Smell From the Head

[landonshaw]

So I have gotten a really bad smell in the head. Yesterday we took everything out and washed it down with pine sol and water and vinegar. This includes taking everything out of the cabinets and washing inside them and then the bottles. I disconnected the intake water hose and poured vinegar down them, although they did not smell when I disconnected. Also have poured vinegar down the bilge pump drain.
A few months ago the system got clogged in the exit side from calcium. I took this pipe off and cleaned it out and refitted to the head. There is not a leak on the floor.
We discharge directly off the boat, no holding tank. For information, boat was built without one.
I am tempted to lift the head and clean under it. But would like to try EVERYTHNIG else first. Any suggestions? Thanks

[Jim St.Pierre]

I had the same problem with oder. I replaced the discharge pipe from the head to the tank, it seemed to do the trick. I also put use a product called "ExterminOdor" from West Marine. You being in Grenada might be a problem to find a West Marine. Good Luck, Jim.

[Vasco]

Take a paper towel and swipe the discharge hose. Sniff it, if it smells replace the hose. With overboard discharge you don't have the complications of a holding tank. It can only be the hose if the toilet is not backfilling.

[landonshaw]

Thanks. I will take the hose out again and smell. I hadn't thought of replacing it or seeing if it is the problem since I had just cleaned it. Actually banged it on the side of the boat to dislodge the buildup of salts in it. This is a good step before I try to take the head off and look underneath.

[sdowney717]

If you get the stinky smell only when you flush then it is from dead decaying organic matter in the flush line.

You can put in a strainer filter next to the seacock.
You can flush with fresh water from the sink.
Use fresh water flush when you leave boat to sit.

People say they use the drain line from sink.
Connect line from head intake to sink drain seacock, only can do if it exits underwater.
close sink seacock, fill with water, flush head.

I have thought about using the heads intake seacock as the sink drain and doing that too.
would that cause the head electric motor to suck air?

[senormechanico]

Pumping more water through the head after every use will reduce or eliminate buildup and slow down the odor permeation of the hoses.

Our boat was 5 years old when we purchased it and the hoses smelled.
I replaced them and it's been 12 years with no stink.

[landonshaw]

I took the hose off of the exit side of the head and all is clean and no smell. Took the head completely out of the boat and the smell is coming from the cavity that is located at the top of the toilet seat. This is where the water is funneled to flush out the head. I am going to soak the head in vinegar, upside down so as not to use so much vinegar then flush with water.
Any suggestions on how to maintain this area? If I could block all of the little holes under the lip then fill with vinegar it could be done on the boat without removing th ehead. Also I would like to insert a brush of some type into this area to remove any dead matter before it decays. Not sure what to use. This area can be accessed in the back through the hose that feeds the water into the head. Any suggestions? Thanks

[peghall]

Try cleaning the shower sump. A sump in need of cleaning is a primordial soup that can make the head smell like a swamp or even a sewer as the gasses escape back through the shower drain.

And then I read your last post..."the smell is coming from the cavity that is located at the top of the toilet seat...."

Flushing has pulled in some animal or vegetable sea life that that's died and is decaying in the channel in the rim of the bowl. Put the bowl on the on the dock, sticka hose nozzle up against the inlet hole on the back of the bowl and blast it out of there. You may need to use muriatic (hydrochloric) acid to break it down enough to flush it out, but the good news is, the muriatic acid will also dissolve any mineral buildup in that channel.

If this is likely to be an recurring problem, it would be a good idea to put a strainer on the toilet intake.

And clean your sump anyway...'cuz it needs it if it hasn't been done in a while...if ever.

(There...I've had my "forum fix" for this month)

[landonshaw]

I removed the head and soaked it upside down in a bucket in vinegar. The vinegar only covered up to the lip where the water flows into the toilet bowl. Left it for 3 days, flushed it out with water, reinstalled. The spell is totally gone. In the future I will undo the entry hose to the head and pour a vinegar in let it then go into the toilet bowl. Once a month I hope will be good enough. Thanks for all of the comments.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by landonshaw

In the future I will undo the entry hose to the head and pour a vinegar in let it then go into the toilet bowl. Once a month I hope will be good enough. Thanks for all of the comments.

You can connect the head supply line to the sink drain line. Then to do your flushing you just shut the thur valve and pour the vinegar etc into the sink and pump it though. Makes for good way to be ale to flush the line regardless.

[Lagoon4us]

We had the same problem when we bought this boat, when we flushed we noticed some black deposits coming from the holes you guys speak about (up under the rim) this was after i replaced all seals.

When we saw the black bits we assumed it was a re-circulation problem but from what i'm gleaning from this thread i'm believing it's an area where gump can grow.

I've noticed that there is plastic hose and there is SANITATION hose advertised in some marine catalogues, seems plastic/Nylex weeps smell over time.

VASCO gives a great method of detecting IF the smell is emanating from the hose.

Cheers

[DumnMad]

[QUOTE=senormechanico;1011820]Pumping more water through the head after every use will reduce or eliminate buildup and slow down the odor permeation of the hoses.



Yes this cleans out the dead water.

[landonshaw]

For those of you that have used muriatic acid in your head. Do you poor it in full strength, let it sit for 5 to ten minutes then flush the system? Any damage to other parts of the system.

[Lagoon4us]

Once clean buy a bottle of Eucalyptus oil, put a drop in before use and there will be NO odours again. Try it it works..... Cheers Frank

[landonshaw]

My head smell problem has persisted. I eventually replaced all of the hoses and still a smell. Finally I disconnected the hose that runs to the head and poured muriatic acid into the hose. This then went into the area that flushes into the commode. I followed this with extensive flushing and repeated the procedure 2 more times. I found black matter coming out and into the toilet bowl. This material could have only come from the inside of the toilet under the lip since everything else was new. Also the hull of the boat has been recently cleaned. The smell has disappeared! I just added an inline pump filter before the manual pump to catch anything that might get in. During the process early on, I had flushed a small fish into the toilet. I imagine the smell that I had was from a fish that got into the toilet but could not be flushed out through the small holes in the lip.