vacuflush odor

Dan

I have a 2006 390 with a sealand vacuflush does anyone know does it have a filter on the pump tank all of a sudden getting odor

LaRea

There's probably no filter unless a previous owner installed one.  Are you getting odor all the time, or only when you flush the head?  

MarkB

Probably no filter on the tank and when it vents ....

Get a big orange filter. Takes 20 minutes to install. You won't be sorry.

Hamdog

Yep. You need a Big Orange filter. Search the forum. Plenty of posts. My dockmates and those swimming around my boat love mine!!

pault1216

I made a couple of holding tank filters out of pvc and activated charcoal for less than $40 for both and a couple years worth of left over filter media. I think I got the instructions off the old RBO site, perhaps from Babyboomer. Anyway...worked great and saved $$$. Good luck.  -Paul

redlightning

big orange filter fixed our odor problem.

Lifes Good

Rinse, rinse, and rinse!  Then bleach to start out fresh.  Add the orange filter! 

Dan

I have the domitec vacuflush don't see where it would go brain cramp I guess

Dan

Odor just when I flush

LaRea

The filter goes on the holding tank's vent hose.  It's the same whether the head is a Dometic or some other type.

The holding tank has a vent hose to relieve pressure in the tank when you flush the head.  It's a flexible hose, maybe 1" diameter, that goes from top of the holding tank to a vent fitting in the hull next to the pump-out fitting.  

Your holding tank is on the port side in the engine room, right?  Look for a flexible hose coming from the top.  

MarkB

Agree with LaRea.  When you flush, you push gases out of your holding tank and out through the tank vent. The big orange installs on the vent line at the top of the tank and uses activated carbon to clean out the smell before the gases are released.

Dan

Thanks got it

craigswardmtb

I have a post on here somewhere about the filter I made. The big orange is nice. I installed one in my old 270. I made one for my 360. I used I think 3" pipe, glued threaded end caps on each side, and then tapped two hose barbs on each side. I put a breathable filter material on both ends of the pipe so it would contain the charcoal. I got the charcoal at petco in the aquarium section and filter material. Piece of cake, inexpensive and works like a charm. 

Michael T

I like @craigswardmb's fabrication and a coup[le of like ones other Rinker guys have posted.

Remember the Big Orange also has a vacuum relief safety valve built into it to help prevent tank damage from excessive vacuum at pump out time.

If you fabricate your own filter you can but a safety relief valve from Tank Saver for about $25. It is a 10 minute job to install one in your waste tank.

I had big Orange filters and relief valves too.

Dan

PUT ON THE BIG ORANGE NICE EASY FIX

Liberty44140

I just dealt with this yesterday. I could tell that my vent hose was not transferring air as fast as it should. There was a domestic sealand vent installed and I could tell that at some point it got wet. A new filter would have been nice but no one carries them locally and they are expensive for being a vent air filter. I looked up online how to re use my current filter, here is what I did. 
1- removed the domestic and literally cut it in half. Poured all nasty contents in to the dumpster including spongy media at each end.
2- removed all of the stickers on it, was essentially 2" Pvc pipe.
3- went to Walmart and bought a 9oz package of aquarium activated carbon and a 3 pack of blue scotch scrub pads.
4- went to lowes and bought male and female threaded screw ends for 2" pvc.
5- back at the boat I cut the scotch pads in to 2" circles and shoved them in to the ends of the filter. I went 2 ply on this at each end.
6- used pvc cement that I already had to install those threaded ends where I had cut my tube on half, now it screws together back in to one.
7- filled both sides with aquarium charcoal and screwed both sides together
voila, new filter for $13 that will be easily refillable for $9. 

Michael T

If you don't already have one install a waste tank safety vent. This takes about 10 minutes and ensures that your tank isn't damaged at pump out by an error in vacuum application - which happens all the time.

Liberty44140

Is there anything to stop liquid from going up the vent hose should your tank be full and you don't know it?

Michael T

Not with your design unless you have a lock-out sensor on your tank that stops the waste pump. I believe the Big O has that feature. All of that said - and I say this respectfully - as the captain you should be checking your waste monitor levels on your electrical panel and better yet you should be in your engine bay often enough to note the level of your waste tank effluent. Once that level reaches 3/4 you should be monitoring it very closely. I would never let it get anove7/8 as big wave motion etc. can slosh the effluent around and into vents etc. This ISN'T something you want risk overfilling.  :-(   Overfilling your fresh water tank not so bad, your beer fridge not so bad, your waste tank - well, that will make for a real bad day and a lot of parts clean-up. I have had friends in that situation, it really stinks!

Liberty44140

Ha, thanks. Completely agree that it's my job to monitor. Unfortunately the gauge on the panel reads 1/3 all of the time so I think the sender is bad. From what I understand on my boat getting to the tank involves removing part of the aft cabin which would be a winter project. Also I can't see the tank from the engine room, I barely could get to the vent filter. Will just to make sure to empty often. It's just the wife and I 2 nights a week. When we had a rinker 310 we could go 3-4 weeks between pump outs easily. We just filled this tank after barely 2 weekends but the vent filter was clogged badly (previous owner) and had a significant kink in the vent line which I've fixed so I am assuming we can get back to a few weeks at a time with a 45 gal tank. MT the safety valve you mentioned to protect the tank. I googled this to no avail, what are they called? Thx 

Michael T

First, apologies. It's pretty hard to monitor a tank you can't see. I've been spoiled by the newer Rinkers and forget the challenges of some of the older boats.

First question: Have you viewed the modification some of the guys on the forum have made to visually check their tanks by installing a viewing port -  IMO it's brilliant.

Second question: Would the new stick on tank senders that read the opaqueness of the tank (or lack of it LOL) work on your tank if you could get access to a side of it through an access hole?

Re: the safety vent. It is called a tank saver but I may have completely struck out with my advice to you today, sorry :-( ..... because you need access to the top of the tank to install one.

In a possibly futile attempt to revive some credibility, Big Orange (many posts on this forum) does make several odor filters, the big one does have a safety vent built into it and is easy to install and super easy to change the charcoal on. BTW I posted a discount coupon on the forum and each guy who has purchased one has passed his coupon on to the next guy.

Sorry for the lousy advice I hope to do better next time.

diggin2day1

Built this two weeks ago and CANNOT BELIEVE how well it works... The smell was absolutely terrible every time we flushed, now there is nothing. 
Note: I only needed ONE box of charcoal.

Black_Diamond

@Liberty: you can get to the waste tank sensor from inside the under seat storage (port side) near the helm seat. There is a deck plate in there. You can get to the sensor from there easily..well kinda. lol. Sometimes you can bring them back to life with a cleaning, The Works toilet bowl cleaner is good. If it is dead, I think it is a 19" sensor. Replacements at www.fireboy-xinex.com

Michael T

BD, is that a stick-on sensor plate that has a peel and stick backing with a short wire and plug that snaps into the wiring harness end to the gauge in the cabin panel?

Liberty44140

MT - No problemo. All suggestions welcome. I've been searching the site and I can not find anything on a 342 inspection port install to see the tank. Love the idea though. I will look in to the tank savers as at some point I see myself opening it up and gaining access and that would be the time to install.
Diggin - NICE! Thats pretty much exactly what I did only I re-used my Saniguard rather than buy all new PVC. Glad it works for you.
BD and MT - I looked at the sender link BD sent and a light went off. I dont have a sender in the holding and water tanks, my boat has that "Sensa Tank II" system for both tanks which means as MT asked I have those stick on sensors at 1/3, 2/3 and Full. The water works and the holding tank shows 1/3 all the time. So I am hoping/praying that the system actually works and that my holding tank air vent being completely shut off until now is why it only shows 1/3. Perhaps the lack of air flow was really only allowing me to suck out so much at pump out. This all started because of waste backing up in the bowl AND up the pump out tube... a symptom of a bad vent. Also I had a bad joker which I just replaced. Not only was my vent filter shot, but there was a major kink in the vent hose. When I un kinked I could hear air rushing. I cut out the kink and added an elbow fitting. 
BD - I know of the inspection port in the far aft corner of the L shaped port cockpit seat but it sounds like there are 2 ports? One for fuel sender and one for waste? I'll check that out, at the very least maybe I can see how full the tank is from there.
THANKS!!!!!

Michael T

If you have the sensa tank "stick on sensors" two of mine failed at 3 months use. (new boat)

We added new ones then one failed on the other tank. I think they may be cheap offshore cr*p. (We need to get manufacturing back to USA/Canada!!!!!) Good news - when the sensors work they're great.

While replacing the sensors for both tanks I noticed one of the attachment harness clips was damaged. It look like it had been forced at installation time or stepped on by someone. We replaced that too. After that NO problems!

Liberty44140

Question - when the sensors failed, did they always show a light on or light off? I am inclined to think that a failed sensor will show a light on (show full)?

Michael T

The failed sensor didn't do anything it defaulted to the next one. In my case, the top sensor failed on the waste tank making us believe that it was only 2/3 full. I thought something was wrong and looked. It was 7/8 full. I had the tank pumped that afternoon. So, when it failed it just didn't send. That could have been a real mess. We did have tank lock out on our electronic pad but it still could have been unpleasant. I guess if a middle sensor failed you would go from 1/2 full to full without the middle warning.

Liberty44140

Good info, thanks. This will likely be a later in the summer or fall project but I'll get to the tank somehow. Will start a new thread when I do.