. On the Avon going down to Bristol and on the Ashby.

 

How easy is it to fit a gauge? And just out of curiosity, how big is your watertank?

The MSC gauge is very easy to fit, you can run it off a dry cell battery if you don't have electrics handy to it.http://mcsboatproducts.co.uk/portfolio/fresh-water-gauge/

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Our boat manual says that our pooh tank is 400 litres. The trouble we have is that we have no idea how long this will last he two of us. It's a macerator toilet so we can't look down it to have a look. The tank is on the centre line so doesn't cause a list. The guage shows permanently empty so I suspect it isn't working. The tank is covererd with spray foam (probably to try to fix a previous condensation problem) so we can't tap it and see. We've let it go three weeks between pump outs but have no idea if we are emptying it before it is a quarter full or if it is an inch from the top. Any ideas on how we can suss this out?

 

ETA that we are CCing live aboards.

Edited by Alway Swilby
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You may like to consider fitting tank gauges, - they are available from business such as LeeSanitation, and types vary from those that site inside the tank, and operate with variable floats that illuminate a series of light on a panel, or (dearer) systems that affix on the outside of your tank (and again send signals to a indicator panel).

 

Both systems require 12v to power them.

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