How do you expand your coir blocks?

[Atcowboy]

Hi all,
I'm wondering if anyone has come up with a good quick way to expand their coir bricks/blocks for their composting head?

My best mechanical method is long and rather dirty/dusty. If I can, I do it ashore to keep the boat clean.
1: drill 1/2" holes in wide faces of brick from each side as closely spaced as I can.
2: use putty knife on thin long faces to separate the compressed layers.
3: use paint mixer on drill in a 5 gallon bucket to pulverize the chunks as best I can. They're light so they flick everywhere, and need to be broken up by hand as well.

I've also tried expanding the coir with water, like you would for growing. On the day I mechanically expanded a batch, I also used water for the next batch. I left this in a bucket which I stirred up multiple times a day to help it dry. Even after a week or two when it was needed, it wasn't very dry.

I think next I'll try highjacking the cabin heater as a blow dryer to speed the drying process after water expansion, but I'd like to know anyone else's process...

- AT

[Cthoops]

Mr. cthoops uses a knife to cut slits into the brick, then we put it in a 2 1/2 gallon paint bucket with a lid. We pour about two cups of water (max) over the brick, put the lid on, wait for a day or two, and voila. It’s easy to crumble at that point.

[Mike OReilly]

I place a standard brick in a large freezer-type ziplock bag, then add a few cups of water. I then seal the bag and leave it in the sun for a few hours.

After it has absorbed the water, I'll usually mechanically break it up (using hands and a serrated knife), or I might add more water, and repeat step 1, if it still seems too hard.

I do all the work in the large freezer bag, so there is no mess.

[Atcowboy]

Expanding with water was easy, but it's wet so the head smells. You just use wet coir?

- AT

[Sparx]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I place a standard brick in a large freezer-type ziplock bag, then add a few cups of water. I then seal the bag and leave it in the sun for a few hours.

+1 this is what we do, only we add more water. After a few hours in the sun the coir crumbles with minimum effort, no tools required. Once the coir is well crumbled and expanded the bag is left open in the sun to remove any excess moisture. Once dried like this the bag is sealed up and can easily hold for a few days before use.

Through experience we know about how many calendar days to expect. When getting close to that date we mix up a batch, then hold it until the chosen moment.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Atcowboy

Expanding with water was easy, but it's wet so the head smells. You just use wet coir?

- AT

That's why you use just the minimum amount needed, and mechanically break it up. Don't use the recipe on the coir package. This will make it too soggy.

Two or three cups for a standard brick (625gm). If you over-wet it in the process of expanding, just open the ziplock bag and leave it in the sun for a while. This dries it out before usage. But with a little experience you can hit the water volume just right.


ADD: I see Sparx said it first.

[Ferrity]

I use a flat-bladed screwdriver on the edges to flake off 1/2" thick palm-sized chunks that I then break up by hand in a 5 gallon bucket. No water.

It crumbles into roughly marble size pieces. Doesn't take very long. I then store the crumbles in a dry bag until they are needed.

[Jack C]

Exactly what i do

[Virginia Lee]

We switched to natural pine kitty litter late last sailing season (pre covid) -- can't give long-term info. (We were only on the boat a few months using it, then didn't sail last year and are just now getting the boat ready for the coming southern sailing season.) I liked the pine scent. I never had an odor problem with wet coir, but I always developed a fruitfly problem. Someone on this forum once said their airhead was basically a dehydrator. I hope that the dry pine pellets help make that come true: hoping dry will be less attractive to fruit flies.

[bcboomer]

+1 for a flat headed screwdriver.
It only takes a few minutes.
It can take a long time in cooler weather to get the coir really dry and it doesn't make sense to me to put any moisture into the head.

[CMO Tashina]

Originally Posted by Atcowboy

Expanding with water was easy, but it's wet so the head smells. You just use wet coir?

- AT

I used to add too much water also. You only need one cup and then leave coco coir block and water in sealed bag in sun to absorb.

[Atcowboy]

The mechanical method I've listed gets the choir pretty fine. A lot finer than hand chunks, and it doesn't make my arthritis worse. I don't see the screw driver as any different than the putty knife.

I guess I can try a ziplock bag, the greenhouse effect may help dry it. I used the bare minimum expanding it, I wetted it and mechanically broke it up after. I didn't have soup but it's no where near as dry as mechanically expanded.

-AT

[Minggat]

Originally Posted by Atcowboy

Expanding with water was easy, but it's wet so the head smells. You just use wet coir?

- AT

This is an indication that you haven’t quite grasped the idea in the job of the media.

You need the media as dry as possible. Recommend that you don’t target making compost unless you have a place or a need for it.

Recommend that you substitute the word composting for desiccating. This makes life much much easier.

8 years with my C Head toilet.

I don’t worry about getting the media too wet at all. As much as it takes to make breaking it up as easily as possible. After it has soaked up the water and I have broken it up with my hands, I transfer it to a big dark colored pillowcase and set it out in the sun to dry. When it’s dry, I transfer it to a large enough plastic container for storage. And I can leave that container unsealed for continued drying.

With my C Head, I can treat it like a cat box (without the cat box smell because no urine). This means that I only need to add media to the solids bucket.

I have a big supply of coir bricks, but I bought the feed store compressed sawdust pellets and have been very happy with that for a few years now.

The sawdust does a great job unless you get a clueless crew and you wind up with urine in the solids bin. I have had it happen twice. Once with coir and once with sawdust. The coir just got smelly and I had to change out the batch. The sawdust got as thick as cold oatmeal, and the mixer wouldn’t budge. Fix was the same. Change the batch.

I blame the industry for complicating things for new users. Call it a dedicating toilet that makes compost if you want compost.

We no longer say “life preservers” because lives didn’t get preserved. They are just PFD’s now.

[jdaltonpe]

I had fruit fly problems which I attributed to eggs in the coir. I started inserting moth balls into a place inside the seat which doesn't smell and works great to get rid of infestation. After thinking about it a little I tried moistening the coir block with boiling water - wow, it expands at a much higher rate than using cold water and I do believe it kills the eggs as well - haven't had flies or used moth balls since. Once the moistened coir cools down it is easy to break the remaining chunks by hand. Amount of water is a trial and error thing, I like to keep the coir a little damp rather than dry. Lasts 3 to 4 weeks for two of us in my Natures Head.

[Minggat]

Originally Posted by jdaltonpe

I had fruit fly problems which I attributed to eggs in the coir. .

They are mold gnats. They are an indication that your desiccation process isn’t keeping. Lots of people assume that the media came with eggs in it.

These are such a non-issue that people spend a lot of energy trying to get past.

Recommend that you look into why your media isn’t staying ahead of the issue. It’s simply more moisture going in than is coming out.

BTY, I have never installed any type of vent. Have I ever had gnats? Sometimes. They don’t stay long.