T&T: Head Options

[Jeff Barfett]

Jim,

I replaced my electric Par with an Airhead, went with them after looking at
the other units available on the market. The Airhead has a smaller footprint
that fit my head well and didn't require huge amounts of power to work.
Talked with the owner of the company and with reps at boat shows and decided
to give it a try.

Have had it installed for 2 years and both the Admiral and myself are very
happy with it. We generally spend 3 days a week on the boat, year round and
get 2 to 3 months of use from a charge of composted coconut husk called
Coir, which is sold in garden centers in compressed bricks that you
rehydrate with water. About two bricks will load the head and give you some
extra to add over the life of that load. The instructions call for peat moss
but got turned on to the idea of coir by a world cruiser and like it better.

There is a urine container on the front that all liquids are diverted to.
This is the part Peggy hall hates; I think she would like it, if she tried
one. You can purchase extra jugs if you want storage capacity. I plan on
rigging up a water puppy pump to pump the liquid overboard thru the old thru
hulls.

 Options with the liquid are to carry and empty the liquid in a bathroom,
store multiple jugs to give you more capacity, dump it overboard when full,
install a small holding tank just for the liquid and pump it out or
overboard. All of the above is going to be a personal choice. Personally, I
don't have a problem pumping it overboard as my urologist tells me it is
sterile coming out of the body so can't be too bad for the environment.

Recharging the head is simple, pull the top half off, put a garage bag
(heavy duty) around the tank, invert the tank, give it a wack, set tank back
in place, seal bag. Recharge tank with coir or peat moss, install top half,
clean screen vent. Back in business. You want to leave a little of the prior
compost material in the tank to give it a boost to start the composting
again.

Take garbage bag home (black bags work best) leave in sun for a month to
finish composting then, spread on your roses or ornamentals. You could also
just pitch this bag in a dumpster; it will go to the landfill and help the
composting process there as well. The compost from the tank is about 75%
complete at anyone time.

The installation is straight forward; install two stainless brackets on the
floor that hold the tank in place. Need to vent the system to the outside.
Uses a small computer type fan to keep a negative pressure in the tank and
to help pull moister out, this fan also tends to help pull air thru a closed
up boat as well. Uses a 1 1/2" hose to the outside, you have to be a little
creative with the outside part, I used a old deck fill fitting and a clam
shell cover.

Hope this makes sense, if you have further questions let me know. 3 months
after the installation of the Airhead, I pulled the holding tank,
plumbing/hoses, valves and pumps and pitched them in the dumpster - that was
a GREAT day. I had installed all new plumbing, pumps and valves about two
years earlier and the hoses had started to smell again. On my installation
there was no way to get all the sh*t flowing downhill so nothing stayed in
the lines, so replacing hoses was a every 2 year event. 

No more waking up you partner at night flushing the head, no more carrying
around 35 gallons of sh*t! No more SMELL.

Your mileage may very.

Life is great!

Jeff on Southern Nights

-----Original Message-----
Hello Trawlers:

During the winter lay-up, I am going to change the
arrangement of heads in my Albin trawler. My intention was to install a
separate holding tank for the aft and forward heads. My purpose is to
increase
holding tank storage (now 10 gal) for a planned Loop trip and to better
control odor.

I was intrigued by a few postings awhile ago about composting
heads for boats. Is this a viable alternative?

I would like to learn the
experience of those who have a composting head on board.

Regards,

Jim
Copeland
Benita