Wes

Hi All, Looking for some reccomendations on a Sensor/Guage for our fresh and diesel tanks. The boat didnt come with any so looking to install for better clarity on whats going on in the depths of the tanks. Thanks...

I'd rather be respectful of the countryside and everyone else using it. The main toilet chamber has a 12v fan which diverts all the smell outside and along with the smelly stone it has kept bad smells at bay. Unfortunately we didn't consider the time it takes to get to various elsans etc so need to pivot and figure out a solution which I think isn't too much of an issue.

Hey Ian, Totally see the logic here but if we have a 100 liter tank it would mean we are only spending roughly £16-£20 a month to empty based on our average toilet use. Having bottles of urine about just ain't something I or the missus are keen on storing. 🤣

Every boat I've been on that had a tank with both solids and urine I've been able to smell. The composting toilet we have doesn't smell as the bacteria doesn't propagate due to solids being wet. Either way, it is what it is and we need a solution so that we have a bigger tank for the urine. As I explained in the original post having a 7 litre tank as the toilet is is not practical. In a van we could get to points to dispose of easily. Not so much on a boat so we need to pivot and figure out a solution that allows us to hold urine for longer periods which we can then pump out.

Hey Tracy, it will be going into a holding tank which then gets pumped out. Exactly. Well no because if we are shitting into tank we need chems to break it up. Composting toilet negates this and doesn't smell of those horrid chemicals. And as someone else already pointed, out my friend has to then purchase compost.

The solids container lasts about a week. After that it's bagged and taken to a friend's plot to compost before being used as compost for non edible plants and garden.

Thanks for the response. Yeah I had a look at their products, a little expensive but it is what it is. So in essence we will have a tank with 3 holes. 1) Urine entry 2) Suction point to get rid of waste 3) Vent which will sit next to the exit of #2 Does the vent need to allow a specific amount of air through? So as to not collapse the tank? i.e will the vacuum from the pump out negate the vent if the vent is too small?

So we have got to the stage where we have installed our composting toilet. We have used them before in our van and we love it. Problem is we are not as mobile on a boat as we were in a van which we didn't account for so we need to figure out a solution for the urine part of the composting toilet. The urine receptacle has a capacity of 7l which lasts us about 2 or 3 days. There is no flushing so no extra water is added. This on a boat is not enough capacity so we are going to divert to a larger 70-100l (giving us about 20-30 days in between pump outs) tank but my question is doss this need to be a specific type of tank? We will locate the tank under the toilet for easy distribution of urine but what about the pump out part? Assuming a pipe running from vented tank to a skin pump out fitting? What about pressure when being pumped out and the tanks structural integrity? Any info will be much appreciated...

Yeah, I'd rather spend the money (small fortune) on getting someone to do iut properly along with the sign off. I'll be running all the cables etc but he will be doing the connecting and full install and testing of all components. It aint cheap but it means we only have to do it once and then its done.

Hey Alan, Yeah he is a certified boat electrician and works solely on boats and vans. We are not using solid core wires, we are using 2.5mm multi strand and will all be terminated with bootlace ferules. Obviously I am just researching for my own knowledge and understanding. The electrician will be doing all the install and follow the relevant code along with sign off of the system.

Lovely stuff, that has cleared it up and I now understand better. Much appreciated.

Right so when plastic back boxes are used you would need to find an alternative earthing point?

Hey, We will have a galvanic Isolator installed yes. Left is earth, above it is Live then Neutral and below the nuetral the "earth to functional earth". Now we were thinking of using the clip in plastic back boxes so there is nothing to earth it to essentially? Usually the secondary earth is to the metal backbox? Again I am not doing the install just trying to get to grips with the logistics of it all before our install is done. Thanks again, Wes

So this may seem like a stupid question but I thought I'd put it out to the hivemind. We have bought some 240v plug sockets for our fit out and they have a secondary earth, so live, neutral and earth for the 2.5mm 3 core wire and then a secondary "earth port" to go to a functional earth. We are having an electrician install everything and test the whole system but I just need to know if anyone has come across this before and if there is a resolution that I need to find or swap these out? Thanks, Wes

Hey Roberta, We have had the box welded into the roof and have ordered the glass but because its specific dims and double glazed the glass won't be with us for 4 weeks. I'll send a sketchup drawing or post on here of what we had done