Composting Toilet - Nature's Head

[BobnCamie]

Hi Mike. We also are full-timing it now. We are sitting off of Drummond Is. Near DeTour Village waiting for fog to lift. NH is and has been fantastic. Been right at a month now cruising and would not want another system. A friend put in a new electric head and has had a few problems, but still looking for a pump-out every week. I enjoy the freedom this allows. As per your advice! I also went through the pump out with a mushroom vent. Works good,too thanks. Headed for Chicago! Best to you. Bob


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[Canibul]

We just replaced our second boat head with our second Nature's Head. We're probably going to replace the toilet in our RV with a third one.

It's basically a no-brainer for a boat. See, the whole idea of a boat is to keep the sea water on the outside of the hull.

[Cthoops]

Our Nature's Head is arriving tomorrow and we're going to install it this weekend - so excited to be getting rid of the portapotti. It's such a hassle. I do have a few questions though.

We have a Bristol 24 and we're going to put the head in the v-berth (yes, we are totally going to have to MacGyver this system). As for venting, we could go one of two ways. The PO of the boat had a marine head installed and the pump out was near the cockpit. We could run the hose there, but it would be about 9 feet and I'm not sure if that would be too long for it to be effective given that the fan is pretty small.

Alternatively, we could install a solar vent in the hatch above the v-berth and run the hose into it (skipping the fan altogether), but I'd like to still be able to open the hatch for overall boat ventilation since it's the only one we have. If we had several inches of hose for "play", do you think we could still open the hatch with the hose attached?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

[ElGatoGordo]

I'd sure not involve the hatch. You'll hate yourself if you do it.

There are a lot of people who just don't vent them.

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by ElGatoGordo

I'd sure not involve the hatch. You'll hate yourself if you do it.

There are a lot of people who just don't vent them.

I have the "lowbuck" C-Head. No vent. No need.

[Canibul]

I think I'd go ahead and use the former pump out hose, with a vent at the end. The little fan that comes with the NH is pretty small. And you don't need a lot of airflow. The hose they supply with the head is about six feet long, I think, already. So a 9 ft. run wouldn't be any big issue. The fittings that come on the head are the same as 1.25" pvc I think. It's just important that you have a constant airflow, to dessicate the contents. The air will move through it anyhow. Keep in mind, when freshly used, the odor coming out of the end of that vent for the first few moments will definitely be on the green side of compost... it doesn't last long. Until someone turns the handle. The NH version of a courtesy flush. And You have to be close and downwind to even notice, Your neighbors wont.

[KenH]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Two of us, full time (right now) with a NH. Love it! We go for about a month for the main bucket, and about every three days for the pee. CH is about 1/2 the size, which is why I didn't consider it (although it looks like a fine solution otherwise).

I ran our vent hose out the pump out deck plate. Replaced the plate with a mushroom vent. So far it has worked well. I did consider a solar vent, but that would have required a new hole in the cabin. So far, our setup is working fine.

What is the actual dimensions of the head.. I would love to have one..

Did you actually plug your thru hulls? or just close the valves and loop them.
Did you get rid of the holding tank? I know in mine that in it self would be a bitch in a half..

[The Way]

I didn't vent mine at first, as an experiment. The container just kept getting wetter (east coast US, so a humid area). Sure, you can add more moss or sawdust, but that means emptying more often.

Best of luck with it,
Jack

[Canibul]

it comes with a little 12v fan, inside a housing that the hose attaches to. And a power jack and wiring. You can put the fan on either side of the head. It and the corresponding fitting have foam filters. To keep bugs out.

[Cthoops]

It sounds like putting a solar vent in the hatch isn't the way to go. Although this summer has been amazingly dry, I think our typical humidity mandates a vent.

Hopefully there will be enough room to put a small mushroom vent at the pump out fitting. That and some extra hose should do the trick.

Fingers crossed.

[smj]

You could vent into an anchor locker if you have one in the bow.


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[Cthoops]

We've thought about running the hose into the anchor locker and attaching the end of the hose to the hook on the cap that the chain normally hooks onto (not sure what it's called). It has a small hole leading outside that the chain runs through. I wasn't sure if that hole would be big enough, however.

Thoughts?

[bletso]

No problem with the longer run. I called them and sent me a 9 ft and I returned their shorter one. BTW, nice folks to work with. I also used the old pump out deck fitting and just jury rigged a PVC U just over the cap rail. Looks like ...., but does the job. Very low priority, but will make something fancy someday.

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by bletso

No problem with the longer run. I called them and sent me a 9 ft and I returned their shorter one. BTW, nice folks to work with. I also used the old pump out deck fitting and just jury rigged a PVC U just over the cap rail. Looks like ...., but does the job. Very low priority, but will make something fancy someday.

Will somebody hand me one of those blood pressure pills?

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by BobnCamie

Hi Mike. We also are full-timing it now. We are sitting off of Drummond Is. Near DeTour Village waiting for fog to lift. NH is and has been fantastic. Been right at a month now cruising and would not want another system. A friend put in a new electric head and has had a few problems, but still looking for a pump-out every week. I enjoy the freedom this allows. As per your advice! I also went through the pump out with a mushroom vent. Works good,too thanks. Headed for Chicago! Best to you.

Great to hear Bob. We were pretty close to you, over at Coburn Island. I changed our head after 34 days. I think we could have easily gone another week, but it was a good opportunity to dump, so I started our second pile for this trip. Love the freedom!


Why go fast, when you can go slow