Tried EVERYTHING, Head Still Smells

[Lagoon4us]

That's our remedy and we do it to this day. It is the best anti-FUME agent around LMAO...

[Sid at SailAway]

The vent line is positively 1 1/2". There are three openings on the tank, the vent on top, (the looks to be) 5" inspection/cleaning port and the outlet on the bottom. I didn't get a chance to work on it this weekend as we had Sailaway's open house this weekend. Back on it this week and thanks for all the replies!

[hlev00]

We are struggling with odor too. It started after our tank was overfilled. Thankfully nothing burst but we had some leakage around the inspection port. The head is just aft of the nav station. I smell odors from a cut out for wires going aft. Checked the vent and other hoses with no tell tale smell. I am hoping that the leakage didn't end up in some wood. I like a few of the suggestions here for troubleshooting and masking. If still a problem come fall we'll pull the tank and search deeper. Probably replace the hoses while we are in there.

I should know better on overfilling. On one charter we went to pump out and there was a little squirting as the deck plate was removed.. The pump out kid said "when this happens we ask the Captain to remove the plate", and offered me a pair of gloves. This is no doubt so they can get their cell phones to record what comes next and get credit for the next viral video. Well, I was the captain after all. I removed the deck plate thinking I was back from it -apparently not though, as the eruption caught the side of my face and head. I would have jumped in the water but as I looked down the surfaced looked pretty disgusting. I turned to my family hoping they would get me hose or paper towels. Unfortunately their bodies were convulsing due to one part of the brain telling them to hurl or flee in disgust while another part of their brains had them doubled up in laughter. Another great memory for the family from a sailing vacation.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Sid at SailAway

The holding tank is 20 gallons and is only used by my wife, I use the port side, that's why we can flush with lots of water and still go for four days before emptying.

Ah! Now we're getting somewhere. All you need to do is swap wives.

[Stu Jackson]

Some ideas:

Head Odors 101 Head Odors 101 & Fresh Water to Head from the Sink in the Head FLIX

Head Odors 101.1 - "T" into sink drain: Head Odors 101 & Fresh Water to Head from the Sink in the Head FLIX

Head Odors 101.2 The Difference between KO & Odorlos (scroll up to Reply #2) Odorlos / Raritan - SailboatOwners.com

Head Hoses 101 Head Hoses 101: Head Flushing/Hose trouble

Good luck.

[Sid at SailAway]

Originally Posted by Bash

Ah! Now we're getting somewhere. All you need to do is swap wives.

Or buy her a gas mask!

[Teknav]

...or buy a NEW boat...<without any heads>...

Mauritz
Going to behave now!

[HopCar]

When flushing with raw water sea weed and small critters get picked up and are often trapped in the rim of the bowl. It's really hard to clean the inside of the rim but this is often the source of odors. The only access is through the small holes in the underside of the rim where the water enters the bowl. When I had to clean mine, I pulled the bowl off and worked on it on the dock.

[Sid at SailAway]

Well, after pondering all the suggestions here and having a great conversation with a leading expert, I think we may have found the culprit. On my Lagoon 410 the holding tank is about shoulder level when sitting on the potty. The discharge line comes off the bottom of the tank and goes directly into a upside down "Y" fitting. Off the "Y" fitting one line goes to the "Y" valve and the other line goes to the pump-out fitting on deck. What this all means is that since the lines come from the bottom of the tank, sewage is always sitting in the lines until pump-out. And even though the lines are only 7 months old, they have permeated. The lines are just the white Trident lines at West Marine and in this case just not up to snuff.
The quick fix for this is replacing the lines with something like a Trident 102 which is a rubber type line and less susceptible to permeate. The better fix, and this is coming from the expert, is to cap off the bottom off the tank and install a 1 1/2" pick-up line from the top going to a "Y" fitting. One line off the "Y" goes to the pump-out fitting and the other goes to a pump for discharging overboard when you're three miles out. This solves the problem of sewage standing in any of the lines.
So for the Lagoon owners this may be helpful because there are a lot of Lagoons out there with lines coming from the bottom of the holding tanks.
When I get the new lines in I will report back. I have to go the quick fix first as it's somewhat easier on the budget!

[Stu Jackson]

Yup, the lines from the head to the tank should always go in the top.

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by Sid at SailAway

Well, after pondering all the suggestions here and having a great conversation with a leading expert, I think we may have found the culprit. On my Lagoon 410 the holding tank is about shoulder level when sitting on the potty. The discharge line comes off the bottom of the tank and goes directly into a upside down "Y" fitting. Off the "Y" fitting one line goes to the "Y" valve and the other line goes to the pump-out fitting on deck. What this all means is that since the lines come from the bottom of the tank, sewage is always sitting in the lines until pump-out. And even though the lines are only 7 months old, they have permeated. The lines are just the white Trident lines at West Marine and in this case just not up to snuff.
The quick fix for this is replacing the lines with something like a Trident 102 which is a rubber type line and less susceptible to permeate. The better fix, and this is coming from the expert, is to cap off the bottom off the tank and install a 1 1/2" pick-up line from the top going to a "Y" fitting. One line off the "Y" goes to the pump-out fitting and the other goes to a pump for discharging overboard when you're three miles out. This solves the problem of sewage standing in any of the lines.
So for the Lagoon owners this may be helpful because there are a lot of Lagoons out there with lines coming from the bottom of the holding tanks.
When I get the new lines in I will report back. I have to go the quick fix first as it's somewhat easier on the budget!

The over-board discharge line (mine = 60mm diameter) on both my tanks are attached at the bottom with a valve down-line close to the thru-hull (my tanks are several inches above the waterline). So on both my tanks the overboard discharge lines are full except right after an overboard discharge. I replaced one line with 60mm harder-flex plastic (in french = TUYAU ANTIODEUR WASTE DN60) as the originals are wire-wound rubber hose and the rust from the wire started bleeding thru. The other head is still the original hose - 10 years old. I have no smell from either hose. FWIW, my deck level discharge comes from the top of the tank.

Have you replaced the bottom valve in the pump yet? I still maintain that if you hear hissing/gurgling after pumping the toilet and hose dry, you are allowing the tank to vent back to the toilet via the faulty bottom valve. The joker valve only seals fumes with back pressure against it, when dry the joker will allow fumes to come back. A properly working bottom valve and locking pump handle seal the toilet bowl from the discharge hose fumes and you will not hear hissing/gurgling.

[Sid at SailAway]

Originally Posted by DotDun

The over-board discharge line (mine = 60mm diameter) on both my tanks are attached at the bottom with a valve down-line close to the thru-hull (my tanks are several inches above the waterline). So on both my tanks the overboard discharge lines are full except right after an overboard discharge. I replaced one line with 60mm harder-flex plastic (in french = TUYAU ANTIODEUR WASTE DN60) as the originals are wire-wound rubber hose and the rust from the wire started bleeding thru. The other head is still the original hose - 10 years old. I have no smell from either hose. FWIW, my deck level discharge comes from the top of the tank.

Have you replaced the bottom valve in the pump yet? I still maintain that if you hear hissing/gurgling after pumping the toilet and hose dry, you are allowing the tank to vent back to the toilet via the faulty bottom valve. The joker valve only seals fumes with back pressure against it, when dry the joker will allow fumes to come back. A properly working bottom valve and locking pump handle seal the toilet bowl from the discharge hose fumes and you will not hear hissing/gurgling.

That valve is on the list to replace....

[ranger58sb]

Maybe not head? If you have a big trap (loop) in in the discharge line from a sink in the head, standing water in there can begin to smell. We keep a small plunger handy to occasionally force standing water out of that trap... and we also sometimes treat it with C.P. (one of Peggie's products).

-Chris

[Delfin]

Originally Posted by Sid at SailAway

Well, after pondering all the suggestions here and having a great conversation with a leading expert, I think we may have found the culprit. On my Lagoon 410 the holding tank is about shoulder level when sitting on the potty. The discharge line comes off the bottom of the tank and goes directly into a upside down "Y" fitting. Off the "Y" fitting one line goes to the "Y" valve and the other line goes to the pump-out fitting on deck. What this all means is that since the lines come from the bottom of the tank, sewage is always sitting in the lines until pump-out. And even though the lines are only 7 months old, they have permeated. The lines are just the white Trident lines at West Marine and in this case just not up to snuff.
The quick fix for this is replacing the lines with something like a Trident 102 which is a rubber type line and less susceptible to permeate. The better fix, and this is coming from the expert, is to cap off the bottom off the tank and install a 1 1/2" pick-up line from the top going to a "Y" fitting. One line off the "Y" goes to the pump-out fitting and the other goes to a pump for discharging overboard when you're three miles out. This solves the problem of sewage standing in any of the lines.
So for the Lagoon owners this may be helpful because there are a lot of Lagoons out there with lines coming from the bottom of the holding tanks.
When I get the new lines in I will report back. I have to go the quick fix first as it's somewhat easier on the budget!

As noted above when you get tired of replumbing or replacing lines, wrapping the hoses with Petro tape solves the problem.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by DotDun

FWIW, my deck level discharge comes from the top of the tank.

Then that simply means there is an extension inside the tank, or else the pump out wouldn't work. The location of the outlet on the tank in that case does not reflect what is built inside the tank.