Have BOTH a composting toilet and marine head

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

Damn it....after reading this I just have ran out of excuses. So we will turn one of our two heads into a composter and and leave the other one old school to see how we like it. I'm imagining getting the 30gal holding tank worth of space back for storage...but it seems too good to be true.
A family of 4 will certainly be a test, especially with a teenage boy.

I'm sure you'll love it Rich. Four full timers is too much for one composter, but you know that. It will be interesting to read how you manage, and when you decide to replace the other one .

In place of a our old holding tank and hoses we now carry two inflatable kayaks, some tools, our spinnaker and drifter, plus other miscellaneous items. The space benefit was one of the big reasons we went compost. That, and freedom from the tyranny of chasing a pump out.

[Canibul]

Originally Posted by The Way

I too have had a wire corrode thru on a Nicro. I always buy the extended warranty and have had to replace 2 Nicros after a year. I think replacing the tiny o-rings under the screws annually might be prudent.

Also, periodically make sure the fan blades are running. Sometimes the fan hub wears out, so the spindle turns but the blades do not.

Fair winds,
Jack

okay I went through one completely yesterday, and fixed it. And it was totally dead. Problem was corrosion on the little brushes. I took photos of the disassembled Nicro vent, etc. and posted them on my blog, if anyone runs across this doing a search for fixing Nicro solar vents The good news is they are fixable to some extent.

The photos are at 2 Gringos in the Caribbean: Waiting for Jonas sorry for the blog flog but I figure if it saves you two hundred bucks to fix one of these things it's a good deed.

What we were told about the flies is that some peat moss seems to harbor gnat eggs. Doesn't happen with the coir bricks. We chose the coir because they're neat to stack. Suspicious looking though. Don't lose the label.

[The Way]

Originally Posted by Canibul

okay I went through one completely yesterday, and fixed it. And it was totally dead. Problem was corrosion on the little brushes. I took photos of the disassembled Nicro vent, etc. and posted them on my blog, if anyone runs across this doing a search for fixing Nicro solar vents The good news is they are fixable to some extent.

The photos are at 2 Gringos in the Caribbean: Waiting for Jonas sorry for the blog flog but I figure if it saves you two hundred bucks to fix one of these things it's a good deed.

Canibul,

Good tips and pix on the Nicro on your blog. I guess you've had to develop survival skills like that, so far from West Marine! My survival skill is to buy an extended warranty and get a new Nicro every year!!

I wish the Nicro vents had some survival skills! The price does seem high for a unit with such vulnerabilities.

Best,
Jack

[Twilight 2]

Oh Boy!
I have a composting toilet I made myself.
Not a sewage holding tank as so many replies infer.
My composting system uses leaf litter on top of toilet waste.
It lasts for months with NO smells. I use a 20 litre bucket in a wooden enclosure and have another one for my leaf litter. I have to replace the leaf litter several times before the composting bucket even approaches half full. I would not use a ten litre bucket as that is too small for composting to take place.

[RickD]

Hi All.

I know the thread is considered "old" (last year's dates on it) but this subject is just always popping up.... and there's no getting away from crap.

We have two electric toilets aboard. One is dead (motor is blowing fuses at this point, so I am sure I need to disassemble and repair). But, we have a 30 gal holding tank and are RARELY anywhere we can get to a pumpout facility in the last few months.

We left the boat in Norfolk and none of the three marinas where we are located had one, had to call for a mobile to come help us out. Since the boat is stranded there until we get back composting has been on our discussion list (somehow at dinner usually, not sure why) but we have come up with a similar view. Leave one and change the other for composting.

We do NOT want the holding tank left in place (eventually).

So when I head back at the beginning of next month job one is to remove the bad toilet (and repair it) and put the working system in the forward head area. I'll replace the aft head (in our cabin) with a composting toilet. I will not be removing any plumbing yet. We will hold off and set up the forward toilet for overboard ONLY, and lock it out when in the Chesapeake and ICW for CG regs compliance (and overboard only offshore) and when we are sure we're happy with the composting head, I'll remove the forward one, replace it, and remove the tank, plumbing and the through hulls. I see that happening next summer probably now.

Anyway, that's my comments on this subject.

[jcdexter]

Remember, you can plumb the urine bucket on your composter into your holding tank and eliminate the need to empty the urine bucket ever

[Scout 30]

The C-Head has a smaller model designed just for plumbing the pee straight to a holding tank. We're really pleased with the quality of the C-Head. However, we came across the Air Head booth at the St Pete Boat Show & we were very impressed with it's quality also. It's very small & well thought out. For us our choice came down to what fit our space best. Because our head is in the bow there is no room for a side crank so we went with the C-Head which fit great.

[jcdexter]

Airhead has a gizmo that replaced the crank end at the bowl so you can replace the crank with a socket wrench handle. Works great and reduces the space requirements. Practical Sailor did a comparison of composting toilets from different manufacturers which is useful

[clockwork orange]

I have an airhead and like it a lot but would probably go for the c head next time mainly based on cost but also has some nice features. I bought my airhead second hand but never installed for less than $450, it is the second one ive bought this way so its worth looking.