Stinky heads-sulphur smell

[Haven't-a-Clue]

We never use sea water in ours, fresh only, from the sink tap and a little olive oil occaisionally as reccommended on this forum some time back. No smell...........ever. 'Course, with access to some interesting water treatment goodies from the 'orspital, the 'fresh' water is just drinkable in an emergency but I usually have a separate supply for drinking and the tank water is used for cleaning and flushing.

 

[john_morris_uk]

So much aggression ?????????

I was replying to john morris previous post, I too sail with open sea cocks. The reply centred around the original poster who had no swan necks in his pipes if you remember.

Good sailing to you and fair winds.

I certainly do not know too much.

I'll leave it up to you to work out what sort of boating I partake in and whether I've done any sailing.

If you read my post I suggest that it 'might' be necessary to close the seacocks. I think that I am right in saying that lots of boats don't have their toilets below the water line - even when sailing and heeled over. Leaving the sea cocks open on these boats doesn't necessarily lead to a flooding and sinking feeling...

The OP refers to the goose necks or anti-siphon loops in the pipes - again a countermeasure to the flooding and sinking feeling.

 

[mcframe]

John Morris has it exactly right. The flap valves and piston seals on most sea toilets are very inefficient and it is inevitable that some foul water from below the piston will pass above it, and hence through the valve into the inlet water. Flushing more thoroughly will certainly help but we had marked success by not using the 'bowl empty' function. I believe that it is far more difficult for sewage to pass the piston if there is water above it than if there is air. If you must use 'bowl empty' then give it a couple of pumps on 'flush' after every use.

Oh dear.

I disagree with Vyv - there must be some misunderstanding.

Sure, we sometimes chuck in a bit of fresh water and/or olive oil, but explicitly doing "Bowl empty" (lots of strokes) and *not* doing "flush" (i.e. pumping more bacteria-laden seawater into the inlet part) when leaving the boat has WorkedForUs.

Following previous posts, I'm of the school that says "If you pump out all the sewage, then the smell must come from stagnant (but alive) seawater, so don't pump that in."

 

[philwebb]

LOO SMELL

Thanks for all your suggestion guys. I will try them and see what works. What puzzles me
is that I never had this problem on the previous loo made by RM and wonder if I had changed like for like whether I would have this problem. I note your concerns about
flooding - it only happened once when a guest left the lever in the wrong position overnight.
I usually sail with the seacocks open but will monitor the situation with the new toilet.
Regards, Phil

 

[Lakesailor]

I have no experience of sea loos. I sail a small cruiser with no loo on a lake.

However, I have worked extensively as a manager for Dyno-Rod and as a proprietor of a drain-cleaning business.

I find it astonishing that Jabsco holds the prominent position it does in the leisure marine industry when their product is obviously so flawed.
It cannot be beyond the wit of a competent designer to come up with a no-block, no-odour toilet system.
Where are the much vaunted British designers and engineers?

 

[LadyInBed]

I use bleach - it works after a fashion - but the only answer is to pump hard when first you return to the boat, holding your breath.

Once the toilet is in regular use, I think you'll find the problem goes away.

I do not use bleach, just pump like hell for several mins on return then spray a bit of Dettol around to give a nice fresh smell. Then as you say, smell gone for the rest of the trip.

 

[vyv_cox]

So much aggression ?????????

I was replying to john morris previous post, I too sail with open sea cocks. The reply centred around the original poster who had no swan necks in his pipes if you remember.

Good sailing to you and fair winds.

I certainly do not know too much.

Aggression? I don't think so.

Re-read what you wrote. Maybe not your intention but it comes over badly, especially to a well-established yacht-owning forumite whose contributions are well regarded.

 

[vyv_cox]

Thanks for all your suggestion guys. I will try them and see what works. What puzzles me
is that I never had this problem on the previous loo made by RM and wonder if I had changed like for like whether I would have this problem. I note your concerns about
flooding - it only happened once when a guest left the lever in the wrong position overnight.
I usually sail with the seacocks open but will monitor the situation with the new toilet.
Regards, Phil

The toilet I had when I wrote the YM article was an RM69, so I can assure you they can smell very badly.

This year I fitted a Jabsco LITE electric flush toilet, which is behaving extremely well. Used every day since May and not a whiff out of it.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

We too have new Jabsco heads and new pipes as it is a new boat. The same smell happened within a few weeks of getting the boat - it was just the water in the pipes. We have easily cured the problem, which is a simple process and worth trying before anything else.

1. Use the loo as normal, and make sure you do 20 pumps every time. There is a recommendation in the manual for pumps per metre of hose, but 20 should cover most installations.
2. When you leave the boat, use a bucket, or if you are lucky enough to have a long enough pipe, the shower/sink hose to flush the loo again. We fill the bowl half full and do the twenty pumps with the fresh water.
3. Shut the sea cocks and go home.

If this doesn't clear the problem, it must be an inlet hose issue, and for that you can fit a Leesan freshwater flush that plumbs into the inlet near the seacock. Chances are it wont be necessary though.

 

[Crowblack]

When we first bought the boat was buying some new seals and pipe for the Jabsco and an old boy wanders up and says "don ee forget it's 7 pumps per metre with one they things, then a couple on the empty side an a couple more on fill an you'll not get the stink"

So ever since we've given it 21 pumps, switched to empty for three or four more, then back again for a further couple - and so far it's never smelt in eight odd years.

 

[LittleSister]

Long pong

We suffered for a while from a mysterious and disgusting smell in our heads compartment. After replacing most of the hoses and applying the various potions, lotions and arcane rituals suggested by hepful forumites, eventually discovered it was one of the batteries (in a locker behind the heads) that had partially failed and was gently (well, actually not so gently) toasting and giving off fumes whenever the engine was on.

On the subject of toilet paper, I've been putting paper down the heads for a couple of decades - par bydon, lavac, and another I can't remember the name of, and never had a problem with it. You can check how easily any particular toilet paper breaks up by chucking a few sheets in a jar with some water, put the lid on and shake it about. (Useful check to make if you have septic tank sewerage at home, too.) As someone has already posted, Andrex Shea is good at its primary function, yet breaks up easily (smells nice, too). We've only recently discovered this product at home, but will try it on the boat once we get it back in the water.

 

[Gunfleet]

When we first bought the boat was buying some new seals and pipe for the Jabsco and an old boy wanders up and says "don ee forget it's 7 pumps per metre with one they things, then a couple on the empty side an a couple more on fill an you'll not get the stink"
.

I don't believe you. People on the Blackwater have not been metricated.

 

[grumpygit]

When we first bought the boat was buying some new seals and pipe for the Jabsco and an old boy wanders up and says "don ee forget it's 7 pumps per metre with one they things, then a couple on the empty side an a couple more on fill an you'll not get the stink"

So ever since we've given it 21 pumps, switched to empty for three or four more, then back again for a further couple - and so far it's never smelt in eight odd years.

Does anyone know how much water 21 pumps makes. We have holding tanks with no way of bypassing them.

As for the smell of sea water, anyone who has a watermaker will know the smell well enough at the pre filter when they change it.

___________________________________________________________________

 

[HinewaisMan]

The Queen of Heads is a yankie lady called Peggy Hall - she's written a number of definative books on heads, holding tanks etc. Well worth Googling her. Well worth looking at getting her books.

She also runs a forum on the Hunter owners web site. She calls herself "The Head Mistress" - you don't have to own a Hunter to ask questions.

http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners.com/forumdisplay.php?f=31