Bad Smell While Flushing Head

[Capt jgw]

The head vent on the H340 is on the starboard side hull as shown in the attached picture, and is likely the source of the temporary odor when flushing. The holding tank is under the battery compartment. Listen to Peggy to minimize!
View attachment 156533

That's logical, but if you smell it inside the boat there's an issue someplace. The vent in mine is amidships port side, and if the wind's just right I get a whiff in the cockpit when flushing. Too much or too little wind and I don't notice it. But not inside the boat unless it's somehow coming in a hatch, that would have to be a very occasional occurrence. There's a leak someplace, probably in the vent or pump out, somewhere above the fluid level in the tank. It was below you'd smell it all the time and probably see the leaking fluid.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

There's a leak someplace, probably in the vent or pump out, somewhere above the fluid level in the tank.

Unlikely. Please read post #20 to learn what's almost certain to be the actual source of odor from the toilet when flushing and the cure for it.

And btw...Ed Caldwell posted that in Sept of 2018--as did everyone else before post #19--so it's prob'ly a waste of time to debate with him.

--Peggie

 

[SeanP]

Nothing you flush down the toilet will cure this problem. Sea water, especially coastal sea water and some lake and river water too, is alive with animal and vegetable micro (and not-so-micro) organisms, When that water is left to sit and stagnate in the toilet intake line and pump, or worse yet, a not-so-micro-critter becomes trapped in the intake line, pump and/or the channel in the rim of the bowl, they die, decay and stink—and they stink a lot worse in hot weather than in cool weather (everything does). If you aren't sure whether that's at one of the sources of your odor problem, there are a couple of indicators:

The odor is concentrated in the head and not pervasive throughout the cabin--or at least is much worse in the head than in the rest of the boat.

The odor is much worse after the boat has been sitting for a few days than while you’re aboard and flushing the toilet regularly—in fact, it either goes away or is greatly reduced after you've flushed the toilet a few times when you first come aboard again.

You may see dark flecks from the channel in the rim of the bowl if the source is the remains of trapped animal or vegetable sea life.

To find out if this is your problem, close the intake seacock and flush the toilet as dry as possible. Disconnect the hose from the through-hull and stick that end of it in a bucket of water to which you’ve added a quart of distilled white vinegar. Pump/flush the whole bucketful through the system. Do not reconnect the hose to the through-hull yet, flush only with clean fresh water while you’re aboard this time....use cups of water from the sink.

If the odor is gone when you come back to the boat next weekend, bingo! you’ve found the source of your odor problem. If you still have odor, and it’s still confined to the head compartment, clean your shower sump.

--Peggie

Hi Peggie,

Thanks so much for posting your thoughts and advice on our issue. We live on our boat as we ready her for summer sailing, so she does not stand at all. The head is used regularly and no flecks of any kind are visible. I will try the solution you suggest to flush with vinegar and water in a bucket and see what that gives us.

Appreciated!

Sean

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

In that case use water from the sink for a couple of days, then re-connect the intake line. Hopefully we've gotten rid of the source of the odor.

--Peggie

 

[BMercer]

I replaced all my hoses on my 87' H31 last summer and the smell went away. Your boat is newer so it might not be as simple as that and possibly caused by something else.
BM