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fatherchronica · 12-02-2018, 08:51

We let our non-nautical daughter move aboard when the house where she was renting was sold simultaneous with her loosing her job while we bought a truck and camper and went camping for 3 months, which stretched out into 11 months, at which time we got sick of camping and bought a beach house and 5 months later she moved off of Mana. So due to her not following my marine head to do list we had a similar problem which I thought was the vent, then I thought it was sub standard hoses, and I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned, inside and out. Pretty much to no avail. So before we motored Mana to our new home last September I put a bunch of poop eating enzymes in the head, and filled the holding tank with fresh water until the overflows were running over and let it sit for a couple of weeks then pumped it out and went back to my regular routine. And it seems good now. I think that my vent hoses are not rated for head odors, but we are so busy fixing our 50 year old beach house that I didn't want to get into doing a replacement yet. Some day, before we go sailing again.

Captndave1 · 12-02-2018, 08:51

Never any smell on my boat, I installed a fish tank air pump that puts fresh air into my holding tank 24/7. The air is then pushed out the vent. NO smell ever.

Harlequin · 12-02-2018, 09:23

You don't have battery in the vicinity, do you? Such as a for a bow-thruster.

I know from bitter experience that when batteries start to cook off, they smell very like bad head smells, or old marina water in your toilet bowl.

Much more likely to be blocked vent, but worth checking, just in case...

We haven't gone to the trouble of plumbing in fresh water flushing, but just use the shower hose for flushing when we're in port with lots of water available. It certainly makes a difference keeping the boat fresh, and slows build-up of calcification.

keithw88 · 12-02-2018, 09:25

An inevitable event when owning a boat!
Many of us have experienced this symptom, manmy more then once and often the result of different causes.
I have had smells due to animal-life in intake hoses (sea-water flushing, which I no longer have); due to hoses losing their impermeability; due to a badly implemented vent; due to a mini-slit in an house which expanded over time. But one is probably not so common: in a Vacu-flush lavatory there is a gasket between the bowl and the base and below the gasket the top of the base has various little chambers created by the reinforement ribs. The gasket had been damaged when the lavatory was assembled and over the next few weeks urine leaked into the various chamber. I think we all know that old urine stinks far worse then poo. Every time the lavatory was used, it seems the weight of the user made a liitle of this stinky juice leak out. I really thought my guests had the same urinary systems as old elephants; we washed and disinfected constantly without success until I dismantled the whole thing and found the problem.
Simple to fix - but not the first thing that came to mind!

TiggerTwo · 12-02-2018, 09:29

I worked out the smell was osmosis in the pipes..
I hated all the pipes and jubilee clips.. and trying to clean around it all..
Plus the ruddy pan was too small, so you can only do one thing or the other..
So i took it all out and now have a flexibucket and full size seat, all well painted and easy to clean..
On top of that people seem to think its ok to pump out on the moorings or anchorage.
I didn't have an holding tank..

Now we wait till were out at sea to empty..
It's never much and for me its fifty times better than smelly pipes and trying to clean it all..
I started all this with compostable bags and flat stones to sink the aforementioned ..
But we started to think and after research and enquiries, that the bags dont melt away to nothing ..
So now my fantastic idea is on hold till we find a truly non plastic bags..

Chuck Hawley · 12-02-2018, 09:37

I have found that it's more likely to be the intake hose than the discharge hose/tank. Water stagnates and putrifies, and it will make your eyes water because it's so terrible. The so-called "rotten egg smell" of hydrogen sulfide.

Temporarily, remove the intake hose and pump some vinegar through it. Or replace the inlet hose.

Best solution: freshwater rinse of the bowl. Virtually solves odor problems.

Chuck

PeterSz · 12-02-2018, 10:32

Thank you very much for all the great advices. I think I’ll go trough all the possibilities one by one. Start from the easier.
I’m planning to change it to a compost toilet sometime soon. One of my friend has one. I was so surprised that there was zero smell, nothing, nada. Plus pretty much nothing to break. Environment friendly and minus 3 hole on the hull. Sounds good to me.

ranger58sb · 12-02-2018, 10:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2big2small

I have two sets of hoses so I can interchange them because I find the “beating on the floor” is immensely more efficient after I let the hoses dry out for a week.

The lazy fix is to fill it with bleach, the thorough fix is to disassemble both hoses and “beat” them.

Might be an easier method, depending on which hose (salt water intake, effluent discharge)...

We had a clog in our discharge -- mostly because I had the system open and inadvertently let it dry out before putting it all back together. Uric acid scale.

Barnacle Buster solved it. The same company makes Sew-Clean which is more to the purpose, but I happened to have BB on board. Called them, they said it'd work fine, used SC dilution instructions instead of BB dilution, worked like a champ.

Peggie says Raritan's CH (Cleans Hoses) is relabeled Sew-Clean.

-Chris

Davidhoy · 12-02-2018, 10:51

Not to harp on the composting head angle too much, but I'd like to share something that might be of benefit to anyone installing a Nature's Head unit. I found that the vent fittings on either side of the toilet did not leave enough space, on my boat, to attach the hose leading out to the deck vent. I designed and 3D printed a right-angle adapter that replaces the regular straight fitting - this allows you to direct the vent aft, forward, up, or down, depending on your needs.

If anyone wants the 3D CAD model, you can get it here - http://a360.co/2Bn9r73

Greg Mason · 12-02-2018, 11:52

My white discharge lines looked great. When I took one off, you couldn't get a toothpick through the deposit, which then generated through the hoses like a radiator giving off stink. We eventual had to replace all mattresses and soft materials to get rid of the years of permeation. Ugliest job I have ever done. Still have the same holding tank, no smell, and no original hoses.

hellosailor · 12-02-2018, 17:46

"so you can only do one thing or the other..
So i took it all out and now have ...full size seat,"
Thank you Tigger! Sometimes I wonder just how anyone fits on the standard baby sized marine heads, and whether anyone ever tried sitting on one before building or buying a boat.

David, I think you don't give a "properly vented composting toilet" proper credit. It doesn't stink because there is CONSTANT POWER VENTILATION. Not because of the composting so much, especially since they really dessicate, they don't compost in that short a time period.

Ordinary head compartments, properly maintained, smell outdoorsy fresh when you add a solar vent in the overhead. Incredible what that ventilation will do, regardless of the head type.

PeterSz · 12-02-2018, 17:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Mason

My white discharge lines looked great. When I took one off, you couldn't get a toothpick through the deposit, which then generated through the hoses like a radiator giving off stink. We eventual had to replace all mattresses and soft materials to get rid of the years of permeation. Ugliest job I have ever done. Still have the same holding tank, no smell, and no original hoses.

Sounds like fun. I think I’m facing something similar.🤪