We got a problem. This blog has mentioned the toilet issues in the past but for a refresher here is a summary of the problems we've had this summer. When we first got Cygnet we knew there was an issue with the forward toilet, it didn't flush. The motor ran, but that was it. Cygnet has two Raritan brand macerating toilets that essentially act as poo blenders and force the waste through hoses to individual holding tanks. Pleasant. We got the front toilet fixed, it just needed a new part and it was doing its job just fine. The rear worked fine until one day we had some friends over and it decided to not. We thought there was something clogging the line and investigated. Kevin took the toilet apart, a job that was as gross as it sounds and found that nothing was inside the toilet that should defeat it's capability. The blame shifted to the line from the toilet to the tank, we figured it must be clogged with a product that was not intended to be there.
 |
| Why You No Work?! |
A couple months ago we replaced the line, fired her up and realized that no, the line was not the problem. It just didn't flush. Not good, but we still had the front toilet to use so things were good to "go." Well, that isn't exactly true, as we started having an odor issue. Not only that, we noticed an influx of small flies that seemed to love our kitchen. The odor was coming from places unknown, it all seemed to stem from the area under the living parts and the inside of the hull. The bilge, where all water that makes it's way inside the boat through minor cracks or fittings ends up was a bit cloudy in that part of the boat. We realized that investigation was needed, the only problem was the hose that runs from the toilet on one side of the boat to the tank on the other side isn't very accessible. There are a couple small access ports but nothing that is really "accessible." Going for broke, Kevin donned rubber gloves and jumped shoulder deep in one of the ports located inside a kitchen cabinet. He found two things, first the sewer hose had a long crack in it and secondly the crack had allowed the contents of the hose to leak out. Yes gentle readers, there was poop on the loose.
[Photo Omitted]
This called for immediate action, the hose was unrepairable so it needed to be replaced. We didn't want to continue using the toilet until we could repair the hose. So what to do? The rear toilet didn't work and the thought of adding to the mess in the front was unattractive. We decided the bucket method was the best bet. If you are still with us at this point you might ask about how that would really work. Be assured the bucket was only used for liquids, never solids. Starbucks, Panera, and our offices served as our #2 repositories.
We picked an evening after work to replace the hose. It wasn't easy, in fact it wasn't even possible, at least not for us. No matter how hard we tried we couldn't get the old hose out. We spent hours pushing and pulling with no result. We tried lubing it up with dish detergent, pushing the new hose with it in an effort to get more torque, but nothing we did moved it. We did decide to switch the toilets however. We took the working toilet from the front and put it in the back, meaning we could kick the bucket.
 |
| The bright white one is the NEW hose, where the hell does it go? |
We decided it was a job for the pros. Last week we took Cygnet back to her second home,
Chicago Yacht Yard, and asked them to do the job. They were glad to take more of our money. For an obscene amount of cash they removed the old line, ran a new line, and made some modifications like the box shown below to ensure that the hose ran in the proper way. We found out the original hose had been crushed as the boat was built, apparently
Carver didn't think that the two inch hose would be crushed when they put in the shower above it and left about one inch of space. That was back in the 1980s, math was different then.
 |
| Ready for Action! Almost. |
 |
| New "box" to keep things orderly. |
Chicago Yacht Yard did a very nice job of getting it fixed up. Now we have a new hose sticking out of the wall in the forward bathroom, at our request. Kevin is on the lookout for a better toilet that is sized for humans to replace the non-working one we have. In the meantime we've upgraded from the bucket to a
Camco 41541! This should be good enough for guests to use until we get the real deal back in place.
 |
| First Snow |
By the way, it's currently snowing outside and 71 degrees inside Cygnet - more on that in the next blog!
We have Raritan Elegance 12v electric flushing macerating heads and we really like them. We have put them in both of our boats now. (just finished that love job last weekend)
ReplyDeleteI actually had a Raritan Elegance shipped to me, but it didn't fit since we have a rear exit, not bottom exit. I had to ship it back. I'm thinking of a Thetford Tecma but I've had really bad luck getting any information from Thetford about their products, they don't seem to have customer service at all. Defender.com is a good site to see a lot of styles as they have a few spec sheets but not enough to see if there are adapters on some of the heads to send the waste to the rear.
Delete