Rotten Egg Odour from Bowl

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Pilotpak

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Hi,

I have a 2006 Larson 310, and I'm getting an overpowering rotten egg odour from the bowl when the head is flushed.

It is much worse when the head has not been used for a week or two.

The strange thing is that the odour only seems to be coming from the bowl, I can't smell the odour around the holding tank external vent (with someone else flushing)

I'm wondering if, rather than the odour being related to the holding tank, it might be coming from the water going stagnant in the flush lines ? Any Ideas ?

Here's my setup;

1/ Jabsco 37010 Electric Head
2/ Saltwater Flush
3/ 140 Litre Holding Tank - empty apart from last 1 inch
4/ Diaphragm Pump to outside
5/ Portosol deodoriser used regularly
6/ No Dockside pumpout facilities available in my area

And some further info that might help;

1/ Boat is "new", but it was stored at the dealership for 8 months in Saltwater before I purchased.
2/ I do have problems with getting flush pump to prime - needs to run for 20 - 30 seconds for water to flow.
3/ Because of prime problem, bowl is empty for 20 seconds whilst waiting for flush water
4/ My previous boat was a 2006 Bayliner 285, similar setup only with Jabsco Manual Head (Handle Pump - Saltwater) and never had any odour probs.
5/ Same deodoriser used on old boat
6/ No-one has eaten eggs on my boat recently !

Thanks

Wayne
 
I'd suspect the inlet water.

With a raw water flush, you suck in seawater filled with little microorganisms which is then used to rinse down the bowl. If you fill the inlet hose with this water, then leave the boat for a period of time ( ie: one week ) the oxygen in the inlet hose seawater becomes depleted and those little organisms die. And stink. Then when you flush to head, you pull this stinky water into the bowl and get the smell.

This issue is common with raw water flush/rinse, and imho is the only valid reason to switch to a fresh water flush/rinse system. The odor should decrease in severity after the stale inlet water is replaced with "fresher" seawater, and will re-occur everytime you have stored the boat for a period of time with raw water in the inlet line.

Since you cannot easily, simply fix the problem, the quick and easy workaround is to go flush a few times ( sufficient to replace the stinky water with fresher seawater ) as soon as you get aboard for your trip. The problem should remain cured till the next storage period. ( and yes, over time, this odor will permeate the inlet line, same as the sewage will permeate the outlet line. ) When you next need to replace the hoses, replace both the inlet and outlet hoses as the same time...
 
I don't buy the microbe explanation...

The rotten egg odor is caused (primarily) by bits and pieces of vegetation, most notably eel grass, that is drawn into the head along with the flush water as the toilet pumps, along with an occasional minnow, jellyfish or whatever.

Some of these pieces of vegetation are too large to go through the drain holes on the underside of the toilet bowl's rim, so they stay trapped inside the hollow rim at the top of the toilet bowl. They lay there and decay. The decaying vegetation doesn't stink very much when it dries out, but if you leave it there all week long, and then come on the boat Friday night - the first time you use the head and get the inside of the bowl's top rim wet - WOW !!! It'll practically run you off the boat! When this stuff is wet, look out!

You'll note that after you've used the head several times, the smell tends to die down, as it works its way out. Also, when using the head, you may see brown bits of dead vegetation coming down from the rim of the bowl as the toilet is being flushed - kinda looks like shredded tobacco. That's the stuff!

The best cure is to add a fine mesh strainer in the supply water line to the head, in an accessible location so that it can be emptied when necessary, to filter out this stuff from the incoming water before it gets into the top of the toilet bowl. The finer the screen mesh in the strainer, the better.
 
O.K. guys, how about this: My front head will have the rotton egg smell for one flush and then clear up. It is the least used head and this only happens when you first use it after sitting a few days. I boat in fresh water only and the water for flushing comes from the fresh water tank. Why would mine smell the same way and why would it be only one?
 
You've got something "growing" in the connecting lines (algae, mold, etc.) Check the instructions for re-commissioning your fresh water system each year.
 
Thanks All,

Maybe there is some junk caught in the rim,... boat had been unused in seawater for many months before I bought it, and had so much algae on it that it wouldn't plane with 2 people on board.

So, what do you think of this approach to clean it out ?

1/ Disconnect Flush line from Top of Bowl
2/ Attach wet/dry vacuum cleaner to bowl flush tube fitting
3/ Fill bow to rim with fresh water & some bleach
4/ Use Vacuum to reverse flush the rim holes

Wayne
 
If the issue is bio matter stuck in the rim, then the vac procedure might help. But the problem is that it can ( rather, will ) re-occur.

While I have never seen the sea grass problem that Vic refers to, it certainly sounds like a potential problem, and the screen idea would seem to be a good solution. If the issue is smaller bio problems ( microorganisms ) then I'd just flush the system well prior to use, or possibly consider the fancy deodorizer mentioned above ( I just HATE to add a maintenance item to the list, and this is one... )

I'd start with the free/cheap solutions and work up the price list...
 
Mike, what kind of toilet do you have? There are a couple of approaches to clearing out the top of the bowl.
 
Vic, I have vacu-flush heads and I always treat my first few freshwater tanks with a water treatment. I am splashing next week and I will update this after my first couple weeks of usage and after I clean the heads using the suggestions found here.

Sorry Pilotpak, did not mean to steal your post but it is interesting that it happens with fresh water also and only with one head, not both.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Vic Willman

You've got something "growing" in the connecting lines (algae, mold, etc.) Check the instructions for re-commissioning your fresh water system each year.

Click to expand...


Vic, is that info - "re-commissioning your fresh water system each year." on this site?

Thanks

Walter
 
Based on this thread, I went ahead and got the Head-O-Matic. Hope it works...

[:-chef]
 
Fred Prues (owner) claims his Head-O-Matic is better than the similar one offered by West Marine. I met him a 6 or 7 years back and had several nice chats with him during the 10 day course of the New England Boat Show. I guess we'll find out how effective it is from inkblue. However, I wouldn't expect any miracles...
 
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