I get a horrible rotten eggs/sulphur smell whenever i use the head after not having used it for a couple of days. I recently saw a device in the Boat US catalog (i cant recall the name). I hooks up between the head and the sea water intake. you put a "disc" in the device and it chemically treats the water which stays in the intake line when the head is not in use. every time you draw water into the head, it passes over the disc and gets deodorized. The disc is basically a chemical "block" about with a diameter of about 3 inches and three inches thick. It is supposed to last about 1 month. any experience with this product?
Head odors
- Thread starter James Hill
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There's an easier cheaper solution to intake odor
I'm not a fan of any of the inline chemical cartridge devices sold to eliminate odor caused by stagant sea water trapped in the head intake. Some only reduce the problem, they don’t completely solve it; the chemicals used in some of them can be harmful to rubber and neoprene parts in the toilet; others may be incompatible, or even produce toxic gasses, if combined with other chemicals used in the holding tank. They should never be used if a Lectra/San is installed, because the chemicals in them can damage the electrodes. This is the best solution to the problem I've ever found: tee or wye the sink drain hose into the head intake hose next to the seacock; both hoses are typically the same size: ¾” ID. After you’ve closed the head intake seacock in preparation to close up the boat, fill the sink with fresh clean water and flush the toilet. Because the seacock is closed, the toilet will draw the water out of the sink, rinsing the sea water out of the entire system--without the need for any chemicals. You could even use this method to flush the toilet all the time...just keep the intake seacock closed and flush using water from the sink each time. If your toilet is electric, be careful not to let it run dry...doing so can burn out the intake impeller. It will also be necessary to keep the sink plugged except when in use, either by installing a conveniently located shut-off valve in the drain hose or with a rubber sink plug. Otherwise the toilet will pull air through the sink, preventing it from priming.
I'm not a fan of any of the inline chemical cartridge devices sold to eliminate odor caused by stagant sea water trapped in the head intake. Some only reduce the problem, they don’t completely solve it; the chemicals used in some of them can be harmful to rubber and neoprene parts in the toilet; others may be incompatible, or even produce toxic gasses, if combined with other chemicals used in the holding tank. They should never be used if a Lectra/San is installed, because the chemicals in them can damage the electrodes. This is the best solution to the problem I've ever found: tee or wye the sink drain hose into the head intake hose next to the seacock; both hoses are typically the same size: ¾” ID. After you’ve closed the head intake seacock in preparation to close up the boat, fill the sink with fresh clean water and flush the toilet. Because the seacock is closed, the toilet will draw the water out of the sink, rinsing the sea water out of the entire system--without the need for any chemicals. You could even use this method to flush the toilet all the time...just keep the intake seacock closed and flush using water from the sink each time. If your toilet is electric, be careful not to let it run dry...doing so can burn out the intake impeller. It will also be necessary to keep the sink plugged except when in use, either by installing a conveniently located shut-off valve in the drain hose or with a rubber sink plug. Otherwise the toilet will pull air through the sink, preventing it from priming.
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