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stuck y valve
- Thread starter santigo
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2001
- RO Number
- 3655
- Messages
- 1,800
They aren't cheap. Try here:
Forespar "Y" valve, 1½", $43.67 + shipping
http://www.boatfix.com/bypage2index.asp?page=575
Forespar "Y" valve, 1½", $43.67 + shipping
http://www.boatfix.com/bypage2index.asp?page=575
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2001
- RO Number
- 3655
- Messages
- 1,800
There's no new requirement for "Y" valves. There's been a federal law in place since March, 1980 that requires that if you have a "Y" valve that allows you to bypass a holding tank (or treatment system) and discharge your toilet directly overboard, that it must be set for holding tank only, and be SECURED in that position any time that you're inside the U.S. 3-mile territorial limit. The same applies with a holding tank pumpout. If you have a "Y" valve there, that allows you to empty the holding tank into the water, it too, must be secured in the position that will only allow dockside pumpout from a deck fitting. If you get caught with the valve in the wrong position, BAM - $2000.00 federal fine! When you're 3 miles or more out to sea, there are no sanitation laws, and the toilet may be discharged directly overboard - likewise with a holding tank, it too, may be pumped out into the outside water if you are more than 3 miles out to sea. But inside the 3-mile limit, no dice! Any provision to empty either the toilet or the holding tank out into the water must, by law, be disabled.
The Coast Guard offers a few suggestions: chain and padlock, non-removable electrical wire-tie, removing the handle from the valve, locking the door to the head, etc. - but there is no requirement on the manufacturer of the "Y" valve. Some of them offer that provision, others don't. Drilling a small (3/16") hole in the valve handle will usually enable you to run an electrical wire tie through the valve handle and wrap it the rest of the way around the hose, then zipping it tight, effectively disabling the valve. It is the responsibility of the boater to comply with the law; and it's up to the boater to figure out how to secure any valves, and to be in compliance with the law.
The Coast Guard offers a few suggestions: chain and padlock, non-removable electrical wire-tie, removing the handle from the valve, locking the door to the head, etc. - but there is no requirement on the manufacturer of the "Y" valve. Some of them offer that provision, others don't. Drilling a small (3/16") hole in the valve handle will usually enable you to run an electrical wire tie through the valve handle and wrap it the rest of the way around the hose, then zipping it tight, effectively disabling the valve. It is the responsibility of the boater to comply with the law; and it's up to the boater to figure out how to secure any valves, and to be in compliance with the law.