Why do my heads stink ?

Al Dickson

Al Dickson

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When the boat has been sitting for a few days the first pumps of the handle produce a wicked stink which I can only assume is coming from the holding tank?

I empty the tank regulary and have dosed it with "de stinker" but still the same.


help /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
Loads of posts on this subject if you search the forum.
Basically, the smell you are getting is from dead algae etc sitting in the inlet pipe.
Unless you switch to fresh water flushing (see other posts), it's largely a boating fact of life.
 
It's probably the seawater inlet pipe that remains full of water and microbes etc that die and decompose giving off smell of rotten eggs. The "headmistress" may be along later to give full account, however haven't seen her post here recently.

Eddie
 
Everything you need to know contained in the other two replies, Alan. It's decomposing stuff in the intake seawater, and the only thing that will clear it is flushing with freshwater, either permanently or just before leaving the boat.
 
Yup, as others have said, the flush pipe, twixt sea and WC, sits full of stagnant seawater when you're off the boat and smelly microbes grow in there

On a your lovely boat it would be a nice upgrade to jettison the seawater loos and fit freshwater flushers like the tecma silence series (£450 each).
 
Ours are the same, presumably from the outside vent as water is pumped in it displaces noxious gases from fermentation/whatever. Before 1st pump I always spray lemon air freshener liberally.
 
Nope, the water that stands in the inlet pipe contains bacteria that die and decompose in the absence of light and oxygen. In doing so, they give off Hydrogen Sulphide which is then releaseed from the water as soon as you flush it into the bowl. That's your rotten egg smell. The only way to avoid it is to ensure that the water that you flush with contains nothing that can die off while you are away from the boat, so either only flush with fresh or have a diverter that lets you fill the pipe with fresh water from as close to the seacock as possible before you leave the boat.
 
We all agree that it is the incoming water that provides the 'smell'. So this is what I did, on the in coming water supply from the water tank before the pump I inserted a Y piece, one side goes to the pump the other will go to the heads, I fitted a non return valve to make sure there was no chance of back flow. Further along this pipe I fitted an in-line stop cock.
Over to the in coming salt water for the heads, after the stop cock fitted another Y piece, one side going on to the heads, the other side connecting to the in coming fresh water. With me so far?
So, for fresh water flush, normal sea water stop cock closed and fresh water stop cock open and if I need to go to salt water flush (which is extremly rare) it is salt water stop open and fresh water closed. If I get it wrong the NRV prevents the 2 from mixing. Since I fitted this the heads do not have that awful smell on first flush. It also gives a good turn round on the water so I always have fresh water.
I know this is based on the kit you can buy from Lee Sanitation but I thought why have another water tank, I already have one and this worked out even cheaper.
Hope this is of some help.
 
Excellent (not the stink - your advice I mean) I will look into the fresh water flushing thing - we have a nice big freshwater tank which doesn't get used enough as it is.

Alan

PS. Now you answered that one perhaps you can tell me who dinged my bowsprit last week & didn't own up (Clyde Marina) Grrr !
 
You can get rid of 90% of the problem by spraying air fresher in the pan and then flushing the bog with the lid closed.

Best design feature I have come across was my old 1988 Fairline corniche that had an extractor fan that pulled from the rear of the bog.
 
"Best design feature I have come across was my old 1988 Fairline corniche that had an extractor fan that pulled from the rear of the bog."

Bet you were sucked off by that system! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Personally, I wouldn't want a simple NRV separating my heads from my drinking water - it's just a simple plastic ball in a tube and it will never give a 100% seal. We have pretty much the same setup as Peanuts, exceopt we draw fresh water from a separate tank, and use a NRV to stop seawater flowing back to the flush tank if we run out and have to switch to seawater.
 
Peanuts, just to add to what you wirite, and sorry if I'm telling you how to suck eggs, but it's very importnat with that set-up to make sure all the valves/plumbing never allow contact between toilet water and your freshwater tank. Systems and valves to achieve that result do exist, and are supplied with freshwater flush loos for example. But if you use the wrong sort of gear you can get quite ill.

Back to OP's problem, as he has copious amounts of freshwater tankage I still think his best bet is do get rid of the seawater manual flusher and fit a nice Tecma loo, which comes with all the correct isolating valves and stuff to connect to presurrised potable water circuit
 
You can get smells from air being displaced out of the black tank to the atmosphre, through the vent, when the WC is flushed. But if that were the problem the symptoms wouldn't appear only on the first flush. They'd appear on subsequent flushes too. Alan Dickson's problem is "first flush only", so it must be his inlet pipe as others have said above
 
Hi

yep had the same problem, got over it by just running a drop of water round the bowl from the shower head after use two pumps job done, been doing that for 3 years and not a single pong !! since.
 
I appreciate and understand your concern, however the set up I have only involves either salt water intake or fresh water and I have placed the stop cocks/levers next to each other so it is very obvious of the water supply situation and as I mentioned I fitted a high quality NRV so that there is no connection between the salt and fresh water even if the valves were in the incorrect position. There is of course no connection whats so ever to the waste side of the heads.
I hope this clears up any concerns.
 
I have a simple set up using waste from sink using two Y peices and two open/shut valves so that i can flush as normal or draw fresh water from sink waste when i leave the boat .
 
Two recommendations:

If (for chemical reasons that I do not understand) you strike a match in the heads immediate upon the stink arising the smell is neutralised by the gases produced by the match.

I have found that the smallest drop of Dettol in the basin when leaving the boat results in a stink free loo when arriving next weekend.

rob
 
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