Hi, has anyone installed (or replaced) a holding tank vent filter on their Hunter 326 (2002)? If so, how and where was it installed? Any advice or help would be appreciated.
Hunter 326 Holding Tank Vent Filter
- Thread starter GrantDP
- Start date
You have a filter on the tank vent?
Can't help but Peggy will most likely be able to give you advice.
Can't help but Peggy will most likely be able to give you advice.
I wish I could have invented a product that actually helps to create the very problem it’s sold to solve, because that’s what a vent line filter does. Filters do trap the gasses which try to escape through the vent line, but they impede the free exchange of air needed to prevent odor from forming in the first place, eliminating the need for a filter! What’s more, they only last about a year, are toast immediately if they get wet--which not only makes 'em a bad choice on sailboats 'cuz waste often spills into the vent when boat is heeled, but also makes it impossible to backflush the vent line to prevent blockages--and they're ridiculously expensive. So install a vent line filter only as a last resort, because gasses that can’t easily pass through the vent line will go wherever they can-into hoses, eventually permeating even the best ones.
Physics 101: When organic material breaks down in aerobic (oxygenated) conditions, it converts to CO2, which is odorless. When organic material breaks down in ANaerobic conditions (without oxygen), they generate stinky gasses--sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide-- and methane, which is flammable, but odorless. So the key to preventing odor out the vent is a tank vent that allows a free exchange of air with the gasses in the tank, creating the necessary aerobic environment in the tank...and making the modifications to the vent line and thru-hull to accomplish that is actually pretty easy on most boats. I've posted quite about it here over the years...there's been quite a bit of discussion about it too...it's covered in detail in my book (see link in my signature) and I'll even be glad to help you do it one-on-one if you ask me nicely.
All of that is the long-winded way of telling you that the last thing you need is a holding tank vent filter!
--Peggie
Physics 101: When organic material breaks down in aerobic (oxygenated) conditions, it converts to CO2, which is odorless. When organic material breaks down in ANaerobic conditions (without oxygen), they generate stinky gasses--sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide-- and methane, which is flammable, but odorless. So the key to preventing odor out the vent is a tank vent that allows a free exchange of air with the gasses in the tank, creating the necessary aerobic environment in the tank...and making the modifications to the vent line and thru-hull to accomplish that is actually pretty easy on most boats. I've posted quite about it here over the years...there's been quite a bit of discussion about it too...it's covered in detail in my book (see link in my signature) and I'll even be glad to help you do it one-on-one if you ask me nicely.
All of that is the long-winded way of telling you that the last thing you need is a holding tank vent filter!
--Peggie
