smelly head

The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
O

obenton

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2016
Messages
45
Location
usa
i have electric heads fore and aft. The bow cabin opens to the head. There is an acrid smell in the head and the cabin. I sealed the bowl with plastic wrap and the smell dimenished noticeably. The other head has no smell and no bad smells come out the vent with a flush. We keep the tank empty since it required a repair last year. I recently replaced the pump macerator last fall. I am not sure what all this means but I feel it is a head issue. Has anyone been through this? OB
 
Assuming that your boat is on the TN River....Do your toilets use lake/river water or onboard pressurized fresh water? Does one toilet get a lot more use than the other one? Has the forward head sat unused for an extended time? You said there's no odor out the vent when the aft head is flushed..is there any when the forward head is flushed? Does flushing the forward toilet create odor IN the head? Is there a shower in the forward head...if so, is it used and does it drain into a sump?



--Peggie
 
Smell head

Sorry did not answer all the questions. There is a shower in the bow head. I have cleaned it . It has very little smell. The only time we get true waste smell is when the tank is full.
 
Maybe a bad joker valve on that particular head?
 
The answers to my questions will help me identify the SOURCE of your odor. From what little information you've provided, I'm not even sure the toilet is the culprit...You've described two types of odor--"acrid" and "waste." That indicates TWO sources.



--Peggie
 
Last edited:
sorry - sent my response but didnt come through. We ;use the bow head more since the tank is 6 ft away and we therefore put less water in waste tank.The aft head is probably 15 to 18ft away from the waste tank.The heads use lake water. There has never been an immediate smell from flushing the aft or bow head.We've only had poop smell once last fall when the tank was full. Pumping out solved that.There are not two smells.I know the waste smell quite well- when we bought the boat the waste hoses had visible crystals on the outside and the waste tank had a leak - that was subsequently fixed.There is a shower in the bow head- I have cleaned the sump pump box even though it did not smell bad - we do not shower in that head but I routinely put small amounts of vinegar and bleach into the shower.I'm not sure the smell is from the head but a tight seal with handiwrap diminished it Also,I replaced the joker valve.What I am smelling is really not a sewage type of odor. I have no standing water in the bllge so I'm perplexed. We love the boat so we can live with it if it persists.
 
Don’t know about the water where you boat, but the water in Lake Erie after sitting in the bowl/pump/lines sitting for a week at some times in the season smells worse than poop. A long flush clears it out. I would describe it as acrid.

It only happens a few times a season, usually in the spring.
 
SeaMoose said:
Don’t know about the water where you boat, but the water in Lake Erie after sitting in the bowl/pump/lines sitting for a week at some times in the season smells worse than poop. A long flush clears it out. I would describe it as acrid...
Click to expand...
I thought that too, but there`s one head that`s ok,and one that`s not,both fed the same water. Though the non smelly one gets less (? maybe no?) use.
We are in salt> brackish water and can get an unpleasant but not sewage like smell.
 
I think I know what the problem is: I'm 99% certain that the odor orginates in the toilet intake. This toilet has either pulled a bit of vegetable "sea" life in that's decayed somewhere between the thru-hull and the bowl (If you've noticed any black flecks in the flush water, I'm sure that's what it is, but no flecks doesn't rule it out)...or your favorite anchorage is in a cove that isn't fed by a creek...creeks keep water moving, which keeps it clean. Could even be the water in your marina, if you spend much time on the boat there...runoff from the shore, bilge pumps etc keep the water in marinas pretty skanky.

It's easy enough to find out: Disconnect the toilet intake line from the thru-hull (close the seacock first!) and stick into a bucket of water to which you've added a quart of distilled white vinegar. Flush the whole bucketful through the toilet. That SHOULD solve the problem.


And btw...stop using bleach in the shower sump...it's corrosive and destructive to rubber, which is bad for the sump pump.


--Peggie
 
Last edited:
Mam, if I ever meet you I want to buy you a drink! Learned more from you than anyone else on here.
 
Thank you for the kind words! I'm always glad to help when I can, and I'm fond of good scotch. :)



Merry Christmas!


--Peggie
 
HeadMistress said:
And btw...stop using bleach in the shower sump...it's corrosive and destructive to rubber, which is bad for the sump pump. --Peggie
Click to expand...
How about vinegar to clean the shower sump?
Our OEM sump collects all grey water,it has a flipper switch and way oversized bilge pump but no filter. Recently the flipper switch got gunked up and stuck, cleaned it worked fine again.
Would an occasional vinegar solution flush keep it clean. If so, what % vinegar to water, and should it be allowed stand a while to take effect?
 
[FONT=&quot]Sumps don't have to stink or get "gummed up" and keeping 'em clean is one job that doesn't require any manual labor: Raritan only markets their "C.P. Cleans Potties" as a bowl cleaner--and it is an excellent one. But it's also the best sump and drain cleaner on the planet. C.P. is a bio-enzymatic cleaner that not only destroys odor on contact, but the enzymes in it "eat" hair, soap scum, body oils, galley grease and all the stuff that clogs sumps and drains and makes 'em stinky. All you need to do is put 2-3 oz down the shower drain when it can stand at least overnight...the enzymes need time to work. Then flush clean water through the sump. You can even let it remain in the sump for weeks, 'cuz although the enzymes exhaust themselves in 24 hours, there's nothing in C.P. that can harm anything. To clean sink drains, close the seacock, then put about an ounce of C.P down the drain and fill the drain with water--again when it can stand at least overnight. That's it.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I know how expensive Raritan products can be in OZ, Bruce, but you'd need so little of it only about once a month, if that often, that C.P. is worth the price.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Happy New Year!
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]--Peggie
[/FONT]
 
Thanks Peggie, Happy New Year to you too.
I did a quick search for Raritan products,I`ll have to search more deeply,sounds like it will work. The pump is a 2000GPH US made monster(in sump terms) which blasts any hair and debris out. It`s gunk from washing up, showering,soap residues,etc that causes the problem.
 
It's not even close to Raritan C.P. I wouldn't use it. It took some digging but I finally found the MSDS for it...as a pdf, not a link. "Non-formaldehyde formula" only means that at least one other equally lethal chemical is used...in this case
N-Alkyl-(C12-C18)-N-benzyl-N, 68391-01-5 < 10
N-dimethylammonium chloride2.

(everything from here is copy-pasted from the MSDS)
Hazardous to the aquatic environment, acute Category 1 hazard
Environmental hazards: Hazard statement Causes severe skin burns and eye damage. Very toxic to aquatic life.
Do not breathe mist or vapor. Wear protective gloves/protective clothing/eye protection/face protection. Wash thoroughly after handling. Avoid release to the environment.
(end copied material)

I can attach the MSDS to an email reply anyone wants to see it...just include your email address in a PM.

--Peggie
 
Last edited:
HeadMistress said:
[FONT=&quot]Sumps don't have to stink or get "gummed up" and keeping 'em clean is one job that doesn't require any manual labor: Raritan only markets their "C.P. Cleans Potties" as a bowl cleaner--and it is an excellent one. But it's also the best sump and drain cleaner on the planet. C.P. is a bio-enzymatic cleaner that not only destroys odor on contact, but the enzymes in it "eat" hair, soap scum, body oils, galley grease and all the stuff that clogs sumps and drains and makes 'em stinky. All you need to do is put 2-3 oz down the shower drain when it can stand at least overnight...the enzymes need time to work. Then flush clean water through the sump. You can even let it remain in the sump for weeks, 'cuz although the enzymes exhaust themselves in 24 hours, there's nothing in C.P. that can harm anything. To clean sink drains, close the seacock, then put about an ounce of C.P down the drain and fill the drain with water--again when it can stand at least overnight. That's it.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]--Peggie
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
Click to expand...


CP does a great job on the heads, I didn't know about the shower sump. I just left the boat for a few weeks and dumped a generous amount into the shower drains. Hopefully this will minimize my having to do that nasty job of cleaning out the shower sump.
 
HeadMistress said:
[FONT=&quot]Sumps don't have to stink or get "gummed up" and keeping 'em clean is one job that doesn't require any manual labor: Raritan only markets their "C.P. Cleans Potties" as a bowl cleaner--and it is an excellent one. But it's also the best sump and drain cleaner on the planet. C.P. is a bio-enzymatic cleaner that not only destroys odor on contact, but the enzymes in it "eat" hair, soap scum, body oils, galley grease and all the stuff that clogs sumps and drains and makes 'em stinky. All you need to do is put 2-3 oz down the shower drain when it can stand at least overnight...the enzymes need time to work. Then flush clean water through the sump. You can even let it remain in the sump for weeks, 'cuz although the enzymes exhaust themselves in 24 hours, there's nothing in C.P. that can harm anything. To clean sink drains, close the seacock, then put about an ounce of C.P down the drain and fill the drain with water--again when it can stand at least overnight. That's it.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I know how expensive Raritan products can be in OZ, Bruce, but you'd need so little of it only about once a month, if that often, that C.P. is worth the price.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Happy New Year!
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]--Peggie
[/FONT]
Click to expand...



We use biotal to clean the heads and send it down into the sump. There was a bottle of CP onboard when we bought our boat that we may try. Ideally we only need one product to store for both uses.
 
Peggy, Pardon a slight side-drift in this thread, but a question on Raritan Crown heads, which use raw water to flush. Mine don't smell, but e very couple years the flow rate to the holding tank slows down and the water level in the bowl increases when I flush. At that point, I detach the discharge line and run a snake down it to clear out the obstruction. Question....is there a way to chemically clear this line without having to do it mechanically, something like Drano? I've tried a Raritan product but it wasn't effective.
 
Like most things, prevention is easier and cheaper than cure. You can prevent the buildup with a cupful, two at most, of distilled white vinegar flushed all the way to the tank, followed by at least a quart of clean FRESH water after 45-60 minutes.every week or two. Do NOT leave vinegar sitting in the bowl...'cuz soft rubber (joker valve, front cover gasket) left to sit and soak in vinegar will swell and distort.

If prevention isn't your idea of fun, a couple of applications of Sew Clean Sew Clean will clean out the buildup.

Btw...which Raritan product did you try?

--Peggie
 
HeadMistress said:
Like most things, prevention is easier and cheaper than cure. You can prevent the buildup with a cupful, two at most, of distilled white vinegar flushed all the way to the tank, followed by at least a quart of clean FRESH water after 45-60 minutes.every week or two. Do NOT leave vinegar sitting in the bowl...'cuz soft rubber (joker valve, front cover gasket) left to sit and soak in vinegar will swell and distort.

If prevention isn't your idea of fun, a couple of applications of Sew Clean Sew Clean will clean out the buildup.

Btw...which Raritan product did you try?

--Peggie
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. I'm not sure which Raritan product I've used...its at the boat but I'll find out. I also recall that it seemed pretty expensive especially in terms of not getting any results with it. I like your vinegar method and will check out Sew Clean.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R
Holding tank vent smell and aeration
2 3
Replies
75
Views
6K
Comodave
Comodave
T
Head does not empty
2
Replies
32
Views
2K
Comodave
Comodave
man7sell
Wabasto plus Red Dot System
Replies
3
Views
552
Lepke
Lepke
O
Jabsco 37010 "Quiet Flush" -- Recirculating water???!
Replies
27
Views
4K
Wayne
Wayne
Delta Riverat
Saloon Stereo
Replies
16
Views
2K
Delta Riverat
Delta Riverat

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom