IamAeolus wrote:
The odor is primarily in the head and it is there regardless of
whether the head is flushed or not. The odor seems to permeate the
rest of the boat, with the head as the epicenter.
Is there a shower sump? If so, when was the last time it was cleaned? A
wet dirty sump can smell like sewer.
The other most likely possibility is dead and decaying sealife trapped
in the head intake hose and/or channel in the rim of the bowl.
Again, I have
cleaned the head (numberous times, and with numerous commercial
products). I have pumped out the holding tank a number of times,
flushed it, and pumped it again. I have been using "Sea Land Liquid
Holding Tank Deodorant and Cleaner," pumped thru the system from the
head to the holding tank.
Nothing poured down the toilet will clean it out because nothing poured
down the recirculates (thank God!) through the intake...it's just goes
out the discharge. Nothing you can put in the holding tank, nor any
amount of cleaning the tank is likely to have any effect on odor inside
the boat...'cuz unless the tank is leaking, any odor inside the tank has
nowhere to go except out the tank vent.
So continuing to pour anything down the head and flushing out the tank
is just a waste of your time and cleaning cleaning products.
To clean out the head intake, disconnect the intake hose from the
thru-hull (close the seacock first!) and stick it in a bucket of clean
fresh water that's liberally laced with Raritan C.P. Cleans Potties.
Pump that through the head...repeat. Reconnect the intake hose, but do
not use the toilet for at least 24 hours.
Use C.P. to clean the sump too. Although it's marketed only as a bowl
cleaner, it's a bio-enzymatic cleaner that not only destroys odors on
contact, but also "eats" hair, soap scum, body oils etc--all the things
that sit and "ferment" in a sump. It does need time to work, though...so
it needs to sit in the sump--with an inch or so of water--at least
overnight.
I get a lot of calls and email from people who've replaced their whole
sanitation systems trying to get rid of what they thought was "head"
odor, when all they really needed to do was clean their bilges...I don't
mean just pour in some more bilge cleaner, but really CLEAN 'em--lots of
detergent and water, followed by thoroughly rinsing out ALL the dirty
water. Also look for trapped water-- plugged or missing limber holes. A
wet dirty bilge is a dark stagnant swamp...and it can smell like swamp
if it's not that dirty..like a sewer if ignored long enough.
If the source of the odor isn't the head intake, sump or bilges, it's
time to check the hoses for odor permeation: wet a rag in hot
water...wring it out and wrap it around a section of every hose in the
system--intake, head discharge, tank pumpout, tank vent. Use a clean rag
for each test...remove it from the hose after it cools...smell it. If
you cannot smell anything on the rag, the hose is fine...if you smell
waste, that hose has permeated. The only cure is replacement.
Bottom line: you have to eliminate the source of any odor to eliminate
the odor. You may have more than one source...the only thing to do is
eliminate the possibilities one by one till you've found all the sources
and eliminated those.
Fwiw, you might consider clicking on the link in my signature too.
Peggie
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Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://www.seaworthy.com/html/get_ri...oat_odors.html