Composting head info

KneeDeep said:

Pulled all the old hoses cleaned holding tank and left in place JIC we ever change our mind, so far so good.



Our marina hasn't had a working pump out since Harvey came through and it doesn't bother us a bit!!

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That’s exactly what I was thinking about doing. No regrets?

How is the marina doing after Harvey? Are they starting to rebuild? It was pretty terrible looking when I drove by after Harvey.

When we looked at the listing on our boat and seen the composting head, I thought, well, that will be the first thing to go. After watching the videos, and using the composting head, it's a winner for the wife and I. I normally dump the urine tank in a bathroom. I just screw on the cap and walk to the bathroom. Sure is much lighter and easier to dump than the porta-potty tank was. The comment about diarrhea is not anymore issue than a marine head, or porta-potty. We keep a little spray bottle of water if we need to clean the head. The water goes into the compost bin and the little muffin fan helps reduce the moisture. Everyone who has toured the boat, and seen the composting toilet, and noticed no odors, were impressed. The composting head just make sense for us. Would never consider any other method. In fact, we're considering installing one in our motorhome. The thought of not having to dump the black water tank again, and the fresh water tank will last longer because we're not draining it to flush the toilet, sure sounds like another win-win for us!

Don

cardude01 said:

That’s exactly what I was thinking about doing. No regrets?

How is the marina doing after Harvey? Are they starting to rebuild? It was pretty terrible looking when I drove by after Harvey.

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We love being able to completely empty and clean everything when we leave and have had no problems so far. I don't have the auxiliary vent installed but will probably do that if when we spend longer stretches on her.

We all have to get the waste off our boat one way or another and the simplicity of this system is the primary driver for us. I'm not worried about resale for now - it's our boat now and we use it the way we like!

The drystack buildings are now almost completely disassembled and they were supposed to start replacing the wetslips roofs this week. Slow progress, but getting better all the time.

We really like our Airhead composting toilets. I don't have experience with other types of heads but these are easy with no plumbing.

KneeDeep said:

We love being able to completely empty and clean everything when we leave and have had no problems so far. I don't have the auxiliary vent installed but will probably do that if when we spend longer stretches on her.



We all have to get the waste off our boat one way or another and the simplicity of this system is the primary driver for us. I'm not worried about resale for now - it's our boat now and we use it the way we like!



The drystack buildings are now almost completely disassembled and they were supposed to start replacing the wetslips roofs this week. Slow progress, but getting better all the time.

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Glad the marina is getting back into shape. I miss being able to drive down to the boat for the day!

Are you saying you didn’t install the vent hose to the outside, or just didn’t install the fan? I thought these toilets required that vent.

KneeDeep said:

We converted to SeaHead a couple years ago in our master and no regrets. Simple to use and no smells. We primarily use the boat for long weekends and occasional weekly trips and have had no issues.

Installed a basic port-a-potty in the forward head (very limited footprint space) and works out great for guests.

Pulled all the old hoses cleaned holding tank and left in place JIC we ever change our mind, so far so good.

Our marina hasn't had a working pump out since Harvey came through and it doesn't bother us a bit!!

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aka C-Head? I'll assume so. Anyhow they are just down the road from me in Astor. They are around $400 less than other brands which is appealing. Capacity is not an issue as we are not live aboards. When looking at the images on their web site it looks like the vent tube goes through the toilet seat? Don't see how you could lift the seat if this is so. Please enlighten me. Also, I would guess you had to drill a hole in the hull to vent it overboard? Finally, is there an electric motor in the vent tube?

friz said:

aka C-Head? I'll assume so. Anyhow they are just down the road from me in Astor. They are around $400 less than other brands which is appealing. Capacity is not an issue as we are not live aboards. When looking at the images on their web site it looks like the vent tube goes through the toilet seat? Don't see how you could lift the seat if this is so. Please enlighten me. Also, I would guess you had to drill a hole in the hull to vent it overboard? Finally, is there an electric motor in the vent tube?

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Belay my last. Drove down to Astor (C-Head LLC) this afternoon. Sandy Graves (owner) answered all my questions. FYI - Sandy stated he will be raising prices next month or two.

We have over a decade with the N-H and it only has one problem, male GUESTS.

In order to have the urine go into the tank the user Must be sitting.

Fine for the ladies,, but difficult to train male guests to sit EVERY time, especially if beer is the libation.

Composting units work, the only hassle might be the need to drain the liquid tank overboard ,when no one is looking.

gaston said:

Camping dunny on a boat should read how to spend $150 and devalue your boat by $10000

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And yet Gaston, think how many threads exist all about toilet related issues. Including many of the posts on this very thread. Sure, in the old days when one could just press a button, and loudly expel overboard direct, a built in boat toilet was great. But those days are long gone, and won't be back. And as soon as you have to start storing the waste on board, it becomes a whole different ballgame.

A ballgame that induces many folk to illegally dump, especially here in Australia, when the govts, in their collective wisdom, forgot to mandate pump-outs in marinas when they mandated holding tanks.

This anti-camper toilet thing is largely a kind of snobbery anyway, because boaties like to think they are a cut above campers. But actually most are just floating campers, some just more luxuriously than others, that's all.

For male guests who won’t sit down I propose this solution:

Airhead looks interesting....you can pull the liquid bottle without opening the solids lid..

"Airhead looks interesting....you can pull the liquid bottle without opening the solids lid.."

Since the waste does not smell, the advantage is?

We notice no odor when we open our Natures Head to remove the urine jug. At the time we ordered our NH with the "elongated bowl", Air Head had only the original round bowl. Big diff.

Finally got my Nature’s Head desiccating toilet installed a few days ago. First I flushed and cleaned out the holding tank like crazy, then ripped out all the stinky hoses, leaking Y valves and the leaking macerator pump. That was a job I don’t ever want to do again. Those old stiff hoses were a bitch to get out! My plumbing system was run in some crazy tight places (this is a sailboat hull with no real bilge like most trawlers). The hose from the toilet ran under the floor then up behind the sink about 3’ in a big loop for some reason, and then back down to the valves, tank and macerator. That looped hose was the smelliest— I don’t think that loop ever got totally emptied (until I cut it with a sawzall that is ?). So damn gross.

Anyway, the new head is in and so far so good! I’m using coco coir and there is no smell at all, but I’ve not used it all that much yet so time will tell. I sure like the simplicity vs the ridiculous amount of hoses, tanks and valves on the old system. I ran the vent for the toilet forward to the chain locker. I didn’t want to drill a big hole in the boat and that was the only way I could think of. The vent hose run is about 15’ so I mounted a solar powered vent in the hatch over the chain locker to help the venting process.



I’m the world’s worst carpenter, but I made a little foot stool because the base where I mounted the toilet is pretty small and my feet were not comfortably on the floor. Felt strange— I’m 6’2” and I’m not used to my feet not touching the ground. This NH toilet is much taller than my old toilet.

Dude: The only way to know for sure is to join me over at Captain Tico’s for several of his famous four-bean “bowel thruster” burritos. We’ll give that thing a sea trial it will never forget.

"Bowel Thruster"! GREAT TERM!

Moby Nick said:

"Bowel Thruster"! GREAT TERM!

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I'm praying RT dosnt reply to this with a GIF

I’m just eating salad and vegetables from now on. [emoji23]

The amount of juice the NH fan requires is less than most batt swts discharge internally every day.


Solar is nice , but not necessary to make up for fan use.

FF said:

The amount of juice the NH fan requires is less than most batt swts discharge internally every day.


Solar is nice , but not necessary to make up for fan use.

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Yeah the solar fan was probably a waste of money. I just worried that because of the long 15’ run on the vent tube the little computer fan in the toilet would not be enough trying to push air that far. Plus I have a few 90 degree turns on my hose. With both fans running I really can’t tell much of a difference in suction at the toilet.

FF said:

The amount of juice the NH fan requires is less than most batt swts discharge internally every day.


Solar is nice , but not necessary to make up for fan use.

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Those solar vents are really nice. They have an internal battery that will keep them running most of the night. Easy to install and no wiring to run. Solar doesn’t have to be about saving battery use.

O C Diver said:

Please don't take this the wrong way. If I went to look at a boat with a disconnected plumbing system, my first thought would be, "What else is did the PO not fix? Think I would fix the system. In the scheme of things, the parts to fix yours aren't all that expensive.

Ted

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In defense of the cardude I don't think either of you has a disagreement. I hear that the cardude is unsure of the option at this point. Nobody yet is selling a boat. But why not leave an escape hach just in case.
Just MO I love you both. I'm curious of the concept though.

Craig

Forgive me my response was appropriate long ago. I failed to check post dates. Great subject though.

dhays said:

Those solar vents are really nice. They have an internal battery that will keep them running most of the night. Easy to install and no wiring to run. Solar doesn’t have to be about saving battery use.

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You're right. I put one in the middle of the hatch in our front master cabin roof, and it's great. Hums away all day, and at night in the summer if I put a rechargeable batt back in, and prevents moisture and mildew when the boat is unattended as well. I also have one venting the flybridge locker where the electrics and gas bottle etc are for same reason.

The hatch vents sold here are OK for keeping rain out , but do not handle green water well.


Not for installation over a bunk.

Before installing a fan directly outside I decided to approach the ventilation issue slowly.

Our boat has natural ventilation between the hull and behind cabinetry, as well as through the engine room, that goes from near the bow to the lazarette. My guess is that boats are built this way to keep mildew and condensation at bay in inaccessible areas.

I put a small computer fan between the enclosure hiding the poop container and bathroom sink cabinet. It does the trick perfectly in that you can never tell in the pilothouse or in the saloon when someone is doing a #2.

Couple more reasonings;

By having a fan in the contained area where the smell is emanating from, you can have a much smaller fan. When venting the whole head, you are actually pulling the stink from the contained area, into the head, then out of the boat, so the fan has to be much bigger.

After depositing the #2 we give a quick spritz with an air freshener...even this smell leaves fairly quickly with the little fan working with the natural ventilation of the boat.

FF said:

The hatch vents sold here are OK for keeping rain out , but do not handle green water well.


Not for installation over a bunk.

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Or yet another good reason for me to avoid situations where I am taking green water over the bow in my boat. Once was enough.