Head cleaners

Does anyone use Raritan CR for cleaning and odor removal in the head? What else do you recommend?

Greetings,
Ms. J. We use Aromx 35 https://swishclean.com/product.htm?Product=8935-4&Source=Search
We keep a spray bottle of diluted '35 in the heads to be directed in and around the "throne" as needed. The Admiral is quite sensitive to chemicals and solvents but is fine with this stuff. Works quite well. It seems to be a Canadian product but the website lists an outlet in Vancouver, BC. Swish Vancouver Location

Awesome cleaner. $1.00 @ Dollar General stores. Use diluted or full strength. DO NOT ALLOW it on glass surface in full strength mode; will etch glass.

I haven't tried it but I understand that Raritan CP was developed by Peggie Hall, the Head Mistress. Peggie is a true expert on marine sanitation systems. I would certainly give it a try.

Most of the head odor is from things in a sea water flush dieing in the bowl.

Inshore where water is available using a fresh water flush is one cure.

IF you use FW and there is a head smell, its usually time to upgrade the discharge hoses.

HopCar said:

I haven't tried it but I understand that Raritan CP was developed by Peggie Hall, the Head Mistress. Peggie is a true expert on marine sanitation systems. I would certainly give it a try.

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Yep, and if using an aerobic treatment like Raritan's (Peggie's) KO, a compatible product like CP is appropriate.

I would expect CP is likely compatible with other aerobic treatments like Odorlos, as well, but perhaps Peggie will jump in and confirm or deny.

We've used CP (and KO) for almost 20 years... with excellent results.

More recently, some of our owners group have begun singing the praises of Zaal Noflex Digestor for the treatment product. Have no clue how it works, but I've begun trying it (mostly just out of curiosity), and it seems to be effective as a holding tank treatment. Many of the other folks have described the magic, with claims about clean hoses, clean tanks, etc... but I'm not seeing as many claims that they've actually physically opened up their systems to eyeball the insides of hoses and tanks. IOW, I'm only seeing it seems viable.

The one instance where I did actually see some slight proof it works is in the very bottom of our bowl. We'd had some significant discoloration there, inherited from the original owner... and letting some Noflex work on that area before flushing did significantly return the bottom of the bowl to white. OTOH, I never before thought to just let some KO or CP stand in that area, so don't know if it wouldn't have done equally well in the first place.

The Noflex marketing system is a pain in the a$$. The only retailors seem to be in the PNW... and they apparently haven't figured out USPS flat rate boxes yet... so each bottle of powder costs something like $20 and then shipping is something like $17/bottle on top of that. Shipping is slightly less per bottle when ordering 3-4 or more at a time, but I suspect USPS flat rate charges would be friendlier.

IOW, KO is cheaper, since it's (at least) at the local West Marine.

But Parks, you might look into it, see if there's a marketing opportunity for you. Especially if you know how to do USPS flat rate boxes, but maybe because UPS or FedEx shipping charges from this coast might be useful for many of us over here on the right side.

-Chris

If you have fresh water heads, then the manufacturer's recommendation should be consulted first ( the case with sea water as well, but sea water has more cleaning and odor issues). It's not so much a matter of the effect on the bowls themselves, but all the pumps and mechanisms and tanks downstream from there. Our Vacuflush was happy with household toilet bowl cleaners. Every now and then, about monthly, we'd run a slug distilled white vinegar through them. No smells on our boat!

According to the MSDS, Noflex Digester looks to be very similar to Oxyclean. I wonder if we have any chemists that might take a look. A tub of Oxyclean is quite a bit cheaper.

+1 for CP

I believe it is the only cleaner approved for use with Raritan's Lectrasan, Electroscan and Purasan systems.

BlueYonder said:

According to the MSDS, Noflex Digester looks to be very similar to Oxyclean. I wonder if we have any chemists that might take a look. A tub of Oxyclean is quite a bit cheaper.

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Interesting! How'd you happen to notice that?

-Chris

I searched on the main ingredient and came up with OxyClean.

Ah, got it.


-Chris

Greetings,
Oxy Clean huh? Now can anyone tell me if OC will harm that colony of microbes that everyone wants growing in their holding tank? We're going to be leaving our boat for a short while would like to have the "throne" and hoses clean and flushed in our absence BUT not at the expense of "killing" the denizens of our holding tank.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Oxy Clean huh? Now can anyone tell me if OC will harm that colony of microbes that everyone wants growing in their holding tank? We're going to be leaving our boat for a short while would like to have the "throne" and hoses clean and flushed in our absence BUT not at the expense of "killing" the denizens of our holding tank.

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That's what I'd be worried about... but I have the same questions about the Noflex stuff, too. Not sure, even from their literature, how that stuff works with (or against?) aerobic bacteria.

-Chris

Greetings,
Found a post by Ms. Peggy Hall from 2009. She doesn't think Noflex would be detrimental... Noflex Digestor Sewage Treatment

Similar to other notes I've found on line; comments about what it's NOT like, not much mention of what it IS like.


-Chris

It seems like OxyClean has been tried out by the RV community with at best, mixed results. It appears to create an alkaline environment not conducive to keeping the bacteria working. Might be useful for cleaning and keeping sensors unplugged, but not as a regular treatment. I think I will stick with Odorloss.

I wonder what Noflex does differently?

Some time ago, I came across an article called www.TheGeoMethod re cleaning out holding tanks/systems. It involves water softner/detergent use in a holding tank system. Altho' a bit skeptical, I gave it a try, as we were having odor problems while flushing. It has worked very well in our Californian for the last several years.

I'm looking for a Dealer on the upper East coast there are two in Florida.
Ask me any questions you have on Noflex.
Tuesday i will register on site as a commercial interest but i'm also a boater and my tanks used to stink too.

Greetings,
Welcome aboard.

Thanks RT

Sea Q said:

I'm looking for a Dealer on the upper East coast there are two in Florida.
Ask me any questions you have on Noflex.
Tuesday i will register on site as a commercial interest but i'm also a boater and my tanks used to stink too.

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Welcome. It's Dave, yes? Anyway, useful to see you here.

A thought: USPS flat rate mail.



Not actually sure that's a perfect panacea, but does seem like it might sometimes be a viable option compared to UPS or FedEx. We know of folks who ship bazillions of pounds of lead in those flat rate boxes, for not very much money (in the grand scheme of things).

-Chris

Weather has finally gotten bearable on our side can't wait to get out its been a nasty winter. Plus have has a series of small things with the boat that has put us on hold.






Going to try in 2 weeks
I make the Noflex and I know the freight is a killer also I know a lot of people are using it in the Chesapeake area even with their septic fields But I have yet to find a dealer in your area that wants to take it on (no West marine) Things are tight

BlueYonder said:

According to the MSDS, Noflex Digester looks to be very similar to Oxyclean. I wonder if we have any chemists that might take a look. A tub of Oxyclean is quite a bit cheaper.

Click to expand...

I have the same question. I have also reviewed NoFlex and Oxyclean MSDS and found about 80% +/- of ingredients are common.
I believe the claim behind NoFlex is that it oxygenates and helps support aerobic bacteria - the non-smelly variety.
The common holding tank problem (per Peggy) is insufficient oxygen and therefore growth of anaerobic bacteria - the smelly variety

I have tried Oxyclean but only as a once-in-awhile addition not as a daily treatment the per NOFlex instructions.
I plan experimenting with it as a daily treatment but wonder if the chemists have any thoughts +/- ??

Yes but No about 30 % and of that 30% is only in the same family but the rest in oxyclean are fillers and things specific to washing laundry .If you want a honking good laundry i have a special one that most of the ships on the great lakes use that doesn't foam when discharged 1 litre does 80 loads .
I have advised for most of the Cruise ships,many a Navy s,Shell, Pertronas a longer list--- about treatment systems and other systems.
Problem with the holding tanks is not so simple. Cost of a bottle of Noflex is $19,95 US (suggested) One bottle usually lasts a year(30 foot boat) you don't have to use it every day. I say that so in the worst case it fixes the problem after people get use to using they just use it when they need it and never measure-- It works, its cheap, and you fix the smell and empty your tank every pump out saving even more money
Send me a message if you need more info. I always have time answering questions

Sea Q does it ship regular ground or is it haz mat?
I sent you a PM.

Sea Q said:

One bottle usually lasts a year(30 foot boat) you don't have to use it every day. I say that so in the worst case it fixes the problem after people get use to using they just use it when they need it and never measure-- It works, its cheap, and you fix the smell and empty your tank every pump out saving even more money

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We went through almost 3 bottles last season; 42' boat and we're on it a lot. But that was more of an experiment than anything else; in the past, we've always used KO, and never had head odors to deal with anyway.

Some of our club members started raving about your Noflex, so I thought I'd give it a go just to see. Seems to work fine enough. Would be interested to hear a compare/contrast with the method in which KO and Odorlos work? Mostly for academic interest...

One thing I've been surprised about is the number of fans who've raved about how clean their tanks and lines are after using Noflex (could be) but when asked if they opened up their system to look inside, the answer is no, just that their odor problems went away. Makes me wonder what kinds of odors they've been living with all that time in the first place... Or whether their odor problems actually stem more from loose fittings...

Sea Q said:

I make the Noflex and I know the freight is a killer also I know a lot of people are using it in the Chesapeake area even with their septic fields But I have yet to find a dealer in your area that wants to take it on (no West marine) Things are tight

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You might try pulsing Fawcett's in Annapolis.



-Chris

I think I've located the head odor. The hoses in the cabinet under the head sink are old and it's not possible to get to them. Can I run something like Raritan through the hoses to make the situation better?

Probably not. Once the hoses get saturated the best cure is to replace them.

The other option is to wrap them in saran wrap. I've never tried this but some folks say it works.

If you've got long straight runs of hose, replace them with PVC pipe. Be sure the pipe is well secured to prevent flexing. Use Trident 101 or 102 or Raritan Sani Flex hose for any curved sections.

JILLBROWN said:

I think I've located the head odor. The hoses in the cabinet under the head sink are old and it's not possible to get to them. Can I run something like Raritan through the hoses to make the situation better?

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I'd guess Parks is probably right, but if you've got a P-trap in there... letting some Raritan CP stand in the trap could conceivably give you some improvement. Or perhaps some of the Noflex stuff. Probably after using a plunger on it, and rinsing a lot with fresh water.

If you could get your hands on that hose, there's a way to sorta test for permeation. Hot/wet rag, wipe the outside of the hose vigorously, if the rag smells like stink afterwards... you've got a hose job ahead of you.

But if not... might just be hair and soap and goop in the trap. Not uncommon.

-Chris