Head Chemicals

wayne0 said:

We have a pump out boat and I can't see him waiting around for all that BS. I'd fill his tank!

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I was thinking the same thing. Practically, the only place for me to empty out is via the roaming pump out boat.

Yes, there is a pump out barge. But it's quite tricky to dock to, and if you do manage it usually either the manual pump mechanism or the adapter are broken. Or both.

There's a public pump station in the next harbor. But you have to hope someone is around to get it turned on. And then there's no water for rinsing.

Yea our marina is pretty calm, and you can take your time.

THJeff said:

There's no daily regimen with Happy Camper. One scoop in an empty holding tank and no odors or clogs. All my indicators work as well (at least empty and 1/2 full...I never let it get to full). I also use Dawn in both heads at each pump out.

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After a few weeks with the product, I am now a 'happy camper"!! (along with some of my dock mates)

b_arrington said:

It's going to be a cylindrical tube with hose fittings on each end. It's generally located on top of the holding tank. You can look for the air vent fitting and trace that back to the filter.

Change frequency rather depends on how much you use your head, IMO. You should change it when you get stinky air out of the vent, or if the filter gets wet from an overfill condition. Wet filter media doesn't absorb odors. For reference, I think I've changed my filter twice in 11 years of owning the boat. One was because the filter got wet. Others will likely have different ideas.

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I'm also in the pump out every (or every other) fuel stop crowd.

Just a quick note (more like a warning for the new guys). You can ruin your filter if you accidentally shoot water into the vent through hull while washing your boat and get it wet. Try not to do that.

I was on season 4 of $48 Voker filter, too (installed in May, 2015). I replaced it with another one.

b_arrington said:

I guess I'm one of the few that use a "traditional" head chemical. I've tried a few things over the years starting with the thick blue stuff. I tried some type of beneficial bacteria stuff that didn't work so well for me.

The last few years I've been using Odorlos liquid and am satisfied. A couple ounces in the head when empty seems to do really well. We don't use the head heavily so maybe that's a factor? Usually we pump out 1 or 2x a season. I do always make sure to use plenty of water when flushing, and keep the pedal down for a bit so the waste clears the lines.

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I've been using this cheap blue stuff from West Marine (their brand, "environmentally safe"). It works well for about two weeks, but then odors creep back. If I add another bottle it's good for a while. I'm not getting the advertised 60 gallons worth of treatment out of it, but it's cheap and simple enough to use that if I go through 4 bottles in a summer it's fine.

I tried Noflex but it didn't work for me, and for the cost it seems too fussy if it doesn't work perfectly.

We pump out once a week when cruising and do not use any chemicals, just a good filter. Once we are headed home I do a really good job of irrigating the tank and pump until the contents coming out are pretty clear. Once that level of clarity is achieved, I fill the bowl to the top with water and add a cup of Tide, non chlorinated, powder to the bowl and flush it into the tank. After hundreds of miles running on Lake Michigan, the Tide does its magic. When we get to our home port, I pump the tank and irrigate it until the water coming out is totally clear. I add a little more Tide and the head gets relatively light use for the balance of our season. Before storage, again the tank is irrigated and very clean when going into the barn for the winter. Hoses are still good after 14 years and the head is completely odor free. The plumbing is still factory original as well and functions as it did when brand new. So, I believe the secret to keeping these devices working well is to be anal about their maintenance.