Composting Toilet (AirHead) going sour after 5 years

[john61ct]

Some were too harshly pottie trained

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by jimisbell

OMG. after reading this entire thread, especially #14 thru #20 and all the posts about saving the paper, it reminds me of the trains in Mexico where they sweep the paper down the center isle and out the door.
I will NEVER have one of these and will avoid like the plague any boat that has one!!!!!!!!!!!!

to each his own . However your comments have naught to do with the issue the op is having .

[Toccata]

Re antibiotics and a composting system.
Wouldn't the antibiotics also kill the bugs that are doing the composting?? Possible cause of the "pong"??

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by newhaul

to each his own . However your comments have naught to do with the issue the op is having .

But as we know, this topic seems to bring out a lot of uninformed opinion.

Originally Posted by Toccata

Re antibiotics and a composting system.
Wouldn't the antibiotics also kill the bugs that are doing the composting?? Possible cause of the "pong"??

It’s an interesting question. As I said earlier, these heads’ main action is really as a dehydrator. Composting certainly does happen, but especially for full timers, desiccation is the more important function.

With regard to antibiotics, we know the over-use of these drugs results in contaminated human effluent. So the first approach is to only use antibiotics when they are actually needed, and only enough to do the job. And get rid of all those antibiotic cleaners. They’re pretty much a waste.

Beyond that, I’d guess it would depend on what kind of antibiotic is being used. Unless it is a broad spectrum antibiotic, it’s doubtful that it would target the bugs at work in these composters.

I suspect the impact would be pretty minimal in general. But I suppose if you were using just the right antibiotic, and having too much flow through, then it might have an impact.

[Fi2010]

Geoff is the inventor and owner of the Airhead toilet system, as well as a cruising sailor. Geoff is highly knowledgeable and I’m sure he can answer your questions. Geoff will be attending the Annapolis Sailboat Show Tent K5.

Natures head (Tent B8), a former dealer of Airhead toilet, has attempted to match the quality of Airhead toilets.

[19523]

Hi everyone,

An update after a few months of trial & error:

I did email back and forth with Geoff, but eventually dropped the ball; I'll need to update him soon. We discovered through pour tests that the pee was backwashing into the solids compartment via the underside of the trapdoor.

I've attached diagrams for clarity and posterity.
Green is the ideal flow; blue is the average flow. The black square on the cross-section is our addition, a line of silicone.

The silicone solved the problem immediately! But from the force/friction of the trap door closing, the silicone line has since fallen off and we're back to where we started. We've been more conscious of our angles/trajectories when we use the head, but it's only a partial fix

We experimented with a stiffer epoxy on the newer Airhead in our trailer. The epoxy lasted even shorter than the silicone. Luckily that model is still working fine.

If anyone has suggestions for an epoxy-type substance that will bind on the plastic (not sure what type) AND resist a barrage of pee, I'd love to hear them. In the meantime, guess we'll dive in again and see what we can do. Current plan is Gorilla glue and a line of neoprene...

EDIT:
I didn't realize the thread had kept going beyond page 1! Thanks for all the suggestions.

More notes-- We went on a 2-week trip on our travel trailer with our newer airhead. With a better trapdoor (and same digestion...) the system worked fine. It's happily composting and dry, a great earthy smell coming from it and everything.

We have always put toilet paper into the Airhead without problem. It adds bulk, but it had never affected the moisture problem until now.

A thought is, perhaps the plastic has warped over the years. We're slowly getting there.

[alansmith]

I am too lazy to reread all posts. Here is what I would do about your silicone sticking problem. Draw a line on the surface u want to silicone with a magic marker. Take a dremel tool with sanding tip. Or use 100-140 grit paper and rough that slick plastic up a bit. Then the silicone has something to grab on to. Try it. I think it will work.

[19523]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to touch on my most recent update, which originally painted Geoff/Airhead in a bad light. I was frustrated, not solely from the composting but other things as well. It’s not a good excuse, but it tainted my writing.

My first pass, before I edited it, said:

“After some unhelpful emails from Airhead, we discovered through pour tests (not recommended by Airhead) that the pee was backwashing over the top of the trapdoor into the solids compartment. …”

I realized when reading after posting (wrong order) that it was unfair to Geoff/Airhead and changed it as fast as I could. I also want to clarify that I dropped the ball in our email communications, due to personal problems. I initially emailed him within hours after first making & engaging in this thread, once I realized it was an option.

Geoff had been very patient and quick to respond in the time we were communicating. He even reached out after my recent update to make sure he hadn’t neglected communication, which I greatly appreciate.

My sincere apologies to Geoff and anyone who got the wrong impression of Airhead’s customer service.

Even if we can’t figure out what’s going on with this particular Airhead, I would take this, tenfold, over dealing with wet head system any day!! We took an Airhead all over the US with us for two years; without it, we couldn’t have completed our trip the way we did. We will probably equip our next boat with an Airhead as well, when the time comes.

Anyway, I will post another update if I make progress. I like seeing a solution when looking at past troubleshooting forums. Hopefully this will help someone in the future.

--L

[Mike OReilly]

Good on you for clarifying and updating things 19523. Not everyone does. And glad to hear about Air Head's good customer service. I'd always heard this was the case, so was surprised by your initial posting.

Again, good on you for the update .

Did you solve your backflow problem? Did you find a goop that would adhere properly to make your lip? Or did you find another solution?

[19523]

We haven't yet! Luckily with our "aiming" workaround, this is now lower priority on list of chores, especially as the season starts to get nicer. We'll probably try a new method next cycle. Last batch wasn't a "clean" sample since it was left alone for two weeks to dry out, very nicely at least. Will dive back in and hopefully emerge with good news in a few weeks!