Head cleaners

[HopCar]

Hi Doug, I'm sorry I missed you. I'm rarely in the store before noon. I really need my beauty sleep. Dave has gone and opened his own little store over by the marine stadium. It's a good resource for people anchored over there.

Sea Q send me a sample of the Sea Solve and I'll give it a try. We shipped four bottles of Noflex today. Probably to people who read about it here.

[Sea Q]

update on Noflex from a New Zealand user
one more thing to watch out for

One of the critical components of the process is that the holding tank is well ventilated, which is why the manufacturer recommends removal of vent filters which are prone to blocking.

Since our Summer cruise (back to the Bay of Islands BTW) I have had a couple of strange happenings, one of which was the holding tank self filling with seawater by siphoning back through the macerator pump if I leave the seacock open (which I usually do). This can only happen if the discharge line that loops above the water line is full of effluent or water, and I usually ensure that the tank has completely discharged and is pumping air before I turn the pump off. And before you say "why don't you close the seacock after discharge", I always dump the tank while underway and to get to the seacock, I have to lean over the propeller shafts and couplings, which I don't like to do when they are spinning. This has been happening more often since our new year holiday, when the tank once overflowed through the vents.
The other happening was the return of a sewage smell in the master stateroom, particularly when the toilets were flushed, very reminiscent of the "pre Noflex" days. Over Easter I noticed there were rusty stains running from the vents down the side of the boat, so I cleaned them off, plus all the rust that had built up at the edges of the vent through-hull fittings. A couple of weeks later the smell was so bad in the boat that I figured there had to be something wrong, as I had been using more and more Noflex with little result. So I accessed the connections where the vent filters used to be (and noticed that there was a bit of crap inside the pipes), attached a garden hose and turned it on. For a start a mist of water came out the vent so, thinking it was clear (you can't actually see the vents themselves - they are hidden insider the through-hull fittings), I went and did the other side. Same result....a hissing mist but not a lot of water, so I presumed that's how it was supposed to be....I had never tried this before, so I didn't know what it was supposed to look like. I was about to disconnect the hose thinking the test hadn't really proved anything, when there was a "pop" from the vent and a short, yukkie brown discharge, followed by water gushing out. I then redid the other side leaving the water turned full on and after 5 minutes, sure enough, a pop, a brown discharge and pouring water. Obviously the vents had been partially blocked and may have been since we have owned the boat.....I know the vents had been flooded by the previous owner by the condition of the filters when I removed them.

So it looks like the blocked vents were causing the holding tank to pressurise during flushing and forcing effluent into the macerator discharge line, which allowed seawater to siphon back into the holding tank. It also meant that sewage gases could not vent overboard and were finding their way out through any means (probably the fittings where the filters used to be) into the bilge area of the boat and, ultimately, our stateroom.

In the 2 months since then, there has not been a hint of a smell in our stateroom, and the Admiral has commented that it is the first time the boat has been completely odour free since we have owned it.

[Capt.Bill11]

Welcome to the wonderful world on black water tank maintenance!

[HeadMistress]

So it looks like the blocked vents were causing the holding tank to pressurise during flushing and forcing effluent into the macerator discharge line, which allowed seawater to siphon back into the holding tank. It also meant that sewage gases could not vent overboard and were finding their way out through any means (probably the fittings where the filters used to be) into the bilge area of the boat and, ultimately, our stateroom.

I was gearing to repeat what I've said so many times, that unless a tank is leaking, it's rarely if ever the source of odor INSIDE the boat because odor from the tank has only one place to go: out the vent. Then I read that there are TWO fittings in your all-but-blocked vent line, which is where air --and odor--from inside the tank was escaping.

Why in the world would anyone splice a piece of hose into a vent line instead of just replacing the vent line?????

You mentioned that the vent thru-hulls had rusted. All "vent" thru-hulls are actually designed for use on fuel tank tank vents, so they have spark arrestors and the smallest openings possible to keep sea water from contaminating the fuel supply. Boat builders use 'em on every vent because it's cheaper than using a different one for each application. That's ok for fuel and water, but not for waster because they cause more problems than the solve or prevent..and they make it difficult to keep the vent line clear. So if you want to avoid a repeat of the same problems, I strongly recommend that you do the following:

1. replace the vent line
2.replace the "vent" thru-hull with a plain ol' open "bulkhead" or "mushroom" thru-hull. That will allow you to stick a hose against it and backflush the vent every time you wash the boat. Accumulated waste from your overflowing the tank and any "critters" who've tried set up housekeeping in the vent line will be flushed into the tank.

3. Put a tank level indicator on the tank! There's no excuse to overflow the tank out the vent, and as you've already learned it causes big problems. These are the top rated systems: Scad Tank Monitors (actually made by these people Profile Tank Monitors and private label branded by Scad). The "Solo" is inexpensive and very easy to install...the sender goes on the outside of the tank.

Safety standards call for keeping the overboard discharge thru-hull closed except when actually in use. You're obviously keeping it open all the time 'cuz I'm sure you aren't opening it to dump the tank OR closing it afterward. You could relocate the thru-hull to make that easier...or, if the rest of your sanitation system plumbing is as jury-rigged as the tank vent line, keep on keepin' on till the day you see your spare deck shoes floating in the cabin.