van ford wrote:
> Peggy,
>
> One other note, shouldn't ALL the seacocks on the vessel be closed?

Yup...in fact, they really should be kept closed at all times except
when actually in use. But as safety has given way to decor as builders
pander to a market that has no business owning boats, they're putting
seacocks in such inaccessible places now as to make keeping 'em closed
so impractical as to be impossible. No one is gonna take all the stuff
out of a settee, or remove a draw and crawl under a berth, to open and
close a seacock every time they have to pee or run water down a sink.
Unfortunately, that also means that most thru-hulls and connections are
never inspected either. You'd be amazed at the number of people who
email to ask why their toilet no longer brings in any flush water...and
when I ask if they're sure the seacock is open, they reply, "I don't
know...I don't know where it is." Or ask, "what's a vented loop?" when
trying to find out why their bowl fills up even in the dry mode...even
after owning the boat for several years!!

But even if you can't keep all your seacocks closed except when in use,
there's no excuse for leaving 'em open when you leave the boat. Failed
hose connections and open seacocks are the #1 reason boats sink in their
slips. Vented loops cannot protect your boat from that.

Peggie

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-baba-l@ballreich.net [mailto:owner-baba-l@ballreich.net] On
> Behalf Of Peggie Hall
> Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 9:48 AM
> To: baba-l@ballreich.net
> Subject: Re: [Baba-L] Vented loops in the head
>
> Richard B. Emerson wrote:
>
>> At the very least, two pieces of 3/4" water hose, one Forespar vented
>> loop, and four hose clamps will get the job done long enough to avoid
>> the basic risk.
>
> Sorry, Richard, but a vented loop is not an alternative to closing both
> the intake and discharge seacocks when you leave the boat! Sea water
> mineral buildup can clog the vent...hose connections can fail.
>
> While it's true that anyone who relies on the wet/dry valve, even if a
> vented loop is installed in the intake, is playing Russian roulette,
> neither that valve nor the vented loop will prevent water from flooding
> the bowl via an open discharge thru-hull.
>
> CLOSE the SEACOCKS!
>
> And btw, you need 8 hose clamps, not just 4...all hose connections in
> sanitation systems should be double clamped, with screws on opposite
> sides of the hose.
>

-- 
Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and 
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://shop.sailboatowners.com/boat_odors/
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