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Black Tank Blues - A tale of No smell Filter Whoa


RufusR

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Blue is likely to kill off the bacteria (good and bad) and stop any enzyme additive from working. Given the price of pump outs, you may be best to live with it this time and wait till you need your next pump out before changing. A really good rinse will help, so a friendly pump out station would be useful but many are timed, with 8 minutes being fairly common, so you may not achieve a totally blue-less tank at the first go.

 

I'd say persevere though, because the enzyme route has worked for me. Not only in eradicating smells, but also in breaking down solids which can accumulate and not be shifted by rinsing alone. My black water gauge with a probe type sender unit used to be inaccurate, sticking at about 60% for ages before suddenly declaring 100% shortly after I found that out by other, less pleasant means! This was every time, not just occasionally, and I'd checked electrical connections, swapped gauges with my similar fresh water indicator, etc, all to no avail. I'm convinced it was no coincidence that my gauge began to work correctly soon after I started using Silky 65 and that solid accumulation was the cause. There are other enzyme treatments, and some folk swear by brewer's yeast, but Silky is inexpensive and at a teaspoon a month lasts ages, so I'm sticking with what I know works.

 

thanks Sea Dog we will do that , though we dont pay for pump out at our mooring ( as long as you are a member and moorer ) but will leave and get a proper pump out when full and go the enzyme route .

 

NB : when we had the original issue the indicator jumped to 120% , it was messy , all up the pipes etc , thought it was empty but of course it was not pumping out due to blockage . luvverly .. not

 

certainly learnt alot about pump outs in our first week with one

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  • 2 years later...

Hi RR, Just found this post when I discovered a disintegrated carbon filter in the vent pipe on my boat.  Some of the granules have fallen down the pipe.  So I've bought a replacement filter and length of pipe and am working up the courage to detach and replace the vent pipe.  Fingers crossed it's not too messy and solves the problem.  Thanks very much for posting about your experience.

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1 hour ago, SarahHighTide said:

Hi RR, Just found this post when I discovered a disintegrated carbon filter in the vent pipe on my boat.  Some of the granules have fallen down the pipe.  So I've bought a replacement filter and length of pipe and am working up the courage to detach and replace the vent pipe.  Fingers crossed it's not too messy and solves the problem.  Thanks very much for posting about your experience.

I wouldn’t worry about granules falling down the pipe into the tank. They’re not usually very big and are unlikely to cause problems.

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7 hours ago, SarahHighTide said:

Hi RR, Just found this post when I discovered a disintegrated carbon filter in the vent pipe on my boat.  Some of the granules have fallen down the pipe.  So I've bought a replacement filter and length of pipe and am working up the courage to detach and replace the vent pipe.  Fingers crossed it's not too messy and solves the problem.  Thanks very much for posting about your experience.

Where dose it vent to after the filter?

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1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

Where dose it vent to after the filter?

There is a thru-hull holding tank breather fitting installed on the gunwales.  So the filter should be making the air vented outside smell better.  But I think it's probably not venting properly due to the granules blocking up the pipe.  

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3 minutes ago, SarahHighTide said:

There is a thru-hull holding tank breather fitting installed on the gunwales.  So the filter should be making the air vented outside smell better.  But I think it's probably not venting properly due to the granules blocking up the pipe.  

So water (rain) can run in and wet the filter?

 

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12 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

So water (rain) can run in and wet the filter?

 

Ah I see your thinking.  It's possible I suppose, but It's installed on the side of the gunwales and is covered with a plastic disc that I imagine is designed to keep water out. I think it's installed as instructed in the spec sheet.  It's one of these:
https://www.leesan.com/shop/1-1-2inch-thru-hull-holding-tank-breather-fitting-stainless-steel-90-degree.aspx

Maybe more likely moisture from an overfull tank backing up through the vent pipe?  I guess I'll know when I take the vent pipe off the tank fitting.

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37 minutes ago, SarahHighTide said:

Ah I see your thinking.  It's possible I suppose, but It's installed on the side of the gunwales and is covered with a plastic disc that I imagine is designed to keep water out. I think it's installed as instructed in the spec sheet.  It's one of these:
https://www.leesan.com/shop/1-1-2inch-thru-hull-holding-tank-breather-fitting-stainless-steel-90-degree.aspx

Maybe more likely moisture from an overfull tank backing up through the vent pipe?  I guess I'll know when I take the vent pipe off the tank fitting.

I see, to me the gunwale is that flat narrow deck that runs the length of the boat, not the hull side. Does it matter if a bit of smell comes out of there, its outside after all.

 

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2 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I see, to me the gunwale is that flat narrow deck that runs the length of the boat, not the hull side. Does it matter if a bit of smell comes out of there, its outside after all.

 

Ah yeah you're right, would have been more accurate to say it's right below the gunwales.  
I would happily swap the smell inside for smell outside tbh. But it's not getting the chance to get outside.

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