Clogged holding tank vent line.

P

Pourhouse

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 8, 2011
Messages
49
Fluid Motion Model
C-302 SC
Vessel Name
Pour House
We are looking for a solution for a clogged line on a R31. It appears that the boat has to be disassembled to get to the line. Any ideas?
 
I had to clean out the end of ours it had some kind of a bug nest in it... I was able to reach it through the cabinets and unscrew it and then disassembled it on the outside and cleaned it... It is a reach to get to it with my head inside the cabinet.. I am assuming yours is in the same location which could be wrong..... Good luck..
 
My head vent line vents to the starboard side of the boat. If you pull the refrigerator out it's easy to get to. The other option is to go in through the port side berth. Remove the walls and you can get at the lines that go to the tank. Perhaps yours vents to the port side? Have you tried blowing air from the outside of the boat?
 
Mine is like yours Mark. I have 34 sleeve and I can just touch it through the cabinets. I am concerned about getting it back togeather. Did you have any problem.

Captmike, how did you blow air in to the vent. I have used a plunger with out success.
 
Just a thought, but have you tried using a shop vacuum? They have fairly strong suck and holding it tight against the vent MIGHT help.
Good luck
Dave
 
Don't forget to loosen the cap for the tank before sucking or blowing. Otherwise, you're just trying to inflate or deflate the tank (or maybe blow waste backwards through the head).
 
I cut the top off a soda bottle to make a custom funnel. Hooked it to a garden hose and blasted a few quarts of water back thou the vent and into the tank. I think some waste clogged the vent after overfilling the tank.

First, remove the pump out cap and dump a small amount of waste to pump out. Pump, remove hose to let air in, pump again. Took me 20 minutes or so of pumping to empty tank, venting air every few minutes. I was concerned about collapsing the tank.

After back washing with funnel and water, I put in a waste smell filter. Perfect.

I use the same soda bottle filter to back wash the Shearwater's generator and air conditioner inlet hoses and thru hulls.
 
You need to be careful when pumping anything back down drain/vents as most have a check valve to keep water from flowing into boat.
best of luck
dave
 
Dave,

I don't think either of the vent valves on my R-25 has (or could have) a check valve - and I think that is true for any of the boats we might encounter.

The vent I'm speaking of is the waste tank vent - air (or gas, I suppose) exits that valve when you flush the head -- and air reenters the tank through that vent when you pump out the holding tank. The vent must have two way flow to operate as designed.

From time to time, waste products can be caught in the holding tank vent line. Disassembling the line is a nasty task, I think it is both safe and effective to back flush a quart of so of water thru the vent line to wash out the stray debris.

Thanks for the comment, makes me think. /Stu
 
I was able to just reach mine. If you remove the refrigerator, which really is not a huge job, you can crawl right in behind the cabinets.I removed the fridge door to make this easier. Then you can really inspect the vent lines for the holding and water tank as well.
 
I have used compressed air in the past. Open the pump out cap first so the air has a place to go. Maybe water then air water then air?
 
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