What's that smell?

A

adventres

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 10, 2015
Messages
99
Fluid Motion Model
C-288 C
Vessel Name
Adventres II
We have a 2016 R29CB and it's our first big boat, therefore we are learning all the ins and outs of the boat.

With that said, we had a great overnight on Blake Island over New Years weekend. Came back to the marina and pumped out the head and put in organic enzyme stuff in the head. This past weekend we headed to Blake Island for a quick picnic and play on the beach. That's a month in between using the boat. Even before leaving the marina, the boat just reeked. Hubby put more enzyme stuff in the head and we off we went with our day.

At home, we did search on the tugnut site of any other owners with head smell issues. Someone had installed a big orange and others had installed a dyi unit. The problem is, where does this unit go? we really want to get rid of the sewage smell!

thanks,
Lisa
 
Are you smelling it in the boat or outside where the vent is ?
 
We pump the holding tank at the end of each trip, then run fresh water into the tank via the pump-out fitting for about 2 minutes, then pump it out again. The fresh water flush removes most sewage residue that didn't come out on the first pump, and we never have odor problems. Just make sure you don't use your fresh water hose for this, as you could contaminate it. Use one hose for filling your fresh water tanks and connecting to shore water, and a different hose for everything else. We use a white hose for fresh water, and a green hose for everything else, and store them in different locations just to make sure we don't mix them up.

Brad Owens
 
Thanks for the info Brad. Seems like 2 minutes is a long time. You ever have a problem with over filling the tank?

Jake
 
Believe it or not that enzyme stuff you are putting in may be the culprit. The solids should naturally decompose somewhat. The enzyme will speed that process up considerably. If I were you I would not use it. If anything you may want to use the specified marine type products that have a deodorant. Some of them will also break down the solids, but not through a biological breakdown, but more of a chemical process.
 
The smell is outside. Every time someone uses the head and flushes, you can smell it, or just even sitting in the back.

The enzyme stuff we used is the same stuff we used in our porta-potty. But that totally makes sense that it could be the culprit.

I think my husband is using the fresh water now in our tank, but we were not pumping it out the second time. We will try that. We try and pump out every time we come back, but it doesn't help that we get in late into the marina and they are closed. Karl isn't ready to pay the $20!

Brian B you were the post that we saw during our research! I think the quick fix is to try the fresh water, then if it still smells we will try the filter.

Should we try the bleach/detergent cleaning? I read somewhere to put the stuff in the tank. go boat awhile to agitate it and then come back and flush, repeat.

Thanks all! 😀
 
The charcoal filter should be installed above the black water tank and as close to the exterior vent as possible.

Jim
 
We never used enzymes in our waste tank. Our boat fairly new and when we flushed the toilet it smelled pretty rank. I did the charcoal filter thing on the waste tank vent hose as instructed by persons on this forum. We no longer have did you just flush the toilet question because of a sudden odor issue. Pretty easy to make and install. Fresh water crap or salt water is still crap and both stink. 😀
 
We installed a big orange filter behind/beneath the galley fridge since it was between the tank and the external vent on an R-31. I had to seal closed the big orange container with silicone though because there were tiny air gaps in the container itself. You don't want to move your exterior vent smell to the bilge instead
 
We had a similar problem on our R-25SC. We installed a Big Orange Filter in the black water vent line and the problem disappeared. We will be taking delivery of our new R-29S in April and the first modification will be a Big Orange Filter.
 
I am always amazed at the number of boaters that have odor issues with their holding tanks. After 26 years of owning boats with holding tanks, only two or maybe three times have we had an issue with holding tank odors. And, that was because we forgot to add chemical after pumping it.

Before moving aboard, we would always pump on the way back in. Now that we live aboard we pump once a week. When we pump the tank, I always flush the tank with fresh water until I am drawing clear liquid out of the tank. Sometimes this means I have to fresh water rinse the tank three or four times. Once the tank is pumped, we add the chemical to the Toilet and flush.

We have no filter of any type on the vent.

The chemical we have used for years can be found at Wal Mart and Camping World.

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/it ... 0-oz/50456
 
Boy oh boy do I feel stupid putting a home made charcoal filter on our vent line. I blew all that money for the parts and over a year putting all it together. I guess I thought I could maybe avoid those two or three times of stinko in 26 years. 😀
The marina we are staying at marina in the Florida keys does a free pump out once a week. I'm pretty sure if I tried to do the 4 part rinse routine the guy might go postal. I'm going to take my vent filter off and throw it away. I'm so ashamed. :shock:
 
I will never own a boat WITHOUT a vent line filter. They work great. Change the filter once a year and you are good to go. I can't believe the number of stinky boats in our marina and I can only imagine what the inside of the boats smell like. The holding tank additive helps keep the inside of our boat smelling like new.
 
Regarding my earlier post about running fresh water into the holding tank for 2 minutes, that is at a very slow rate of fill. Check the level on the panel frequently to avoid filling the tank.
 
we always do the fresh water fill and re-pump as well - in addition to adding enzymes to the system. The in-line filter is the most reliable. We do not pump out every week. I guess we need to drink more 😀
 
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