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The smell from the waste tank under the bed is getting rather unpleasant. It is a drop toliet (ie not a macerator). We have checked for leaks and replaced the hoses with sani hose - both the pumpout hose and the vent but the smell is still lingering. It is a plastic tank and pretty old and could replace it but this is a last resort. Do plastic tanks 'leak' odour after a while? If so are there any easy ways of making it less whiffy?

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Empty it and fill again during the rinse and empty again then add enough water to cover the smelly base and then add  odorless.  If that does not work, replace the lot with a steel tank and a macerator unit.  We did and no more smells.

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13 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

We've a macerator and a stainless tank. Tried Odorless, didn't seem to work.

 

Following advice given on this forum tried bio washing liquid. Seems to work.

This is interesting. We have a poxy macerator bog, whilst they are a stupid idea it has to be said there is zero smell EVER until pumpout day outside. Nothing whatsoever inside the boat. A correctly installed macerator is sealed inside the boat with water stopping any stench coming out from the pipe to tank. How does it smell? Is there some vent inside the boat?

7 hours ago, rgriffiths said:

The smell from the waste tank under the bed is getting rather unpleasant. It is a drop toliet (ie not a macerator). We have checked for leaks and replaced the hoses with sani hose - both the pumpout hose and the vent but the smell is still lingering. It is a plastic tank and pretty old and could replace it but this is a last resort. Do plastic tanks 'leak' odour after a while? If so are there any easy ways of making it less whiffy?

If its a drop through you WILL always have a faint smell, its inevitable however good the bowl seals are.

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7 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

It was an 'orrible pong that came out of the vent whenever the Chortling Bog Monster, as our facilities are known to it's friends and users, was flushed.

 

Got worse as the tank got fuller.

Love the name lol. My vent is on the roof so any smell would go upwards and away from the boat, do you have a vent situated in the hull? many do and this leads to pong entering through windows etc.

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^^^^ This is the same on our boat, and we don't get any smell either.

 

Even when I cut a hole in the stainless steel tank for the level gauge (because I was paranoid what would happen when the bulb in the red "tank full" light blew), there was minimal smell.

Edited by cuthound
To remove a space masquerading as a letter
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7 minutes ago, hider said:

Dump the horrible dump through  and fit a sealed loo.

They always stink.

This has been said so many times on here that I feel I have to say, on a properly-fitted well-vented tank a dump through does not smell provided that the seals are in good order and the toilet is used sensibly. At least, ours doesn't.

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1 hour ago, Victor Vectis said:

It was an 'orrible pong that came out of the vent whenever the Chortling Bog Monster, as our facilities are known to it's friends and users, was flushed.

 

Got worse as the tank got fuller.

Pretty sure I have their first album somewhere..

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It was Ange, of this parish, who started it.

 

She came out of the bathroom (and I mean bathroom rather than the coy American use of that word, grrrrrr!) giggling, saying "Your toilet just laughed at me!"

 

Well, it does make a happy, gurgling noise as part of it's flush cycle.

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2 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

This is interesting. We have a poxy macerator bog, whilst they are a stupid idea it has to be said there is zero smell EVER until pumpout day outside. Nothing whatsoever inside the boat. A correctly installed macerator is sealed inside the boat with water stopping any stench coming out from the pipe to tank. How does it smell? Is there some vent inside the boat?

 

If it has poor pipe runs so the liquid lays in the pipe they will eventually smell . Not all installations are the same standard you may remember Biggles had problems with the pipes and changed them to solid.
My drop through dosen't small but then when the tank was made it had a threaded boss welded on to take the plastic funnel bit the pan sits on. Onst just have a hole with some kind of sealant. The ball seal is replaced as required so a water seal is maintained in the pan  other that when the poo drops through. I don't stand there with the ball open for 10 minutes after the poo has gone down. The only time I get any smell is opening the ball to see how full the tank is or when cleaning seal with a loo brush.

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4 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

If it has poor pipe runs so the liquid lays in the pipe they will eventually smell . Not all installations are the same standard you may remember Biggles had problems with the pipes and changed them to solid.
My drop through dosen't small but then when the tank was made it had a threaded boss welded on to take the plastic funnel bit the pan sits on. Onst just have a hole with some kind of sealant. The ball seal is replaced as required so a water seal is maintained in the pan  other that when the poo drops through. I don't stand there with the ball open for 10 minutes after the poo has gone down. The only time I get any smell is opening the ball to see how full the tank is or when cleaning seal with a loo brush.

I think you are correct re the pipes. there are some that must be or become porous after time and cause the smell.

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4 minutes ago, rgriffiths said:

All good stuff. My question was really about the tank itself. Assuming all seals are good, pipes new, no dips in the pipe, well flushed etc. Could odours permiate through the tank itself?

My tank is plastic. Zero smell even with yer nose an inch away. Its now into its eleventh year.

Just one thought. Do you have a tank level monitor? If so there is usualy a sender in the top of the tank, are those seals ok or maybe the gasket is perished??

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Echo most of the above... Our experience.

 

We have two loos, one for The Management and t'other for lesser folk (me).

  • Both are plastic, made to order and sit in between and 'below the floor bearers.
  • About 2' x 4' x 10"
  • There's a vent in the side (smells don't travel upwards much)
  • The FLUSH and pumpout pipes are on the roof
  • They are a little bit older than the boat - say 25 years.
  • We pumpout both tanks together AND nearly fill the tanks again and pumpout again.
  • By organising (!) the procedure we can do all of that using the pause button on one 'card' full - using the pause button as required.

Have tried all suggested treatments and by chance came across some industrial strength bio which has passed all 'green' requirements. It's very, very expensive, but came as ullage in a container that I bought.

!Magic! no smells 'ever'

Tip - if you put some water in the bowl, add the treatment, wait 2 millseconds, stir with a brush and press the leaver - it cleans the bowl as well 

On an affordable level someone on here suggested Tesco's Oxygen (not always available) and that works almost as well.

 

We've not found anything else that works - and have tried all sorts, camping cleaner,  yeast, various forms of Odorlos etc, etc

 

I was country born and half bred, have had small and large herbivores, pumpout our own septic tank - so perhaps don't mind the colour or some odour, it's just a fact of life get over it (wash your hands afterwards...

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

when cleaning seal with a loo brush.

Absolutely nothing wrong with what you said, but it’s given me the most amazing image in my head.

 

Mind you, I’m a bit desperate for a laugh today, so apologies for going :offtopic:!

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1 hour ago, OldGoat said:

 

 

 

 

I was country born and half bred, have had small and large herbivores, pumpout our own septic tank - so perhaps don't mind the colour or some odour, it's just a fact of life get over it (wash your hands afterwards...

 

 

 

 

You had running water?

52 minutes ago, BruceinSanity said:

Absolutely nothing wrong with what you said, but it’s given me the most amazing image in my head.

 

Mind you, I’m a bit desperate for a laugh today, so apologies for going :offtopic:!

Better than a toothbrush Bruce, well your own anyway.

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It has been said the ASDA money saver bio washing fluid is the bees knees. We will get some when we find an ASDA. We have used Bio washing liquid for about. Four years now and in our opinion it works. (Unless our bodily waste has stopped smelling.!)

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1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

You had running water?

Better than a toothbrush Bruce, well your own anyway.

As kids we had running water and mains lectric. However we did not have mains drainage, a bathroom and most definately not one of those new fangled water closets!!

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1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

You had running water?

 

No - Electricity came first, then running water.

A well in the garden and my father hand pumped water from a well in the garden....

It fed the loo, bath, kitchen. Hot water from a 'poor man's Aga'

 

We're getting Fibre real soon now.... 

Only 50 mile from London.

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