Also,
It is illegal to have the ability to pump dump waste (solid or liquid) overboard in the Great Lakes and New York’s Finger Lakes. If you have a Y valve, it needs to be locked in the tank fill position, or be removed.
Chuck.
Here are some pictures of the one I installed in Sandpiper. Like Ron W. above, I went diy. I used parts sold on Etsy by a fellow called “Johnny Compost”. I like it because it doesn’t interfere with any drawers, doors, etc., is totally odourless, requires nothing but bag removal and urine jug emptying, and cost far less than the commercial models.
I repurposed the deck pumpout fitting for the vent exhaust.
As others have said, I would never go back to a holding tank.
…and oh yes, I love the new pantry space I have under the salon seat.
Paul M
NS30U #211, Sandpiper
Cowichan Bay, B.C.
We have had our Air Head since spring of 2010. For our installation, I made a platform to better sport the already tall Airhead unit, eventually ran our vent line via solid PVC to the Dorado box over the shower which is topped by a solar vent. After reading an article in Practical Sailor on " desiccating " heads (which is what the units really do), we started to use vinegar and water mix to spray down the bowl after each use. We have no noticeable odor (other than fresh vinegar). It is urine that smells, not dry fecal matter (think about it - in many places in the world, it is considered fuel for cooking over). Pictures, I will try to attach.
We use peat moss for our medium and have never had any problems. We empty it when necessary, burying it in our flower beds. Urine, normally goes overboard when out and about, not in marinas. If you wait too long with the urine tank - two problems - if too full, it can leak if on a heeled over hard & we have had mold start to grow in the tank (but only since we started using vinegar).
We used to use a step stool so the 5’ 2" owner could use the unit. She no longer uses that. We try to be on port tack if she needs the head (just seems safer if you are sitting). Fluids drain better on starboard tack.
When we removed the old WC, tank and macerator pump, I ended up with 47 hose clamps. Something to think about - there were probably more hose clamps for the head then than the rest of the boat.
lloyd herman
Rendezvous, 30U 1987
Port Washington, NY
and one more
On Monday, September 26, 2022 at 2:00:33 PM UTC-4 Julie & Lloyd on Rendezvous wrote:
Great information. Thanks! Really getting tired of the smell of the holding tank under my bed and not impressed with paying $1500 for a commercial model plastic bucket and bottle and a few tubes. Checked out the Johnny Compost website courtesy Paul Miller and am planning my spring project!
Ken Julian
“Idyll Ours” NS26C#9
Fredericton, NB