Holding Tank Vent Filter

Little Ducky

Well-Known Member
Jun 5, 2017
2,652
Dickson, TN / Chattanooga, TN
Boat Info
1998 290 Sundancer
Engines
Twin EFI 5.0L w/Alphas
Kohler 4kW
Just wanted to post this up.

I went to my marina parts counter and asked for a vent filter and when they came back with a price of $130 I was like no thanks. I was thinking $60-70 from the parts counter would be an acceptable price but not $130. So the search was on.

I tried the DIY carbon fill and it did not go so well. I think it actually smelled worse.

So I found these on Amazon (link below) So for the money I bought 2 just in case a neighboring boater might need one in a pinch. Worked great but the end caps did not have indentations to fit the OE holder so I have one holder clip around the middle section of the filter and the other end is secured with a tie wrap. Works great. No more stink and a better value than what I could find these filters for locally.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DRBJ04A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
I modified mine and change out the charcoal media (buy at aquarium store). Total cost is about $5 and works extremely well.

These filters are nothing more than a PVC tube with charcoal.
+1 on DIY. I've done 3 boats, and still have enough foam and charcoal to do another with my small bag of aquarium charcoal and foam filter sheet. Cut your old one in half, and get a coupler from big box store to put it back together. No need to glue, just press them together.
 
+1 on DIY. I've done 3 boats, and still have enough foam and charcoal to do another with my small bag of aquarium charcoal and foam filter sheet. Cut your old one in half, and get a coupler from big box store to put it back together. No need to glue, just press them together.
Agree with this one. Only thing is to make sure you are filling it to the max. Any space inside will not filter the air.
 
Ducky, I'm wondering what you might have done wrong when you tried the DIY filters. I've done them for 20 years on 3 boats and never had an issue. I refill mine in the spring as part of my spring commissioning.
 
The only thing I could think of is I left a void and the gases didn't filter or the carbon I picked up at the pet store packed so well the gases backed up. All I know every time I flushed my cabin filled up with the nastiest gas smell.

Once I changed it out to a purchased unit all was well.

With the filter in such a bad place where you have to grow monkey arms to change it ..... doing the DIY without good results pissed me off.
 
Mine also is in a bad place. I need a kid who is skinny as a rail and has an arm length of about 48". Kind of like a skinny gorilla.

I found when I first started using my cut down version of the fart filter that it didn't work for long. Then I changed the way I filled it. I would fill both halves with the charcoal then quickly put them together and screw the fitting until it was tight. It's a messy job and you'll probably spill some of the charcoal, so do it over the water.
 
I didn't cut mine in half. I removed the original foam screens in the ends and cleaned out all of the bad charcoal. I then picked up a pair of washing machine water hose screens https://www.homedepot.com/p/DANCO-5-8-in-Hose-Washers-with-Screen-80070/203193499 and poured the charcoal in from one end. I simply used masking tape to hold the screens in place untill I installed the fart filter. I always had a spare one ready to go for the next time. The new screens allowed for good air flow.
 
Mine worked great also... here it is made from scratch...
HoldingTankFilter.jpg
 
I tried the DIY route for one year and ended up with the Volker brand referenced above ($47, I'll buy the one linked above and save $10 next time!). I couldn't pack enough charcoal into my DIY pipe to keep from having a void along the top when I turned it horizontal. It was better than having nothing but it was still stinky.
 
Your comments above have given me a new idea on how to make this work better.

Rather than cut the original in half and use a threaded connector to join the two halves, leave the plastic pipe as is but cut one end off. Then get a slide-on (slip fit) connector for that end. Fill up the pipe with charcoal, slip in the foam screen and tamp it down lightly, then slip on the end cap with the hose bib fitting on it.

This way you would be filling the pipe from one end and would eliminate the mess of having to fill both halves and trying to get them joined and screwed together without spilling out a ton of the charcoal.

Geeze, some times I even surprise myself with my genius!

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
Mark, ummm, are you one of those guys who doesn't let people poop on his boat? :p

Or, how long has it been since you've been to an ENT doc to have your nose checked?
 
Your comments above have given me a new idea on how to make this work better.

Rather than cut the original in half and use a threaded connector to join the two halves, leave the plastic pipe as is but cut one end off. Then get a slide-on (slip fit) connector for that end. Fill up the pipe with charcoal, slip in the foam screen and tamp it down lightly, then slip on the end cap with the hose bib fitting on it.

This way you would be filling the pipe from one end and would eliminate the mess of having to fill both halves and trying to get them joined and screwed together without spilling out a ton of the charcoal.

Geeze, some times I even surprise myself with my genius!

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
As you can see in the picture, that's the way mine is made... I also use about a 1" thick piece of porous foam in the end to keep it all tight.
 
Mark, ummm, are you one of those guys who doesn't let people poop on his boat? :p

Or, how long has it been since you've been to an ENT doc to have your nose checked?

It gets used plenty and I might have done a little damage in the '80's to my nose.... lol
 
I did a good clean out this past fall...... and I'll fill'er up again along with the potable water tank and take the barge out for an agitation run....... and clean then out again.
 
Access to the filter... Yes, working on/around boat bilges is never really "easy" for anything, but the filter does not HAVE to stay where it is. You can put it wherever you want to and even lengthen the hose. The important thing to remember is to make sure the hose and filter are never sloped/angled downwards - no "low" spots for condensation to accumulate.
 

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