SeaSmart - The intelligent marine toilet sanitizer.

[nigelmercier]

Both of the above reply miss the point completely - the odour build up is in the inlet pipe from the seacock to the heads...

Indeed it is. Solution: pop a Milton tablet in the inlet filter. If you don't have a filter, fit one for about a tenner: look for a Jabsco Pump Guard sized to fit your hose.

 

[Vanilla]

Indeed it is. Solution: pop a Milton tablet in the inlet filter. If you don't have a filter, fit one for about a tenner: look for a Jabsco Pump Guard sized to fit your hose.

Excuse my ignorance but what is an inlet filter and where do you fit one? Sounds like a great solution to the smell.....which happens only very rarely on my boat and I'm convinced only when weed or a small "fish" or something living has been drawn into the inlet and left to rot!

 

[Pinnacle]

Excuse my ignorance but what is an inlet filter and where do you fit one?[\QUOTE]

Here is one example

http://www.mailspeedmarine.com/toilet-systems/jabsco/toilet-pump-guard915931.bhtml?utm_source=google+base&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google+shopping&gclid=CMjLmeS32L8CFXDKtAodoCQAEQ

Sounds like a great solution to the smell.....which happens only very rarely on my boat and I'm convinced only when weed or a small "fish" or something living has been drawn into the inlet and left to rot!

Don't think its weed ( although it may possibly be a v small fish ) as its usually down to the organic matter in the sea water dying and then decomposing in the stagnant water in the inlet pipe between the seacock and the pump.

 

[Hypocacculus]

We leave the door to our typically poorly ventilated head open when not on the boat and shut the inlet seacock. In summer there is a slight whiff on return but it soon dissipates when we open up the boat. I'm not keen on feeding anything chlorine based past our rubber seals. I've tried vinegar and other cleaning solutions but interestingly, it made the problem worse not better. Now we leave it au naturelle.

Our to do list has the item "fit a louvre to heads door" to improve air flow.

 

[Vanilla]

Thank you Pinnacle.....ordered on the off-chance it solves the problem!

 

[Noahsdad]

I have one of these on board and SWMBO loves it.
No pong from first use and a nice pale blue tinge to the flush.
I was given this by a marina neighbour who was converting to a freshwater flush. Would I have bought it? Not sure I would as the refills are maybe not too expensive at £23.50 but the postage is outrageous at £10 for a small pouch within the UK.
How long it last remains to be seen as only fitted it (easy) at the start of this season though the previous owner said it ate batteries (PP9). Time will tell!

 

[Jabs]

I have fitted one of these devices and would have to say that it is simply the best investment in comfort I have made. Operating costs are not too bad, it deals with the problem at source in a scientific way and means that when we arrive on the boat at midnight, having left it closed up for six weeks, we don't have to muck about with pumping and flushing.
Use Duracell batteries, as supplied, and they last months.

It's a great device and the developers deserve to do well.

Tony

 

[Billy Blue]

I have just read about this in the New Gear section of YM Summer edition. Seems to be a simple and safe solution to a nasty problem. Anyone got any experience with fitting/using and does it live up to expectation. I like the fact that all the connections are beside the toilet, even above the waterline, and can be seen daily without having to go below the floor to check.

I have looked at several other solutions and have been put off doing as I considered them to be the "weakest link" in the heads pipework, also most times out of view.

So many negative comments when they have no actual experience of it.
I bought one a couple of years ago and it is great. No smells now when I come on board, first flush the toilet or subsequently. Easy to install and the only maintenance is changing the battery and changing the bag.
I have used one bag per year (I am on my boat about 80 days per year).
And just to say, I have no connections with the company, just a happy customer.

 

[jdc]

Benzalkonium chloride is not that nice. But agree completely that the smell comes from the inlet pipe, and so a small dose injected into the inlet will probably work on pipes left for a few weeks unused without dispensing so much into the environment.

Not that I'll fit one. I work all week, then drive 7 hours to the boat, launch the dinghy, row out, put away stores, commission the boat (opening sea-cocks, turing on the gas etc etc), get out charts, do passage plan, cook and eat supper and cast off but haven't the stamina for 30 seconds pumping to get rid of the smell. Really?

 

[wully1]

It’s amazing the junk some folk will waste money on - probably the same folk with blue water in the toilet at home..

And I’m certain it won’t be doing the environment much good either.

 

[Sandy]

It’s amazing the junk some folk will waste money on - probably the same folk with blue water in the toilet at home..

And I’m certain it won’t be doing the environment much good either.

Another phoenix thread.

I strongly suspect that people are not pumping out they heads well enough. Never had a problem on any boat I've been on.

 

[Tomahawk]

I have had five boats. On four the heads used to stink. On .tomahawk they don't.

The difference is that on Tomahawk, the outlet is a very long way and across the hull from the flushing water inlet.

In all the others, the outlet was pretty much next to the inlet. In a marina or slack water, any flushing will suck water in just as foul water is being pumped out.. result, a tiny bit of poo inevetibly gets into the inlet pipe where it festers and infects the flushing water. Result stink..

The solution is really quite simple.

 

[Sandy]

In all the others, the outlet was pretty much next to the inlet. In a marina or slack water, any flushing will suck water in just as foul water is being pumped out.

Why is anybody using the heads in a marina! :rolleyes-new::rolleyes-new::rolleyes-new::rolleyes-new:

Who stops making way at slack water for a number 1 or 2?

 

[RupertW]

Why is anybody using the heads in a marina! :rolleyes-new::rolleyes-new::rolleyes-new::rolleyes-new:

Who stops making way at slack water for a number 1 or 2?

Anybody who doesn't use their loo for liquids in a marina in the middle of the night when its pouring down is too much of a martyr to me. We have holding tanks so have no problems at anchor for a few days but a whiff does build up on deck very close to the breather holes if the air is too still.

I don't buy the whiff from the inlet being due to unknown bacteria or seaweed and am sure (as Vyv Cox showed in his tests with plastic bottles full of sea water and left) that unless there is faecal matter present then that sulphurous whiff just doesn't happen. So either (possible??) the closeness of inlet and outlet valves suck some in or (in my opinion more likely) scale on the rubber valves is mixing inlet and outlet when pumping leaving some faecal matter in the inlet pipe which then sets off the smelly process when left for a few weeks.

And of course the outlet pipe will gradually get smellier until changed especially if (like on my arrangement) holding tanks are used a lot which means there is 4m of pipe full of sewage between loo and top of holding tank, and 1.5m between holding tank and closed seacock - both always full and always sitting there until the seacock can finally be opened and lots of fresh seawater put into the toilet outlet pipe to replace the standing sewage with standing seawater.

 

[Mister Rhino]

I have just read about this in the New Gear section of YM Summer edition. Seems to be a simple and safe solution to a nasty problem. Anyone got any experience with fitting/using and does it live up to expectation. I like the fact that all the connections are beside the toilet, even above the waterline, and can be seen daily without having to go below the floor to check.

I have looked at several other solutions and have been put off doing as I considered them to be the "weakest link" in the heads pipework, also most times out of view.

I have one, works very well. Not cheap but no smell, worth it in domestic harmony alone.

 

[RupertW]

I just don't like the idea of putting chemicals into the sea, especially something stained blue or whatever. Worth tracking down the source of the smell - unless of course you also use blue flush and air freshener at home instead of keeping things clean and ventilated.

 

[FulmarJeddo]

I don't buy the whiff from the inlet being due to unknown bacteria or seaweed and am sure (as Vyv Cox showed in his tests with plastic bottles full of sea water and left) that unless there is faecal matter present then that sulphurous whiff just doesn't happen. So either (possible??) the closeness of inlet and outlet valves suck some in or (in my opinion more likely) scale on the rubber valves is mixing inlet and outlet when pumping leaving some faecal matter in the inlet pipe which then sets off the smelly process when left for a few weeks.
Read more at http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...ne-toilet-sanitizer/page4#ZK3HUK7pHlAK0TRC.99

I have had two boats with Jabasco toilets. The first stunk on first flush every time, regardless of how many times it was flushed. I then changed boats and suddenly no smell. Both had inlet and outlet about same distance apart. Same mooring (drying swing).
During the second or third season of ownership the smell started, but the flush also got a bit stiff. I read a post on here, possibly it was Viv's that suggested it may be cross contamination in the pump. I took the pump apart, not a pleasant job but easy, cleaned it out including the valves and greased all the moving parts with silicone grease and reassembled. That was probably about 4 or 5 years ago and I have not had the bad eggs smell since. I probably should clean and grease it again soon before the problem returns.

 

[lw395]

One idea is to have the toilet pump out the wash basin via a changeover valve. That way, the toilet pump gets a dose of antibac handwash every time we wash our hands. Worked well on one boat, unless you felt the need to wash your hands again after touching the Jabsco to pump the basin.....
(in reality the pipe from the sink holds enough water to make this a non issue).

 

[tudorsailor]

So many negative comments when they have no actual experience of it.
I bought one a couple of years ago and it is great. No smells now when I come on board, first flush the toilet or subsequently. Easy to install and the only maintenance is changing the battery and changing the bag.
I have used one bag per year (I am on my boat about 80 days per year).
And just to say, I have no connections with the company, just a happy customer.

Sorry to resurrect this thread...

Does the SeaSmart do anything to reduce calcified build up in the outlet pipe work?

TudorSailor

 

[Stemar]

Unless there's something more than benzalkonium chloride in it, no.

IIRC, the calcium buildup is a reaction between urine and seawater, so it can be prevented by adequate flushing to ensure everything that wasn't pumped into the loo leaves the boat completely. There's a formula, x pumps per metre of hose, but I can't remember what it is and couldn't find it, but I did come across this idea

[h=3]So How Long Should I Keep Pumping?[/h]For as long as it takes to clear the whole length of discharge hose and that of course depends on how long it is. The solution is simple…

• Put a few sheets of toilet paper in the pan, start pumping and count the strokes;

• Get another person to check when it emerges at the other end, add another half-a-dozen strokes or so and that’s how many times you must pump it on every use;

• Then click the switch across to ‘dry’ and pump a few more strokes to empty the pipes down to the water line and that’s it, job done!

https://www.sailboat-cruising.com/boat-toilet.html