Head smell every time Vacu Flush is used...

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...we used to flush the tank when getting pumped. We no longer do that. I think we were flushing all the 'good stuff' each time and had to dose the tank with extra Noflex.

Whether it costs you "extra" No-Flex or not, holding tanks should be thoroughly rinsed out every 2-3 months...and especially when preparing for winter or other extended layup.



--Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein
 
My Smell upon flushing (Standard electric head) was putrid water in the intake filter. When things get odorous I know it's time to clean that filter. This implies a seawater flush system. We're in brackish water so things start to grow in the strainer..
 
dhays said:
Yours has been in the inspiration for trying to create one myself. I had already thought I’d use PVC instead of the copper and also thought that it wouldn’t need a lot of holes to provide enough O2.

I just haven’t figure out how to put a hole in the tank that I could seal well.
Click to expand...
Dave
I'm very pleased w results mine although I think I have found a route to add a large vent/ hose from the bow and may attemp it.
I've seen another similar DIY bubbler and he simply put a T at the bottom of a dip tube inserted from the top.

Re cutting into tank...
I've seen fittings made for retro fit... forget the name brand but you simply cut the hole w hole saw insert a grommet and insert the tube / ftg into the grommet. Apparently the insertion provides the force to seal. Seems like the same concept used on the VacUFlush tank ftgs.

I don't think I'd have a problem doing that as long as it was from top or highest point on the side of tank.
I moved my air pump as it was noticable at night time when everything else was quiet and trying to sleep. I simply moved it opposite side of a bulkhead and ran the smalk tube up to the tank. Just do a trial before final mounting.

Any questions let me know
 
Peggie can recommend a fitting that goes into the tank to install the air pump line. I don’t recall the brand name.
 
Heron said:
My Smell upon flushing (Standard electric head) was putrid water in the intake filter. When things get odorous I know it's time to clean that filter. This implies a seawater flush system. We're in brackish water so things start to grow in the strainer..
Click to expand...

There's a solution for that problem that's very easy to use...IF you have easy access to the toilet intake line between the thru-hull and the strainer:
Put a y-valve in the intake line between the thru-hull and the strainer...run a hose to your head drain line, using another y-valve to connect it. To clean all the sea water out of the entire system--intake line, strainer, toilet pump and discharge line, fill the sink with clean fresh water and open the y-valves and flush the toilet. It'll pull the water out of the sink through the toilet and all the plumbing to the tank. You may have to fill up the sink a couple of times...just letting the water run may not create the volume needed to completely rinse out the hoses and strainer. And be careful not to flush long enough to let the impellers in the toilet run dry.

Simple to set up and a bit of a PITA to use, but has to be easier than cleaning out the strainer every couple of weeks.

--Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein

p.s. If you happen to have one of the very few power boats with sink drain thru-hulls below the waterline, there's an even easier way to do this.
 
From experience I can tell you that Peggie's idea works great. Did that on a couple of sailboats. Easy to do as all it takes is a couple of Y valves. Easy to use as it is only done when leaving the boat. Switch two valves, fill the sink and flush the head.


Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do it on one of the heads in my last sailboat because the raw water intake was a long way from the head and sink.
 
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do it on one of the heads in my last sailboat because the raw water intake was a long way from the head and sink.

The even easier way I mentioned above would have been to reroute the head intake line to tee into the head sink drain below the waterline as close to the seacock as possible. That allows you to flush with se water except when you want to rinse out the system. To rinse the sea water out of the system, just close the sink drain seacock, fill the sink with clean fresh water, flush the toilet. No y-valves needed. This also frees up a thru-hull for a washdown pump, central HVAC or anything else that appeals to you...or you can just plug it.

Whether you do it with y-valves or a tee, this also makes it easy to winterize a system that has a sea water toilet: just pour the antifreeze down the sink and flush it all the way to the tank.


--Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein
 
Please tell me if this sounds like crazy talk or is it guided rambling?

We have the Bacchus aquarium pump, Groco sweet tank and Noflex Digestor. All are about getting oxygen in the blackwater to promote aerobic bacteria? Two mechanical systems to pump air and one chemical additive to oxidize the waste? Guessing peroxide, Bronstead acid?

I remember talking to a wastewater guy years ago who was headed to take a test. He was talking about air pumps and "bugs". Aerobic bacteria again?

Are we turning the holding tank into a sewage treatment plant or just doing a different approach to preserving sewage until we can dump it?


So what is the blue stuff for RV tanks? Is it still formaldehyde? It's a preservative? That's going to kill bacteria to prevent hydrogen sulfide formation?


I promise to get a book but curiosity is killing me.
 
Last edited:
Boat said:
Please tell me if this sounds like crazy talk or is it guided rambling?

We have the Bacchus aquarium pump, Groco sweet tank and Noflex Digestor. All are about getting oxygen in the blackwater to promote aerobic bacteria? Two mechanical systems to pump air and one chemical additive to oxidize the waste? Guessing peroxide, Bronstead acid?

I remember talking to a wastewater guy years ago who was headed to take a test. He was talking about air pumps and "bugs". Aerobic bacteria again?

Are we turning the holding tank into a sewage treatment plant or just doing a different approach to preserving sewage until we can dump it?


So what is the blue stuff for RV tanks? Is it still formaldehyde? It's a preservative? That's going to kill bacteria to prevent hydrogen sulfide formation?


I promise to get a book but curiosity is killing me.
Click to expand...



You raise good questions that I am sure will be addressed by others, especially those who desire to prevent their holding tanks from developing odors. Personally, I have no desire to "save/treat" poop although I have a strong desire to prevent smell by other means.

Thank you for your contribution on this sometimes controversial topic.

Foggy
 
By supplying oxygen to the holding tank you are not treating the waste but rather stopping it from smelling until you can get it pumped out. It is still hazardous waste but it just doesn’t smell. The Groco Sweetank and a similar homemade system do work. Really well.
 
We have the Bacchus aquarium pump, Groco sweet tank and Noflex Digestor. All are about getting oxygen in the blackwater to promote aerobic bacteria? Two mechanical systems to pump air and one chemical additive to oxidize the waste? Guessing peroxide, Bronstead acid?

None of that is treating or preserving your tank contents, it's only creating the aerobic environment in the tank that prevents odor from being created. However, without knowing what chemical product you're also adding, I don't know whether it's helping or counteracting. I have no idea what Bronstead acid is or does, even after googling it and coming up with a dozen sites discussing it. To my knowledge there is no tank product that uses it.

I remember talking to a wastewater guy years ago who was headed to take a test. He was talking about air pumps and "bugs". Aerobic bacteria again?

Yes. Aerobic bacteria products used in aerobic conditions accelerate the rate at which organic material break down aerobically, helping it to generate odorless CO2 instead of toxic--and stinking--hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide and also methane, which is flammable but odorless.

Are we turning the holding tank into a sewage treatment plant or just doing a different approach to preserving sewage until we can dump it?

You're neither treating--killing bacteria unless the chemical you're adding is doing so--nor preserving your tank contents. You're only creating conditions in the tank that prevent odor from being created.

So what is the blue stuff for RV tanks? Is it still formaldehyde? It's a preservative? That's going to kill bacteria to prevent hydrogen sulfide formation?

Formaldehyde, gluteraldehyde and quanternary ammonium compound are the the most commonly used active ingredient in chemical tank products. Most but not all of 'em are blue. They are not preservatives. They seek to eliminate odor by killing the anaerobic bacteria that generates it AFTER they've created it instead of PREVENTING odor from being generated by oxygenating the tank contents.

I promise to get a book...

It's available from Amazon in both kindle (you don't have to have a Kindle device, only the kindle app on your phone or tablet) and hard copy versions. See link in my signature below.

--Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein
 
Raritan K.O. is a bio-active (live aerobic bacteria) holding tank product. It works well in tanks that are sufficiently well vented to provide the oxygen it needs...not so well in anaerobic conditions.


Fwiw, it's part of the product line that my own company developed, that I sold to Raritan in 1999.


--Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein
 
Can't find a way to PM

Hi Peggy,
I would love a copy of your "Vacuflush 101" piece, but I can't seem to send you a PM? According to the TF website, there should be a "button" with your post that says "Email", but I can't see anything like that. I tried to check out your 'profile" and there was no link to PM you. You could send the article to "firehoser75@hotmail.com"

Thanks in advance,
Tom


HeadMistress said:
And btw... Despite Dometic/SeaLand's claim to the contrary, 1 pint of water is not nearly enough to rinse waste out of the hoses and pump. At least 90% of VacuFlush problems are a result of using too little water.

Always leave the pedal down at least 3 full seconds following urine only...always add about half a bowl of water ahead of solid waste and leave the pedal down 7-10 seconds to rinse the system behind the flush.

I've written piece I call "VacuFlush 101" that explains how the system works (an amazing number of owners think they know, but don't) and how to prevent problems. If you'll send me a PM that includes your email address (no way to attach anything to a PM), I'll send it to you (and to anyone else who'd like to have it.).



--Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein
Click to expand...
 
The info you requested should already be in your inbox.


To send a PM, you only need to click on the poster's name below his/her photo at the upper left of his/her post. A menu will drop down that includes "send a private message..." Unfortunately, unlike its sister site cruisers.com, trawlerforum.com doesn't also include the ability to send an email instead. I REALLY wish it did, 'cuz email makes conversation sooo much easier!


--Peggie
 
Based on experience on my boat and friends boats a smelly toilet most of the time is coming from the walls of a raw water intake hose. Thus a toilet which is flushed every day usually never smells and placing the intake hose in a mild vinegar solutuon and flushing the unit several times removes the smell.
 
VacuFlush isn't a raw water a toilet...it uses onboard pressurized fresh water.



--Peggie
 
AskAdam said:
Can you please email the vacuflush 101? Adeck@me.com
Click to expand...


Hi Adam...I see you've just joined our merry little band..welcome aboard!


I don't know why I didn't see your post till today, but now that I have, the info you requested should be in your inbox now.



--Peggie
 
Run a white wet rag down your sewage line from the head to the holding tank.
Then if you smell the rag and have a strong sewage smell on it, you hoses need to be replaced.
 
fgarriso said:
Run a white wet rag down your sewage line from the head to the holding tank.
Then if you smell the rag and have a strong sewage smell on it, you hoses need to be replaced.
Click to expand...


to clarify you meant to say the outside of the hoses.. the way you wrote it a unsuspecting newbee might read that as on the inside of the hose.. I guarantee it would have a " head" smell then


HOLLYWOOD
 
I didn't think anyone could be that dumb, but you never know!
 
Before jumping into a thread with advice, it's always a good idea to check the date of the first post to any thread and also how many replies it's already had (see the # in the right corner of the blue band at the top of the last one) and even scroll through 'em 'cuz there's usually a lot of useful info in a lot of 'em.


--Peggie
 
Didn't mean to step on you toes.
 
You didn't. Just thought it was worth mentioning I just saw that you're a relative newcomer too...glad to have you!


--Peggie
 
Well, since the OP posted this August 2018- I hope he got it solved ;-)
 
I would try the Noflex, or some other holding tank chemical, before major surgery.
 
Rigtyme said:
I would try the Noflex, or some other holding tank chemical, before major surgery.
Click to expand...


59 posts into this thread that originated a year ago, I have no idea whose problem your advice is intended to solve....or even if there is a newer one buried somewhere in it.


--Peggie
 
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