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Newbie with smelly toilet


TodDog

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Yes it doesn’t sound like much cost is really needed here, other than a clean out and bio. It’s done fine or been put up with for many years. All the hire boats I’ve used have a mild whiff when flushing. Plenty of room spray and exhale slowly through your nose during flushing maybe the way to go if bio isn’t doing the trick.
It is probably better to save expense for hull engine and paintwork maintenance. 

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On 07/05/2022 at 20:45, Tracy D'arth said:

If there is inadequate or non-existent tank ventilation, every time you flush the air displaced has to come up through the bowl.

 

 

This is true, however even with vents the displaced tank headspace gases will take the path of least resistance which is likely to be straight back up through the largest opening.

 

Because I live alone and I'm away for work a lot I use my cassette much like a pump out, only emptying it every couple of weeks. I solved the smell issue on my new Thetford cassette (which is essentially a mini dump through), by utilising the cassette ventilation feature and connecting with hoses and funnels to a small 2.5amp draw bilge blower and redundant vent skin fitting for my old Vacuflush toilet. I found a computer fan wasn't powerful enough to get through the funnel arrangement and counteract displaced headspace gases coming back up through the bowl when solids and liquids were put into it.

 

The bilge blower does the trick. I just switch it on when I'm using the toilet. It makes the toilet more pleasant to use.

 

 

IMG_20220509_065155.jpg

 

There's a proper Thetford vent kit for caravans and RVs but it's difficult to fit on a boat unless you're going to cut a space under the floor. My hose, bilge blower, funnel installation does the same thing.

 

https://youtu.be/Xy9UtAOQeYY

 

 

Edited by blackrose
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When we changed to odorlos despite several rinsings it took a while before the smell disappeared.  I assume because of a) linger effects from the formaldehyde and b) time for the bacteria etc to develop a suitable habitat.

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On 07/05/2022 at 23:07, ditchcrawler said:

A friend of mine had an ex hire with a pumpout, there was quite a build up of solid in the bottom of the tank due to years of poor pupouts

 

23 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Our are not Blakes (but a similar Dutch toilet manufactured by RASKE) 3 pumps (for a pee) is under a litre, or you can just 'leave it' (if its yellow let it mellow).

 

A proper porcelain toilet virtually identical to a domestic toilet, just a side-pump instead of a flush-button.

 

We have one in the forward heads and one in the aft 'master cabin' in the en-suite.

 

 

image.jpeg.eb588e139f1847cffd3476613b5e0d79.jpeg

 

 

The Baby Blake is a wee (see what I did there) bit expensive priced as it is at £3,999 (the Raske is just under £200

 

Baby Blake

 

 

image.jpeg.5047995489c3c4af5defbf15bcb764bc.jpeg

I thought sea toilets weren't allowed on the canals? 

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17 minutes ago, TodDog said:

 

I thought sea toilets weren't allowed on the canals? 

If the discharge is into a tank they are. Mine will go overboard if I am in tidal water but mostly into a tank,   which you already have.  You just need a decent loo bowl on top and a bit of plumbing.

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19 minutes ago, TodDog said:

 

I thought sea toilets weren't allowed on the canals? 

 

Its not the toilet that is not allowed, its when you have them discharging directly into the canal thats not allowed.

 

Ours both go into a holding tank which can be pumped out when on inland waterways, or dumped directly overboard where allowed.

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On 07/05/2022 at 20:45, Tracy D'arth said:

If there is inadequate or non-existent tank ventilation, every time you flush the air displaced has to come up through the bowl.

 

It will always stink if you don't ventilate the tank.  If you use gallons of blue it will stink of blue.

 

Best to chuck the loo and fit a new one that is not a dump through, either a proper sea toilet or a modern macerator one on the tank after you have sealed the big hole up. 

Why get rid of a dump through toilet . Best type there is I'm my opinion , you can see when the tank is full. It does not block up like a macerator type does. Easy to work on. Is it an integral tank or not.

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2 hours ago, Tonka said:

Why get rid of a dump through toilet . Best type there is I'm my opinion , you can see when the tank is full. 

 

Because it stinks? It really depends on whether you like the smell of your own festering sh*t I suppose. Each to their own. 

 

However well vented a dump through toilet tank is, passive venting is unlikely to prevent tank headspace gases coming straight up through the a big hole at the bottom of the toilet bowl and into the bathroom, because the majority of the displaced gases will always take the path of least resistance, and that isn't usually via a smaller size vent. 

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6 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

Because it stinks? It really depends on whether you like the smell of your own festering sh*t I suppose. Each to their own. 

 

However well vented a dump through toilet tank is, passive venting is unlikely to prevent tank headspace gases coming straight up through the a big hole at the bottom of the toilet bowl and into the bathroom, because the majority of the displaced gases will always take the path of least resistance, and that isn't usually via a smaller size vent. 

trouble is, after a while people get used to their own smell  don't notice it and think it has gone away, visitors do though

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27 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

One of the benefits of a sea-toilet is that you have the 'normal' S-bend which keeps water in the bottom of the bowl so smells cannot escape (just as per domestic toilets)

You SHOULD have a water seal with a dumpthrough, its only when the ball is open there is no seal. There is no need to stand there with your foot on the peddle watching your fresh water go into the tank for half a minute.

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On 09/05/2022 at 06:41, blackrose said:

I solved the smell issue on my new Thetford cassette (which is essentially a mini dump through), by utilising the cassette ventilation feature and connecting with hoses and funnels to a small 2.5amp draw bilge blower and redundant vent skin fitting for my old Vacuflush toilet.

The bilge blowers I have seen are designed to fit 3 or 4 inch duct hose. What size are your toilet vent connection and hull fitting, and how did you make the connections?

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36 minutes ago, David Mack said:

The bilge blowers I have seen are designed to fit 3 or 4 inch duct hose. What size are your toilet vent connection and hull fitting, and how did you make the connections?

You can get rubber reducers like below, which can be used with the 4” blowers, there’s also pond water fittings that are suitable to fit a decent air system.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RUBBER-REDUCER-FLEXI-PIPE-CONNECTOR-JUBILEE-CLIP-KOI-FISH-POND-FILTER-ALL-SIZES-/350624536580?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

 

Here’s a Vlog how to adapt a 4” blower to vent a compost toilet through the old Pumpout fitting, May give you some ideas.

 

 

Edited by PD1964
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41 minutes ago, David Mack said:

The bilge blowers I have seen are designed to fit 3 or 4 inch duct hose. What size are your toilet vent connection and hull fitting, and how did you make the connections?

 

Things don't always have to be used in the way they were designed if one uses a bit of imagination.

 

25mm hose/ plastic funnel/ bilge blower/ plastic funnel/ 19mm hose/ hull skin fitting. (Duct tape bilge blower to funnels). I only used 25mm ID hose at the toilet end because initially I tried a tiny 25mm dia round computer fan in the end of the hose but that didn't work. A 3" computer fan with funnels didn't work either. Then I went for the 3" bilge blower 

 

The bilge blower efficiency is obviously reduced but it works well enough. It's not on for very long so won't overheat and unlike a computer fan it's noisy so you can't forget to switch it off afterwards.

Edited by blackrose
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On 09/05/2022 at 15:55, ditchcrawler said:

You SHOULD have a water seal with a dumpthrough, its only when the ball is open there is no seal. There is no need to stand there with your foot on the peddle watching your fresh water go into the tank for half a minute.

 

That depends on which dump through you have. There are some with a flap rather than a ball which don't have a water tight seal.

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On 09/05/2022 at 15:25, Alan de Enfield said:

One of the benefits of a sea-toilet is that you have the 'normal' S-bend which keeps water in the bottom of the bowl so smells cannot escape (just as per domestic toilets)

 

You have a sea toilet to pump out tank and can switch to pump the waste overboard?

 

My ideal would be a sea toilet via flexible sanitary hose to remote cassette but nobody makes it and it's difficult to fabricate. I thought about 20 litre Jerry cans as cassettes but you'd need a way to allow the headspace gases to vent when pumping in waste, a method of knowing when it's full and a clean way to get the hose out of the cassette to empty. It's all too much hassle.

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2 hours ago, blackrose said:

 

You have a sea toilet to pump out tank and can switch to pump the waste overboard?

 

My ideal would be a sea toilet via flexible sanitary hose to remote cassette but nobody makes it and it's difficult to fabricate. I thought about 20 litre Jerry cans as cassettes but you'd need a way to allow the headspace gases to vent when pumping in waste, a method of knowing when it's full and a clean way to get the hose out of the cassette to empty. It's all too much hassle.

I've arrived at something like that with our vacuflush. The automatic side of it no longer works but the vacuum pump does, that is connected to a on/off switch. Use the loo, turn the vacuum pump on, build a vacuum, press the pedal down, contents of loo get sucked into the cassette, turn switch off. The stinky gasses are vented out of a skin fitting. The toilet has no permanent vacuum so the water in it does not drain away and the whole contraption is reduced to its simplest and therefore its most reliable state, like most things you can chuck half of it away and it will work better. Oh, you can tell when the cassette is getting full as the vac. pump only runs for about 10 secs so you do need that microswitch.

Edited by Bee
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3 hours ago, blackrose said:

 

My ideal would be a sea toilet via flexible sanitary hose to remote cassette but nobody makes it and it's difficult to fabricate. I thought about 20 litre Jerry cans as cassettes but you'd need a way to allow the headspace gases to vent when pumping in waste, a method of knowing when it's full and a clean way to get the hose out of the cassette to empty. It's all too much hassle.

 

That is exactly what "Are we there yet" did many years ago.

 

He did take some stick for his 'non-conventional' ideas - the odd one which did actually work and the jerry-can cassettes was one of them.

 

His idea to put an additional 1000 litre water tank on the roof fell by the way side, as did his re-cycling shower water (I think he had about 20 kids).

 

3 hours ago, blackrose said:

You have a sea toilet to pump out tank and can switch to pump the waste overboard?

 

Yes - it can be 'sucked out' by a normal pump-out machine via a fitting in the side walkway, or diverted & dumped / pumped thru a below water line thru-hull fitting.

 

 

The Grey water is the same (Some Med. countries regulations require grey water to be kept in a tank and pumped out) so there is a multiway manifold under the galley stairs that can divert Grey &/or Black to the pump-out fitting, or the 'sea' fitting.

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10 hours ago, blackrose said:

 

That depends on which dump through you have. There are some with a flap rather than a ball which don't have a water tight seal.

I have only ever seen those at Game Fairs or in aircraft

6 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

That is exactly what "Are we there yet" did many years ago.

 

 

 

DSCF6398 (2).JPG

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11 hours ago, blackrose said:

 

That depends on which dump through you have. There are some with a flap rather than a ball which don't have a water tight seal.

 

The only toilets I have seen with a flap are recirculating toilets where the liquid in the body is used to flush  the toilet. Not so bad when newly serviced, but as time goes on the flush gets nastier and nastier. I am sure this is not what the OP has. If it is one of these nearly anything would be better.

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13 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

The only toilets I have seen with a flap are recirculating toilets where the liquid in the body is used to flush  the toilet. Not so bad when newly serviced, but as time goes on the flush gets nastier and nastier. I am sure this is not what the OP has. If it is one of these nearly anything would be better.

Now you have reminded me there was one on the very first hire boat I went on. I think they were actually made at Oulton Broad in Suffolk

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10 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Now you have reminded me there was one on the very first hire boat I went on. I think they were actually made at Oulton Broad in Suffolk

 

Absolutely correct until Elsan alleged patent infringement and got Topcraft (I think) to stop making them. As far as recircs went they were far superior to the expensive and nasty Elsan version that was built into their bucket and chucket outer case of the time.

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