Fresh Water Head

[Graybeard]

My fellow GW owners
In December we bought a 2003 Marlin 30 so we had a boat big enough to spend nights at the marina and go on overnight cruises. We had no prior experience with a marine head, holding tank or pressurized water system. My wife gets really upset with the odor from the marine head. A member of our local GW club suggested replacing the raw water head with a fresh water head. Has anyone done this as a DYI project or have the conversation done by a maintenance service? Also will a fresh water head help eliminate head odors? Thanks

 

[HMBJack]

I have used our FW head on our 330 Express for over 8 years now. No odor from it so long as you empty the holding tank within a week AND use a tank deodorant of your choice.

As explained to me - FW heads (called Vacuflush) generally don't stink because there are no living organisms in the water. Salt water has living things in it and when they die in your toilet system, they stink! I notice this with my raw water wash down hose. When I first turn it on - the water smells horrible! This is due to the living critters in the salt water thing. You may have noticed this on your own boat...

Now, as to adding this type of FW toilet system to a 2003 Marlin, I'm not so sure I'd tackle this as there are space considerations and a good deal of plumbing and new fixtures (namely the toilet bowl). I'd ask GW if there is enough room for a Vacuflush system on your boat first. Then I guess other Marlin Owners on this site could chime in if they converted to a Vacuflush. Lastly, I suppose you could call Dometic/SeaLand to determine dimensions of a unit for your boat. Dometic Customer Service is at 1-800-321-9886.

I agree with your wife about the stinky head. Tell her it's not so much the poop but the salt water. One easy, less glamorous, solution is to simply use a large capacity porta-potty. AS a FW unit, you won't smell anything from it.

 

[DennisG01]

Even fresh water (lake) will stink up a system - for the same reasons - organisms.

So... you have a "flushing" head of some type that moves everything to a separate holding tank? Where is the holding tank? Does the holding tank have an odor filter on it? Look at the vent line, where it leaves the tank - follow the line and you should see a filter, if it has it, in a "somewhat" accessible place. If you do have one, it might be time to change it (or refill/rebuild it).

I've had fresh water flush heads (VacuFlush) on a couple boats and, while they have their own maintenance requirements, they are definitely a nice thing to have. They use very little water, as well - maybe a quart or two per flush... something like that, anyways. It will be expensive to add this, though.

 

[Graybeard]

I have one of those manual flush Jabsco’s with the electric flush conversion. Both Jabsco and Raritan make freshwater marinetoilets in the compact and regular size. Raritan Has a fresh water marine toilet that is supposed to be a direct replacement for my Jabsco. I live in Annapolis and Raritan will have a booth at the annual Powerboat Show opening later this week. I may just go to the show and see what they say

 

[Legend]

One thing you may want to try is to replace the joker valve. It is located righ inside the toilet flush hose where it attches to the pump. I had never replaced mine, never knew it even existed until I was replacing my electric head pump. It is basically a one way valve that stops seepage back into the head. Replacing this 10 dollar valve significantly reduced the odor from my head. It will be a regular maintenance item for me going forward.

 

[Graybeard]

I’ll look into that...thanks

 

[Fishtales]

The freshwater one is better, but you have to stay on top of everything. Use the treatment - especially pre-layup and when you commission it every year. I try to keep it clean and empty. Get folks to leave the solids at home or on shore somewhere.