Need help with my head

[nauticalrich]

I finally made the big plunge to a 31 ft Oday. Now I don''t know what I am doing.
I''ll be asking alot of questions as i strugle along to understand the larger boat.

First thing though I noticed the Greco toilet smelling. I probably need to add a chemical to it but what do I use without damageing the pump components.

Can I add waste treament through the toilet for the holding tank?
Again what kind?

It''s a ####ty subject but still need good solid experienced advice.

[RichH]

We were all ''newbies'' at one time .... ask away.
Stink:
Do a pump-out with several fresh waster flushes of the holding tank, then dump a product called "Odorlos"into the holding tank (flush it), after some time and several treatments if that doesnt work - leave the holding tank deck plate OFF when you''re not onboard. Use "Odorlos" regularly. Also, smell the outside of the connection hoses to see if the stink is permeating them; If so, replace with new hose or hard pipe with PVC. Stink will eventually permeate through most cheap rubber/plastic hose after a time.

[SailorMitch]

Some of the stink could be coming from the intake hose for the head. Organisms love to grow inside that hose between visits to the boat, and the first few "flushes" will unleash some of the most foul odors imaginable. If this is part of the problem, solutions are to install an inline device to treat the intake water (mask the odors and will color the water a nice blue) such as the Earth Safe system that West Marine sells (which is what I did), or only use fresh water to flush. Some people plumb a small fresh water tank for the intake line so that no raw water is used at all. Or you can fill the toilet bowl with fresh water from the shower head (assuming the boat has one of those "telephone" deals.)