HEADS UP!

M

Molly Brown

Member
Literally...Arrived at the marina for a pump out, removed the waste cap and was greeted by the most awful mess. First thought was that I'd waited too long to empty the head but after having thought about it decided that it must be a plugged vent line. Sure enough, the elbow vent to the outside of the boat was plugged and let me know it as soon as I removed the line coming up from the tank. It was a little problematic cleaning it out but persistence and a little ingenuity got the job done. I'm positive that some of you could devise a neat little trick to keep that thing cleared out. We don't use any chemicals in ours electing instead to let bacteria do the work so a mechanical solution would be preferable. The vent is a 90% bend and about a quarter inch. Heads been in use 2 years so this item will be added to our maintenance schedule.
Best regards to all Brats in Dory Land.

P.S. Hey DA NAG !!! We have a section for freshwater systems and I submit a humble request for a waste water section since it appears that more and more Brats have onboard waste tanks. Glad to contribute if you guys are still looking for support.
 
How's this, James and Betty on the TomCat Molly Brown?

Good idea. Thanks.

And, oooh, sorry about your incident.
 
Holy Cow!!! Less than 30 minutes to have the site modified...that's amazing. Thanks Mike. Hopefully people won't have too much to contribute to this particular topic. We've never had a head on board but I guarantee my wife won't give it up and I admit that it's convenient and user friendly compared to the porta potty I used to deal with....
 
Just wait until Pat and Patti give us a Potti report. At present they are using a porta potti in the head/shower. How-ever they are waiting for their composting toilet.
 
Molly Brown":39mbrzvw said:
Holy Cow!!! Less than 30 minutes to have the site modified...that's amazing. Thanks Mike. Hopefully people won't have too much to contribute to this particular topic. We've never had a head on board but I guarantee my wife won't give it up and I admit that it's convenient and user friendly compared to the porta potty I used to deal with....
Click to expand...

You notice we did not include a dedicated photo album for this topic. No thanks. We have to draw the line somewhere.

Our boat has a Traveller marine head which seems to be a perfect choice. It sits atop its own 10 gallon tank, and has a selector valve to either empty thru the deck fitting at a pump station or pump overboard with a macerator (we can do that 3 miles out to sea here). It is freshwater flushed. I prefer to use a chemical in the tank, and we like the disolving pouches of blue stuff.

Thanks again for the topic suggestion. There has been a surprising amount of discussion on the various forums here concerning this subject in one form or anoher. This way, the info has a better chance of being found by someone interested yet reluctant to ask.

And I will be checking the tank vent a little more often.
 
Hey Brats:
Maybe Pat and or Patti could chime in and give us some particulars on that composting toilet. I didn't know one was made for boats. I'd used the ones in the Tortugas and they work well but are rather large. Maybe that is a reflection of their "load" and not design.
 
OK, here is the link for AirHead Composting Marine Toilets. Bear in mind, we have not received or installed it yet, when we ordered it, it was backordered eight week. Read the materials and decide for yourself...



Molly Brown":3l55b7zh said:
Hey Brats:
Maybe Pat and or Patti could chime in and give us some particulars on that composting toilet. I didn't know one was made for boats. I'd used the ones in the Tortugas and they work well but are rather large. Maybe that is a reflection of their "load" and not design.
Click to expand...
 
A company called Sun-Mar also makes a composting marine head. From what I can see, the Sun Mar unit is a little bigger, and it doesn't separate the liquid wastes from solids the way the AirHead does. The Sun Mar takes a slightly larger current draw than the AirHead (333mA, as opposed to 120mA - this according to my feeble understanding of electronics. Sun Mar reports its electrical usage as 3 Watts). The Sun Mar unit might be a bit easier to use, in that it doesn't require the "coffee filters" for catching solid waste, or any separate handling of a liquid waste tank. Here is a link to their web site: http://www.sun-mar.com/products/sunmarmobile.php
 
It is great to see the Molly Brown back in action after the last years "H" season... I do not even want to say the word....
I have my head out again. 1st round was to replace the electric motor, which "froze-up"....and was able to get it going with a smack or two with the trusty hammer... but then....it hit the same spot again. Factory sent me new one free of charge. Then, on the Nashville Gathering Cumberland River trip, we had a little "backwash" issue....off the "dirty side" hoses. After removal, I have a part that had split. Sorry, left it on the boat so I can not call it by name...but will bring it home this weekend after Thurs-Saturday trip to the boat. Thank God for the showers and head at the marina!!! Now, as for putting it back together and attempting to get all the lines/clamps and hoses to seal.... talk on our dock is to use 4200/5200 on the "outsides" of the fittings prior to plugging on the hoses...?? Then, just really.... REALLY tighten down the stainless clamps. Any other words of wisdom out there on this?
 
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