Do toilet hoses eventually become smell permeable?

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SailSouth

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www.solentboatbutler.co.uk
On my newish to me, old boat there is always an faint but unpleasent “heads smell” that I have been able to eradicate in other boats by thorough cleaning. The hoses, which are of the normal white rubbery/plastic type commonly sold in chandlers are of unknown age and could easily be 15-20 years old.

Can this sort of heads outlet pipe become permeable to smells over time?

The loos are both Lavac’s, which I like, and it’s not the “first pump of the weekend” smell I’m talking about because the loos are in constant daily use.

Any thoughts?

Perhaps I should swap them out anyway after such a long time but it's a pig of a job.
 
SailSouth said:
On my newish to me, old boat there is always an faint but unpleasent “heads smell” that I have been able to eradicate in other boats by thorough cleaning. The hoses, which are of the normal white rubbery/plastic type commonly sold in chandlers are of unknown age and could easily be 15-20 years old.

Can this sort of heads outlet pipe become permeable to smells over time?

The loos are both Lavac’s, which I like, and it’s not the “first pump of the weekend” smell I’m talking about because the loos are in constant daily use.

Any thoughts?

Perhaps I should swap them out anyway after such a long time but it's a pig of a job.
Click to expand...

Yes they do, over time, permeate nastiness to the outside. And it certainly doesn't take more than about 5 years before they don't pass the sniff test. You can wrap them with Petro Tape or it's equivalent of that's easier than replacing them and that will take care of the odor.
 
Yes, those white plastic hoses will emit an aroma. I had an unfathomable aroma aboard and found that it was the white heads piping causing the problem. If you clean the external surface of the pipe and then wipe a cloth on the newly cleaned surface and then smell the cloth you will find the aroma remains. The problem is generally cased by heads waste stagnant in a length of piping. Adequate pumping (50+ strokes of the pump often) can improve the situation but any horizontal lengths between heads and seacock is susceptible.

Generally the white heads piping that one buys in the chandlery is below par, there are much better (more expensive) waste pipes available at increased cost, not easy to find. I have details of premium pipes at home, will post later if interested.
 
This is what you need, we replaced all of our waste hoses with this, no problems since.

20170711_150835.jpg
 
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There is another source of smell that occurs with the most pricey wire reinforced butyl hose. Ours cost over €10 per metre more than ten years ago but failed when we noticed rust stains at each end and in places along the outer cover. The inner skin became porous, leaking water into the annular space between layers and dripping out of the ends. The toilet wipe test always came up smell free but the unmistakable odour of sewage persisted until we inspected carefully and replaced the hose.
 
Thanks all, sounds like I need to bite the bullet and replace the hoses then.

At £19/m for the good hose its not going to be cheap but better than a smelly heads I guess. in comparison the "cheap" sanitation hose is £7.50/m at marine superstore. If the expensive stuff 2.5X as good?

Maybe I should just replace it every few years.
 
vyv_cox said:
There is another source of smell that occurs with the most pricey wire reinforced butyl hose. Ours cost over €10 per metre more than ten years ago but failed when we noticed rust stains at each end and in places along the outer cover. The inner skin became porous, leaking water into the annular space between layers and dripping out of the ends. The toilet wipe test always came up smell free but the unmistakable odour of sewage persisted until we inspected carefully and replaced the hose.
Click to expand...

Which is exactly what I've found - tiny holes in the outer covering.
The only answer is to change the hose.
In any case I inspect mine annually, clean it every 5 years and usually have to change it after 10.
 
One other alternative is fresh water flushing, which we have. After more than ten years there is still no "heads smell". Quite heavy on fresh water usage though, even with a very short travel between heads and holding tank.
And my wife nearly killed me the night the fresh water ran out while she............
 
Never mind the smell or the price, the butyl hose is easier to get on the fittings than other types I've tried!

(I've even lashed out and bought it to use for cockpit drains before now, as the restricted access meant the only alternative was to employ someone half my size and twice as strong to get standard hose on the fittings.)

I've recently come to the conclusion that replacing toilet hoses is a service item: just do it every few years, and stop worrying about how long it'll last, or whether or not there's a funny smell aboard.
 
If you do change the hoses, and wish to extend the "no smell" period perhaps indefinitely, wrap the hose with Petro Tape. Another brand name is Densyl Tape. Used on oil rigs (and Delfin), you can wrap a black iron fitting on deck with the stuff and come back in 5 years and there is no corrosion. No corrosion means no air, no sea water. No air means no smell.
 
Delfin said:
If you do change the hoses, and wish to extend the "no smell" period perhaps indefinitely, wrap the hose with Petro Tape. Another brand name is Densyl Tape. Used on oil rigs (and Delfin), you can wrap a black iron fitting on deck with the stuff and come back in 5 years and there is no corrosion. No corrosion means no air, no sea water. No air means no smell.
Click to expand...
I have wrapped my windlass motor in Denso tape. Prevents corrosion totally but it is horrible sticky stuff so needs wrapping with polythene. It is used on subsea tubular that come up bright after years submerged.
 
SailSouth said:
On my newish to me, old boat there is always an faint but unpleasent “heads smell” that I have been able to eradicate in other boats by thorough cleaning. The hoses, which are of the normal white rubbery/plastic type commonly sold in chandlers are of unknown age and could easily be 15-20 years old.

Can this sort of heads outlet pipe become permeable to smells over time?

The loos are both Lavac’s, which I like, and it’s not the “first pump of the weekend” smell I’m talking about because the loos are in constant daily use.

Any thoughts?

Perhaps I should swap them out anyway after such a long time but it's a pig of a job.
Click to expand...

Y E S. ! !
 
I used white flexible hose which is used in food production, usually dairy which HAS to be non permeable, 6 yrs on and absolutely no smell.
 
A few SIBS ago I spoke to Lee sanitation, and their advice about white sanitation hose was to take damp kitchen roll, wipe it along the hose and smell it to see if it was permeating.

As for hose replacement, I used Vetus butyl this winter, it's worth it just for the ease of fitting, no lube or anything to slip over Blakes stubs...
 
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