• Untitled Document

    Join us on March 29rd, 7pm EST

    for the CBEC Virtual Meeting

    All EYO members and followers are welcome to join the fun and get to know the guest speaker!

    See the link below for login credentials and join us!

    March Meeting Info

    (dismiss this notice by hitting 'X', upper right)

no waste holding tank

nestor

Junior Member
I just bought this 1977 e27, It has no waste holding tank, and i am about to re-store this Old girl to full glory, Engin, Head, teak, ( hatch ) any suggestions will be appreciated.
 

Rob Hessenius

Inactive Member
Porta-pottie

It all depends on what type of usage for your boating needs. I would say just use a porta-pottie. 5 gallons of waste storage, if you want you can have it plumbed. Alot less money and headaches. Stick the $ into something else that can bring her back to her glory. Rob Hessenius
 

Glyn Judson

Moderator
Moderator
No holding tank in your E27.

Nestor, Ronco Plastics 714.259.1385 originally made holding tanks for Ericsons and still make them today. If I remember correctly, the tank for your boat is the 11W, with a capacity of 13-gallons http://www.ronco-plastics.net/pdfs/MarineTanks2006.pdf. As with so many other things in life, size matters and that couldn't be more true when it comes to holding tanks. A key element to head system management including odor control is that to a point, smaller is better. The less holding capacity, the more often the tank is emptied and the 11W will serve you well for up to a 4-5 day stay off shore with judicious use. Another is simplicity in design and use. I've had great success with a slightly modified plumbing system patterned after the West Marine "Our Favorite Method" example that you can see on page 493 of their 2007 catalog. The only change I highly recommend is eliminating the Y-valve shown as #8. Take a moment to understand how the system works and you'll quickly see that replaceing that valve with a T-fitting eliminates one more potential problem area while retaining the same flexability of use. In addition, a properly sealing O-ring at the deck fill is the secret of success for this whole system to work flawlessly. The one thing not shown in the drawing is a vented loop between the raw water seacock and the head inlet. This is critical to safety aboard and will go a long way toward preventing a head from siphoning and sinking your boat. The location of the loop should be as high as possible and as close to the centerline of the boat as practacable. Last but far from least is the use of Odorlos Head Treatment (page 501). I like the 40 ounce bottle because it has a convenient measuring cup built right in. It's dirt cheap and if used according to directions in a well kept tank, it will eliminate all odor from your system for ever. Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA.
 

G Kiba

Sustaining Member
Waste Tanks

Nestor,
If you decide to add a waste tank to your E27, I have a new Ronco tank (18ga), the fittings, hoses, Y-valve, Deck fitting, Vent Filter, etc that i am willing to sell at less than what I paid. I sized the tank to fit under the V-berth just foward of the fresh water tank. I even made the tank mounts. I also have the drawing I used to place the order at Ronco.

I decided not to install the tank for two reasons. I daysail and do very little camping or long distance traveling. My kids or wife damaged my current heads flushing system and I didn't want to spring for a rebuild kit. I bought a Porta-pottie.

Most of the stuff came from Westmarine or was bought online and I don't have receipts to return. Stuff just sits in my garage in case I change my mind.

Good luck on whatever you decide.

Grant Kiba
'73 E27, #406
Antioch,CA
 
Last edited:

Kevin Johnston

Member III
Solid Holding Tank

I went to a solid holding tank and replumb (as suggested by Grant in the previous reply) on our E27 years back and it is a big improvement over the original system. The new solid tank was mounted in the same holding area under the V-berth with the fresh water storage.

We cruise for extended periods of time and the new capacity was welcomed (by captain and crew). The new system was much tighter, meaning less odor, and no leaks when full. By installing a tank-watch to monitor the level in the tank and having it installed adjacent the head at least we know when we are close to capacity too.
KJ
 
Last edited:

robert.punzalan

New Member
I'm a new owner of a 1979 ericson e27, got it with no toilet, & bought & need to install it myself. So ...
1. Does my specific year & model came out the market with a built in holding waste tank? Does it also have built in overboard as an option?
2. If so, I noticed pipes how was it implemented running hose between the toilet bowl & those outlets pipes? (See image)
 

Attachments

  • 20211123_153540.jpg
    20211123_153540.jpg
    260.8 KB · Views: 24

toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
I'm a new owner of a 1979 ericson e27, got it with no toilet, & bought & need to install it myself. So ...
1. Does my specific year & model came out the market with a built in holding waste tank? Does it also have built in overboard as an option?
2. If so, I noticed pipes how was it implemented running hose between the toilet bowl & those outlets pipes? (See image)
Those appear to be old depth and speed sensors. Nothing to do with the DWV system.
 

Mark F

Contributing Partner
Blogs Author
Hi Robert,
1979 was I think the last year the E27 was manufactured. There is a good chance that it was built with a functioning head. Check under the v-birth for a holding tank and a fresh water tank.
Can you take some more photos of the head area and under the v-birth?
 

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
Porta-pottie

It all depends on what type of usage for your boating needs. I would say just use a porta-pottie. 5 gallons of waste storage, if you want you can have it plumbed. Alot less money and headaches. Stick the $ into something else that can bring her back to her glory. Rob Hessenius
Right. Go with a "MSD" (marine sanitation device) model and plumb it for pump out and/or overboard discharge. You don't want to be schlepping 5 gallons of waste when you have to dump it out.

I have a Thetford 550P MSD. It's plumbed through a macerator pump so I can empty it when I'm 3 miles offshore. Works great.
 

robert.punzalan

New Member
Hi Robert,
1979 was I think the last year the E27 was manufactured. There is a good chance that it was built with a functioning head. Check under the v-birth for a holding tank and a fresh water tank.
Can you take some more photos of the head area and under the v-birth?
I'll get tbose pics as soon i get the chance. Yes, I saw that water tank, but I saw another but not sure what it is since I didn't meticulously went thorough it.
 

Second Star

Member III
Had a 23 ft North American in the late '80s for weekend sailing. Installed a West Marine head mounted on its own 2-3 gal(???) holding tank and flushed from the 10-12 gal (??) potable water system. The tank could be pumped out from either a deck fitting or overboard. Painless.
Current 28+ has the head pump directly into a 13 gal holding tank below the v berth. The tank can be emptied by deck fitting or pumped overboard. Only issues is that since the tank is always used it must be flushed a few times a year for very good odor control.
 

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
Had a 23 ft North American in the late '80s for weekend sailing. Installed a West Marine head mounted on its own 2-3 gal(???) holding tank and flushed from the 10-12 gal (??) potable water system. The tank could be pumped out from either a deck fitting or overboard. Painless.
Current 28+ has the head pump directly into a 13 gal holding tank below the v berth. The tank can be emptied by deck fitting or pumped overboard. Only issues is that since the tank is always used it must be flushed a few times a year for very good odor control.
You never, ever want to plumb a marine head into the potable water system.
 

Second Star

Member III
The head was not like the usual marine head with a hand pump to feed cleaning water into the bowl. It was like a RV head. The type is connected to the pressurized FW system in a RV like your home head is into the city FW system.
 

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
You can connect to a pressurized freshwater system if the head designed for it:

Thanks for sharing this, Gabriel. I was unaware of this model. And you are absolutely right: there would be no problem hooking this into one's existing FW system.

I checked to see what Peggy Hall had to say about it on the SBO forum, since she's world's guru on marine sanitation. She gives it a thumbs up as the *only* manual marine head on the market designed to work with FW. For an electric macerating head that uses FW, she recommends Raritan Marine Elegance. Since she gives these her imprimatur, that's good enough for me.

Appreciate the heads up on this model, Gabriel. (Bad pun intended.)
 
Last edited:
Right. Go with a "MSD" (marine sanitation device) model and plumb it for pump out and/or overboard discharge. You don't want to be schlepping 5 gallons of waste when you have to dump it out.

I have a Thetford 550P MSD. It's plumbed through a macerator pump so I can empty it when I'm 3 miles offshore. Works great.
Reviews on that model complain about the poor quality of the mounting hardware and complain about it coming loose at sea. I like the concept, but hate the idea of it bouncing off the walls of the head. How long have you had one? Has it held up?
 

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
Reviews on that model complain about the poor quality of the mounting hardware and complain about it coming loose at sea. I like the concept, but hate the idea of it bouncing off the walls of the head. How long have you had one? Has it held up?
The mounting hardware is totally inadequate. My friend Neil (who posts here as Parrothead) had his friend who owns a machine shop fabricate a bracket out of stainless. It’s totally solid. The cheap plastic mounts that come with it are worthless. In any case, this head is no longer in production, though there are some to be found in old stock. Not sure what the current models use for mounting hardware. You certainly want to make sure that whatever you install is mounted solidly, because the idea of 5 gallons of holding tank contents flying across the boat’s interior is not great.
 
Last edited:

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
They have them at WestMarine and all over Amazon.com.
Did you "plumb it for pump out and/or overboard discharge?"
If so did you work with a set of instructions?
Mine replaced a conventional head and holding tank, so the through hulll fittings were already in place. I simply ran the output hose of the toilet to the input of a macerator pump that I added, and then ran the output of the macerator to the through hull.
 
My '74 E25 came with the factory Jabsco and no holding tank, so it has through hull fittings for raw water and discharge. The boat will spend most of its life on Lake Dillon (as it has since it was launched in '74), but I like the idea of trailering it to salt water in the winter.
 
Top