Septic vapours R-25

[captain's cat]

Of course there are.... Look HERE

Charlie

 

[sidetrack]

Found the problem! I thank all of the posts directly related to the Septic Vapours topic..... However none of the suggestions worked..... and the fumes were becoming staggeringly overwhelming in both the cockpit and the wheelhouse, when ever anyone flushed the head. It was so bad it would give you a head ache and make you want to abandon ship. To start from the beginning.... the toilet had a hard time getting water into the bowl from the day I got the boat. The previous owner had only put a 100+ hrs on it in aprox 1 yr. I figured that the disk inside the plunger had dried up and would eventually seal up once it started having use.... and it did... somewhat. This past Sunday I traced all of the hoses associated with the holding tank and its venting and could find no real problems, leaks or cracks. ( By the way.... the rudder stock was rubbing on the pump out hose... something to watch out for. I zap-strapped it clear ). Next I installed a toilet kit..... and the problem disappeared. As it turned out, or at least this is what I believe was happening, the pump had an inefficient seal to draw water up and was getting air into the lower portion of the pump..... and when I pushed the plunger down, it was sealing well enough to actually push air into the holding tank. I believe that I was inadvertantly pumping the holding tank up like a balloon and the air inside the tank was venting into the under deck space. The heater in the wheel house was usually on and would draw this bad air into the wheelhouse as well. Now the toilet draws water quite nicely and the smell is gone!

 

[Stella Maris]

The best way to keep all of the "O" rings, rubber flappers, etc lubricated on a marine head is to use Mineral Oil. Dump a couple of tablespoons in and flush. Do this once a month during normal use and every time you are going to lay the boat up for anytime at all.

Never use vegetable oil (I was surprised to see this recommended in Boat US this month) as it will turn to gum and you will be back to rebuilding the head......

 

[JerryE]

Am having an Airhead composting toilet installed in our new R25 with plan to convert the holding tank to a spare 30 ga fresh water tank. I hope to fill the tank through the old pump out port and attach a hose to the macerator outflow to pump water from the holding tank into the main fresh water tank as needed. This is something to do BEFORE the head is ever used I figure (that one isn't rocket science).

There are two small (boat compatible) composting toilets available, the Air Head http://www.airheadtoilet.com/ was the original and was copied and now the Nature's Head http://www.natureshead.net/marine.html is available. The Nature's Head is $50 less, but many folks feel the Air Head is much better constructed as do I. I got minimal support from Nature's Head regarding questions, but much support including a phone call from Geoff the designer/builder of the Air Head. He is totally committed to the concept of clean water and ease-of-use in a marine head from his long personal experience. I bought the Air Head. Its being installed by the good folks at Turner Marine in Mobile, AL. I'll report back here on my experience. Weffings (maybe the most enthusiastic of Ranger Tug dealers) heartily endorses the Air Head which he has used for years on their C-Dorys. More to come on this important topic...

 

[captd]

Odor comes up from the vent on the transom and over the rail. Even with the camper package ( canvas ) it sneaks in. We ducked taped the canvas down right above the vent. Depends how the wind blows. Still had trouble. Treatment helps, but........... :cry:

captd

 

[JamesTXSD]

If one hasn't had a boat with a fixed head with a holding tank or an RV, there can be some trepidation about its use. We have several decades of experience with these, and each type has a "best use". We do use a holding tank chemical, Thedford Campa-Chem Green (available at Wal-Mart in the RV supplies). No formaldahyde. It's available in liquid or the small packs that you toss in. It does more than keep the smell down, it also helps break down solids faster. We also use toilet paper made for RV/marine toilets. No, it's not as plush as the stuff at home, but it does break down faster.

We have found that using raw water (sea water) to flush causes more smell than fresh water. It seems the little critters in the sea water die in the lines and add to the stink. Our CD-25 has the head that uses a fresh water flush. As has been mentioned in a post above, we keep a bottle of fresh water in the head to flush with... it uses less water than the flush pedal on the toilet.

If your toilet is the type that uses sea water to flush, a fresh water rinse will help keep the smell down. A thorough flushing when you have plenty of water available can also help.

It seems that some types of hose get a smell to them after a few years and the only thing you can to is replace the hoses.

After pumping out, we put a small bit of fresh water in the holding tank, then add the chemical above. There may be a slight smell when the toilet is opened, but it shouldn't be obnoxious and should dissipate quickly, with a window or vent open.

Having worked in a marina, I can tell you there IS a difference in the smell with the folks who use a toilet chemical and those who don't.

Hope that helps.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

 

[knotflying]

Ah, and this is why I have decided to go with "airhead" a composting toilet. All the research I have done on it shows it works well, no pumping issues and a couple on board full time are good for 4 to six weeks before it needs to be emptied. I am also keeping the holding tank to be used for potable water. I will let you all know if I made the right choice after our first season.

 

[Stella Maris]

From what I read on the link that you posted, the "liquids" will need to be emptied every four days..... If you are on lake Powell, two days out from a Marina, where do you dump the liquids? With our marine head and holding tank, we can go an entire week with two on board. I am not knocking the airhead, it has intriqued me. I would love to not have to "dump" the head. The other issue I see is the height. Ranger sets the heads up on a platform. With the additional height of the platform, you may need small stool to step up on if you are any less than six foot tall.....

Once you have this installed, pictures would be great.

We have not had the odor issue on Karma and she is kept in salt water using salt water to flush. The difference though may be the fact that our head is used daily. When we empty the tank, we do treat it with the chemical that Jim mentioned in his post. I also rinse the holding tank until I am getting clear water. We also flush the head a couple of times during the process to insure that the lines get rinsed.

We had the odor issue on Solitude after she sat for a week. It was always on the first flush. The odor was caused by the fresh water that sat in the intake hose for the week.

With all this talk of odor from the head, it seems like we are talking politics....... they pretty much have a bad odor too!

 

[Ram]

All of the previous suggestions are good. There could possibly be something defective in your septic system. But years of maintaining odor-free systems on various boats have taught me:

- Yes, foul water can sit in the lines. The R-25 has a long, flat line aft to the tank. Always do several flushes with clear water to clean the line before leaving the boat for any period.
- For the same reason, don't leave the bowl completely dry. That will allow gases to back up the line.
- Use tank additives as advised. Odorlos is great, but others also work well.
- Empty the tank often, never leave waste in it for extended periods. When cruising I try to empty the tank every day.
- Don't just use fresh water for the last flush - use it always. I've shut off the raw water intake and just carry a few jugs of fresh water to use in the head. Not only does this remove one more possibility of sinking your boat, it removes the bacterial action created by salt water in the tank. People might think this is a nuisance, but it's really not at all. The only reason I can see for having a raw water intake is for extended blue-water cruising - and then you ought to be using a bucket anyway.

That's my advice - take it or smell it. 😉