Trojan Boat Forum

New to the forum and this boat. My problem is I can't find the fill or pump-out hoses into my holding tank. I know where the tank is and I see in forum photos where the fittings should be but mine are not there. What I believe are there is the fresh water and ac/heat circulation pumps. Boat has no deck pump-out fitting either. Can it only have the treat and discharge system? Previous owner started drilling for a pump-out on the walk around but didn't complete it. Without the holding tank plumbed I see no reason for that. If I don't have it plumbed how hard is this to do? I'm no novice regarding boats but I'm dumbfounded at this point.

Any advise will really be appreciated.

Thanks,

BTW its an Express not Mid Cabin model.

If you have a Raritan Hold-N-Treat system, the previous owner may not have installed a pump out fitting. Adding one would be a good thing if you have to go through any no discharge zones.

Kind of strange having a treatment system with a holding tank if you don't have a pump out fitting. Most boats that have a treatment system have the head plumbed directly into the treatment system, and the treatment system discharges directly though a through hull fitting. Maybe your boat is plumbed this way and the holding tank is not being used?

If there is a holding tank used with a treatment system, the holding tank must be plumbed between the head and the treatment system, so waste being discharged goes through the treatment system immediately before being discharged.

What kind of treatment system do you have?

I'll be on the boat tomorrow and I will take some pictures because to be quite honest I've never had a boat that has that type of treat and discharge system. I am only familiar with holding tank and macerator setups. To answer your question I really don't know what type it is but I will try to find out tomorrow and post that with some pictures. I also have another question regarding my onboard battery charger. It is a 3 bank charger which is operable I assume because it is humming just like my last boat however the meter reads 0 volts. I traced the two positive wires to both batteries and there does not to seem to be one going to the battery charger. The previous owner said the battery charger never worked but I believe it is not connected to the batteries. I will also be exploring that tomorrow but does anyone know where the cables from the battery charger are routed. Do they go along the hull side aft and come in under the generator to the battery box or do they go alongside the bulkhead to the cabin and come up on top of the waste tank. I'm assuming this is a factory setup and I am wondering if they are terminated somewhere between the battery charger and the batteries. The schematics state it is two number 8 red wires but I can't seem to find them in the conduits. Also are they supposed to be connected directly to the batteries or somewhere else in the system.

If this is an express cruiser, I can help you.

If she is a mid cabin model there are many here to answer your questions.

RWSRWS

OK I traced all the hoses and determined there is no plumbing in or out of the holding tank. It's simply a treat and discharge setup. There's a gallon jug of treatment that is pumped into a small tank of sorts then overboard. This set up is forward of the starboard engine and I've never seen this type in my life. That doesn't work for me as I think the NJ water is dirty enough without me adding to it. I want to eliminate the entire treating system but should I ? Do I need it to keep it treat the waste then pump it into the holding tank rather than overboard or should I just go from the vacu-flush head directly into the holding tank and treat it there like I have on past vessels and pump directly out from there and eliminate the system. Really not looking forward to this job. You'll probably get a kick out of this but the previous owner was going to put a "T" for a deck pump out from this system. Don't know where or what that was about. He drilled for the deck pump out fitting but never put it in and now I have to treat a rotted wood issue from the open hole on the walkway. Don't know if I stated earlier but it's an Express, 1985.

let's see if I can do this from memory, without looking at the boat.

the EXPRESS has one moulded in 40 gallon waste tank located centerline in the hull.

It fits between the center stringers in the engine room and is capped off forward by the engine room bulkhead, and aft by the engine room bilge. The 3 batteries sit on top of the lid, which is bolted down and sealed with a tremendous amount of sealant.

There are two lines plumbed to the tank. The inlet from the vacu flush and one outket.

The outlet goes into a TEE. One of the lines from the TEE goes to the pump out fitting, located near the shore power outlets on the starboard side of the boat.

The other line from the TEE goes to the macerator, and then to the overboard discharge which is just below the water line, located just forward of the factory battery charger.

The only modifications I have made to mine was to add a threaded plate to the lid when I had it off for resealing, and after going through two macerators, replaced the macerator with a vacu flush pump.

All of the above applies to the original 10 meter EXPRESS design, and sedans and 10.8 meter versions based on the original Express layout. This is NOT applicable to the mid cabin models, and sedans and others based on that configuration.

RWS

I'm sure everything you say is correct however opposite my batteries on the holding tank lid near the cabin bulkhead is where the plumbing should be going in and out of the tank according to photos I've seen on this forum. Instead the fresh water system pump and I believe the circulating pump for the air conditioning are there. Assuming they come in from the top of the tank like I've seen on Forum photos there are no hoses I can see in or out of the holding tank. There is absolutely no pump out located near the Shore power.

Blueflu, most likely when you have your holding tank pumped, it is going to a sewage treatment plant that treats the waste and then pumps it into the same waterways we boat on. The current generation of Type 1 MSDs probably do a better overall job of waste treatment than the average sewage treatment plants that sometimes overflow untreated waste into our waterways.

If you post a photo of the treatment system you have, one of us should be able to tell you what it is. More info about Type 1 MSDs can be found at http://www.boatus.com/boattech/articles/msd.asp and http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg5213/msd.asp.

We went through a similar situation when we bought our F36: http://www.trojanboats.net/wforum/viewt ... 310#p93042. After living with a treatment system for a year, I have to say that I really like it. The main advantages are not having to pump out the tank and never having to deal with odors. The disadvantage is that we have to disable the head when we go into a no discharge zone, which we have never wanted to do. We also only urinate in the head when docked and use the facilities rest room for other bodily functions, which could be a disadvantage for some. For us, it keeps the boat smelling fresher anyway.

I appreciate the links in the response. Discharging overboard is not that easy in New Jersey. The entire Intercoastal Waterway including all rivers from Manasquan to Cape May and all of Barnegat Bay and the bays south are no discharge zones. If I want to discharge I need to go into the ocean. They're basically is no choice for me because I do a lot of recreational boating in the bays. Not a problem at all while I am fishing in the ocean but I still don't like the idea of discharging overboard whether it's cleaner than waste treatment facility dumping or not. Kind of skeeves me out to know I may be eating fish in the same place I'm dumping waste or maybe swimming. I got some work ahead of me.
Thanks again

down here in Florida we have a terrible problem with all the fish and manatee poop.

Seems that the Manatees don't respect the environment and poop in the water !

And the fish are just as bad.

'Course it does make the catfish happy!

But who cares, they taste like $*** anyway !


RWS