BoatBanter.com - Ping: Peggie Hall

Hi Peggie:

My boat is equipped with one of SeaLand's holding tank vent filters. After
I pump my holding tank, I always fill the tank about half full with
non-potable water at the sanitation dock and pump it again for a "rinse
cycle". While filling the tank for the rinse yesterday, my TankWatch 4
system temporarily went non-functional and didn't alert me to the water
level in the tank. The micro-float switches must have gotten fouled during
the pump out. It was working fine just before, and is OK now after a couple
of gentle taps on The TankWatch cap. Anyway, the filter got wet from an
overfill situation. It was mostly clean water, but getting those filters
wet is pretty much the kiss of death for them, so I'm due to replace it.

I've been a happy user of the K.O. product for many years, and I seem to
remember in one of our conversations years ago that you thought the filter
actually got in the way of the K.O. product doing its job due to a
restriction of airflow (oxygen) into the tank. So my question is, would you
recommend replacing the filter or just eliminating it from the vent system
entirely? I could easily go either way, and have replaced the filter a
couple of times since owning the boat, but it seems silly to spend the $ to
replace the filter if it isn't really adding anything positive to the
system.