Holding tank: hose and smell problem

quote:
Originally posted by HOGAN

My read is that you replaced the head 2 years ago, but that you really have no idea how old the hoses are.

You need to wrap a warm wet towel around the hose and see if it absorbs the stink. If it does, your hoses are shot, which is probably the case. You will need to replace them.

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The head is 2 years old but I do not know about the hoses. They are the heavy gauge white ones that are very tough to bend but very thick. I mistakenly did not check them because I felt that they were "to big to fail." Bad mistake because they could be restricted by "crap." I have alot to look at when I am able. Great replies from everyone.
 
quote:
Originally posted by btoran

how bout ditching the head and installing a porta-potty? these can hold up to 5 gallons in a self-contained unit (the base of the potty). they can even be plumbed to a deck fitting (although you need to be careful when pumping out or you can implode the potty). you could then remove all the hoses (except to the pumpout deckfill) and re-use the space the current holding tank is sitting in for a fresh water tank.

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Great input!!! I did remotely think about it but I haven't looked into sizes, dimensions, costs and hose hookups. This I can do easily while I get back in shape. Thanks for the "gentle" reminder.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Vic Willman

.............. The trick here is to add a fine-mesh strainer in the supply water line between the through-hull and the entry to the toilet. Put it in an accessible location where it can be emptied when needed. That will filter out the bulk of the odor-causing stuff, and improve things quite a bit.
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I did that and it has helped quite a bit.
 
quote:
Originally posted by capecodmoon
[brThe head is new(2 years) and whenever it is used, I clean it out with a toilet brush and some diluted bleach cleaner. Whenever I get the tank pumped, I then rinse it out with fresh water and put one of the disolving tablets in the bowl. After a period of time(5 min) I flush the head into the tank.
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You go through all that every time you use the head?

You are not understanding Vic. The sea life is being trapped inside the head, inside the rim in the water passages. No way to get a brush in there and no way to get toilet bowl cleaner to it.
 
Thanks Ron, I was about to say the same thing. Been out of town since Thanksgiving and haven't been able to reply. The problem often is that there is all sorts of stuff trapped inside the hollow rim at the top of the toilet bowl. You can't get inside there, to clean it out. The stuff that is trapped inside the rim of the bowl decays while in there and stinks like all getout, particularly when it gets wet!
 
capecod, unless i missed something in the thread here i did'nt see where you have a filter in the vent line. if you don't have one, install one, its cheap and easy to do. if there is one and you don't know when the filter was changed last change it. the smell from the tank is supposed to go overboard but it can still get back into the boat and the stink can make your eyes water. cleaning up the tank will get rid of the smell for a short period of time but it always comes back. the warmer the weather the faster it comes back.
 
quote:
Originally posted by btoran

how bout ditching the head and installing a porta-potty? these can hold up to 5 gallons in a self-contained unit (the base of the potty). they can even be plumbed to a deck fitting (although you need to be careful when pumping out or you can implode the potty). you could then remove all the hoses (except to the pumpout deckfill) and re-use the space the current holding tank is sitting in for a fresh water tank.
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A properly installed, operated, and maintained marine sanitation system should not be an odor problem. Removing it and replacing it with a porta pottie would devalue the boat.

And, unless you never take overnight trips and don't mind emptying the porta pottie after every trip, five gallons capacity is way too small.
 
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