Head Odor Prevention

It looks exactly like the Earth Safe system that I head on my last boat. It turned the flush water blue, for a little while. I honestly did not see very good results from it. If you are 'fully' using you head (#1 & #2), then the tank additives added via the toilet bowl are the only way to go. Odorlos is an excellent product.

Of course, frequent pumping is another good plan.

Bear in mind that odors rarely come from the head itself, they generally come from the tank vent on the outside. If what's in the bowl smells bad, then it has been sitting there for too long.

Paul
 
I have the odor from the "fresh" water as well, but only after the boat sits for the week prior to us getting there. After the first flush, it disappears. This tankette systems looks as though it may work, but the more junctions you put in a hose, the more chance it has of leaking. I'll take the bad first flush over a leak...for now. Pauls advixe on pumping out often is good advise. Any head chemical, even Odorloss, only works for about 2 weeks, then it's non effective any more...and if you have room for a vent filter (if you don't already have one) put one in...your neighbors will be happy about that.
 
When we had our Regal 2860 we had to use a similar device. The raw water line is long on that boat and bits of seaweed and critters in the water die off during the week. That first weekend flush would be brutal. This thing helped a lot.
 
You might check to see that you have the proper hoses on the system also. I changed all my hoses as you could smell the odor on the outside of the hose. There are speecial barrier hoses to be used with sanitation systems.
 
I replaced all mine with the SeaLand sanitation hose. It also helps to clear the lines with fresh water before leaving the boat for more than a few days. My old holding tank was aluminum it leaked, I would never use aluminimum again for the holding or water tanks. Take care. Bill
 
I don't have any personal experience with the Tank-ette but a few years back I met the owner of the company - we shared a distributor's booth at the New England Boat Show for several days. He was a real nice guy and claimed that the product worked very well and swore by it!

However, I'd never install one in a location below the waterline of the boat. I'd find somewhere ABOVE the waterline to mount it - or I wouldn't use it at all. It's very similar to the one sold by West Marine, and he mentioned that the "bullets" are interchangeable between the two, although he claims his work better -- truth or propaganda, who knows?
 
"Odorlos is an excellent product."

+1

We also pour a bottle of Pine Sol into the holding tank 1-2 times a year. Plus, use the marina head for #2 and tell your passengers the same ;-)
 
"We also pour a bottle of Pine Sol into the holding tank 1-2 times a year. Plus, use the marina head for #2 and tell your passengers the same ;-)"

I always thought that in order for the system to work properly that it needed the #2 to be effevtive. At least that's the assumption I got from what I've read on here.
By the way....Has anyone ever tried adding the stuff you buy at Home Depot or the like that you would to a septic system to grow bacteria or whatever it does to keep it working properly?
Is that type of an additive sage for the plumbing on a boat? Would it not perform the same function as other additives (odorless etc.) ??
 
" I always thought that in order for the system to work properly that it needed the #2 to be effevtive."

Correct. Aerobic and anaerobic bacteria are required to allow the system to function as designed. Couple that with sufficient ventilation and there should be no odors. Put some Calgon in the tank to preclude "stuff" from sticking to the the walls and bottom, add one of these to the tank to rinse the tank at pump out and you shouldn't have a problem.

Tornadoholdingtankflusher.jpg
 
I think the home septic additives would work but you need #2 in the tank for that to work. We do both #1 & #2 in our head no odors at all. Flushing clean water before leaving the boat keeps the hoses from smelling in my opinion.

Bill
 
Installing a filter screen in the raw water supply line, to keep the small bugs and bits of seaweed out, eliminated most my head odor problems, especially that first weekend flush.
 
I would think a strainer/filter off the thru-hull would help on RW feed toilets. With some heads you can convert them to fresh water feed this I would think would eliminate this part of the odor equation.

Bill
 
I used to get a smell from my fresh water tank also...I started putting about 1 ounce of javex bleach in the holding tank per 20 gallons of water and the smell went away...
We do not drink the water from the tank...
 
Are you guys kidding??!! There is no poo-ing on a boat, it's wrong and its a great reason to force ANY passenger to walk the plank. That is the biggest rule on my boat. The one thing you are told before I tell you where the lifejackets are is, this is a poo free boat. WE DO NOT POO IN THE POTTY. 1, 3,4...whats missing? #2...lets keep it that way, otherwise, you'll need the lifejackets, located here. Seriously guys!!
 
I installed a Tornado in my holding tank last season. It does a great job of completely rinsing the tank at every pump out. I would recommend a Tornado for every holding tank.
 
I'm surprised at the no 'chitting' rules on the boat. I find it hard to believe that someone is just dying to do it. If they have to go, so be it. It's a normal, natural body function. Now if they clog the head with a 12" lincoln log, that's a diffeent story. I have a deorderizer similiar to the one that was mentioned at the start of the post. It works OK and gives the water a fancy blue apperance.
 
You would be surprised. I think that my friends save it up for the boating experience. Fresh air must be some sort of laxitive.
The truth is that maybe I was misinformed because I assumed that it would cause odors, but according to some on here, that just isn't the case.
I am not the only one with these rules. I can think of about four boys who leave the raft up to "go buy a newspaper" first thing in the morning, rather than use their holding tanks. Maybe I will show them this and get their insight.
 
Ignoring the inlet side raw water flush odor issue for a moment:

Use the head as it was intended. That is, if you ate it, it goes in the head, along with a small quantity of TP. The system is designed to work with "the full Monty". One very effective system uses "K. O." combined with good ( make that real good ) ventilation. No problems. If you keep the "bacteria food" out of the tank, then the system will fail and will stink...

re: inlet side odor:

Normally this only affects the first flush after the boat has sat long enough for the raw water in the hose to get stinky ( due to dying live things that are in the water ). I always just made sure that I flushed the boat at least once every time I got aboard, as soon as I got aboard. It was never a major issue. I suspect that some of the strainer methods may work, or if if has become an issue, then change the head and use a pressurized fresh water system to flush. Note that it is possible for the -inlet side hose- to become permeated in raw water supplied systems. This means a periodic change of the inlet side hose fro time. ( not a bad idea, regardless. We are talking about a thru-hull hose and you should keep that type of hose "healthy" ).IMO.
 
Last year I kept my boat in the water and suffered from the stinky first flush of the weekend. This year I will be keeping the boat on a lift. If I do a flush after getting the boat out of the water it would seem that I could get the majority of the water out of the suppy lines and prevent the odors.

But, will I damage the head's pressure pump by running it dry just lone enough to get the water out of the supply lines?

Mike
 
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