waste tank pumping - Maxum Boat Owners Club

ccruser1 · 10-17-2011, 02:31 AM

Greetings all. As I prepare to get ready for a long off season I had my waste tank pumped today. I was puzzeled however by the need or use of the second waste tank cover on the stern just above the swim platform on my SCR2300. Is this simply another access to add water while pumping to aid in flushing the tank?
thanks in advance to all respondents.

seapuppy · 10-17-2011, 03:49 AM

HUH???....there should only be one waste tank port....check in the engine bay and follow the hoses..one should go to your fw tank...and the other should go to the waste tank...then should be a port low and on the stbd transom for the macerator pump......

SP

pascavone · 10-17-2011, 11:46 AM

if you ever "bust your tank out boat jail", this is what it looks like for a 30 gallion. upside down pic.

there is only one poop popp tank, maybe that your small fresh water?

ccruser1 · 10-18-2011, 12:00 AM

Thanks for the reply seapuppy.
There are definately two access ports labeled waste tank. One is low on the starboard transom maybe 6" above the deck of the swim platform. The second port is on the starboard side on the flat top ridge about 2' from the fuel port. I could not see any hose going to the lower port by the swim platform but that does not mean it is not there.
This is a 93 2300SCR and in the marina is a 2400SCR that is much like mine and has the same configuration. If I see the owner this weekend I may just ask him.

capav8r · 10-18-2011, 12:03 AM

Where is your water fill at? I am wondering if your water fill has the wrong cap on it????

seapuppy · 10-18-2011, 03:49 AM

that's what I was thinking....you might want to go into the engine bay and trace the hoses to it's tank...like captav8r...I'm thinking the water inlet on top is the water...the one near the swim step should be the waste....

SP

bmax · 10-18-2011, 11:32 AM

My boat has the same thing because it has a grey water holding tank as well as black water. I thought this was a newer option on boats but it may be what you have.

bmax

ccruser1 · 10-18-2011, 11:32 AM

water fill is on starboard side of boat and is correctly labeled.

shrew · 10-18-2011, 01:39 PM

Regardless of what the labels read on the ports, it would be best to crawl into the engine compartment and follow the hoses. I have a friend who replaced a fuel fitting, but all he could find is on that says "WATER". Not ideal in my opinion. He knows which is which, but I would hate to accidentally put fuel into a water tank or water into a fuel tank. As said above, it might be seperate black water and grey water tanks. When the fittings are in a vertical line, they tend to put the water on the top, waste in the middle and fuel on the bottom. This is for two purposes. With fuel as low as possible both vapors and spilled fuel will run overboard instead of into the bilge. Likewise it is ok to spill water into the waste tank, but not waste or fuel into the water tank. Hence water is typically on the top.

Of course for safety's sake, I only fill/pump one at a time, so there is ever only one cap off at a time. I can't imagine trying to fill fuel and water simultansously. If I were to get water in my fuel as a result, I would only have myself to blame.

Just a couple of thoughts.

ccruser1 · 10-19-2011, 12:15 AM

Thanks to all respondents. I took a look under the engine hatch and found that the port in question on the transom does go to the fresh water tank. I double checked the port cover and the port is stamped waste. There is however another "water" fill port on the starboard side midship that I used to fill water tank prior to launch a month ago. As far as I can see there are only two tanks in the engine compartment aside from the fuel tank of course. Is there another tank hidden near the head that I am missing? Think I will check with owner of the other Maxum in marina this weekend as it looks like he has the same set up.

seapuppy · 10-19-2011, 12:22 AM

Holy moly....are you saying that the one on top on the stbd side says waste yet it plumbs to the fresh water tank???...

replace that cap.....asap....and the one on the port side I would imagine should be fuel.....or is that on the stbd side also??...you should only have one inlet for water...one inlet for fuel...and one outlet for waste......very corn-fusing....trace the one on the port side to be sure...

SP

Tommyfmu · 10-19-2011, 01:16 AM

Here's the configuration on a typical 2400SCR as I remember it. An additional port up on the stbd mid rail area would be optional, such as grey water as you said.

ccruser1 · 10-23-2011, 11:42 PM

greetings all,
Having spent the day putting my SCR2300 cruiser (1993) to bed for the winter I found I have more questions than answers.
I was confused having seen two "waste" empty ports one on transom and one on starboard side. I decided prior to today that the transom port tank was a fresh water tank as there are only two tanks in the engine compartment. Today I discovered the third tank sandwiched between the head and mid cabin wall. Fortunately there is a removable panel to gain access for service.

What troubles me now is that there is a pump assembly on the wooden tank support above the fresh water tank in this area and it is not connected either electrically or plumbed. I was trying to figure out if the shower sump pump worked when I found this other non working pump. It appears that my "water" tank in engine compartment is a "grey water" tank as there is a 1/2" reinforced nylabraid tube that goes from the shower sump motor back to the engine compartment and empties into the grey water tank at the top of the tank.
I am thinking this grey water tank may have been an option and the uninstalled pump on top of the water tank was for the factory plumbing to pump the shower water and sink water out the thru hull fitting.
If I follow the grey water line back to the tank it tees off and goes down the port side of the boat back to the galley cabinate. I cannot see where it connects if it does as the sink is drained with a thru hull fitting.

There are two switches with a twist/plug in fuse in the galley and head that I believe are to be used to activate the grey water pump but neither of them do anything. The one in the head has two wires that appear to connect (although disconnected) to the spare fresh water pump that is not actually connected to any plumbing and the switch on the sink cabinate may not be connected to anything either as nothing happens when I push the switch button. Both in line fuses have been checked and are ok.

Has anyone done any plumbing work on this model that could offer some advise or confirm my findings ?

shrew · 10-24-2011, 02:21 PM

CCruiser1. I merged threads as the new thread (previous post listed immediately above) is really a continuation of an existing discussion. This avoids confusion. On holding tanks of all kinds, the tank FILL ports are located at the top of the tank and the tank EMPTY ports are located at the bottom of the tank. First things first, trace the EMpty ports at the bottom of the tanks. Then trace the tank fill ports at the top of the tanks. This should tell you where they are beign filled from and which deck ports they are being filled/emptied from. It is very posible that you purcahsed a boat that was used in freshwater lakes, which would require that grey water be tanked and not discharged. You could very well be looking at a macerator/discharge pump for overboard discharge which is also not allowed in fresh bodies of water. The shower sump would not be a large holding tank. It would either go from teh drain to the shower sump to overboard, or from the drain to a shower sump to a holding tank. In some cases the shower drain fills a small sump of a few gallons then is pumped either overboard or to a greywater holding tank.

ccruser1 · 10-24-2011, 11:05 PM

thanks Shrew for your input. A lot of what you are saying makes a great deal of sense as I am the 3rd owner of this vessel and it was first used in New Hampshire then a little use in north eastern mass in the Merrimac river. This being said it is very likely as was indicated to me in the for sale ad posted by previous owner that the boat has seen about 90% fresh water use. The maserator is not working and may have been disabled. No big deal as I would only use the pump out anyway. At this point I think I have all the water lines figured out and now labeled for ease of future repairs. My plan is to remove the grey water tank and replumb the shower sump to the at present unused pump I found located on top of the fresh water tank and connect the wires from the switch in the head to that pump then plum the discharge to the thru wall port fitting.lastly I will remove the grey water tubing from the head area to the tank being removed and from the galley cabinate leading back to the tank as well.
again, thanks
ccruser1

seapuppy · 10-24-2011, 11:13 PM

take lots of pictures so we can see......

SP

pascavone · 10-28-2011, 04:40 PM

a lot of the time the mascorator switchs are just stuck for none use.

i soaked mine with WD-40 and worked fine again

you can jump them out to see if the motor runs.

mind did run, but the hose was clogged with petrified toilet paper.

the Coasties want a locking Y-valve here on the east coast, but its not a legal requirement.

ccruser1 · 10-29-2011, 12:04 PM

thanks pascavone.
I actually do not plan on even using the overboard waste mascerator but do have a question concerning it. I did locate a large ball valve type lever just prior to the mascerator pump and try'd to follow the hoses wondering where the discharge was. Could not find a discharge port or for that matter a discharge hose. Likely it has been removed as this had been a fresh water boat. Do you have any idea where this discharge port would be located? I figured somewhere below the water line but the only thing I found below the water line is the sea water pickup for the toilet.
thanks,
ccruser1

pascavone · 10-29-2011, 12:32 PM

Bingo!

I bet your waste tank has a Y-valve locked for lake restriction, very common on fresh water boats.

don't peep in our pool, we don't swim in your toilets kinda thing.

so, that tank your mascerator sits on is the black water tank, you need to suck it out with a shop vac, or unlock the y-valve and hook up your hose.

its suppost to make over board dumping harder to do.

its sounds like that boat is collecting gray water to, this is typical for every RV on the road BTW.