do ozone generators do the job?

[Canibul]

Our new-to-us 26 year old boat came with it's collection of smells. They're a combination of musty odors and mostly because the boat has sat for most of the past four years closed up and floating on a mooring in the north Florida climate. We've already cleaned it extensively, and have used clorine bleach in spray bottles, air fresheners, and white vinegar. Scented candles, incense, etc. We've owned the boat two months now, and it's had constant ventilation for that period. While it's gotten better, it's still detectable. We want to eradicate it completely.

Have any of you used the ozone generators? I've read the claims, and saw the EPA paper and understand their concerns.

What I am interested in is first hand experience with ozone generators for deoderizing boats. I'm looking at the 12 volt version Crystal Air sells. Anyone tried these? Do they work?

[ronbo1]

Canibul

I tried a 12v ozone generator in a compartment that held the LectraSan (which had a very slight leak that was eventually found). I could smell the ozone when the unit was operating but noticed no improvement in smell.
And, as you know, ozone attacks rubber hose, etc.

Ronbo

[Canibul]

Thanks for the info. I did read about it breaking down rubber, wire insulation, etc, but what I was thinking was that a short periord of exposure, i.e. overnight in a closed boat wouldn't give it time to do much more than surface effect on those. Did you leave it in the boat closed up for a period of time, enough to get up to the dangerous-to-humans level that the EPA worries about?

[ronbo1]

Canibul

It's a small generator, 60mg/hr, specific for the compartment to run when the LectraSan ran. I don't think it would've been effective for the entire boat.

I think there are other solutions out there but I haven't researched them.

Good luck and thanks for your blog! I've been reading it for years.
Been to T&C several times. Beautiful island.

Ronbo

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Canibul

O... I've read the claims, and saw the EPA paper and understand their concerns ...

➥ Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners | Indoor Air | US Environmental Protection Agency

[svHyLyte]

We have an Ozone Generator that I purchased years ago to remove the smell of cigarettes from my office. It works. I also used it on the boat for a short while after we first bought it to clear out some of the odors that had permeated some of the fabrics and finishes. It does work aboard as well but it is very destructive if used over-long and very bad for ones lungs. If you can smell it (bleach smell) it will do irreparable damage to your lungs. Moreover, if one does not remove the source of the smells/odors, they will return quickly--and very quickly during hot weather. Set the unit up with a couple of fans to disperse the Ozone through the space and plug the unit into a timer that will shut it off after a reasonable time period. Four to five hours. Then return the following day and open the boat up and use the fans to air it out for some time before re-entering the boat for more than a few minutes.

FWIW...

[Canibul]

Originally Posted by ronbo1

Canibul

It's a small generator, 60mg/hr, specific for the compartment to run when the LectraSan ran. I don't think it would've been effective for the entire boat.

I think there are other solutions out there but I haven't researched them.

Good luck and thanks for your blog! I've been reading it for years.
Been to T&C several times. Beautiful island.

Ronbo

Did you let it run all the time or just when the LectraSan was running? I'm thinking more of an ozone shock therapy, close the boat up and make it dangerous inside for a few hours.

Thanks for the kind words on the blog. I was just working on uploading some more photos to Picasa and videos to YouTube this morning. Should be able to finish up the little series on this "shakedown cruise". I can hardly believe we're up to 270 something posts since the beginning. Not a day goes by now that we don't hear from someone somewhere in the world with either an email or a comment. Amazing.

Sure am glad to hear that you like reading it, too. Positive feedback makes it worthwhile.

[osirissail]

One of the biggest problems folks have with ozone generators is that they get the small units that put out enough ozone to get the "smell" but not big enough to do any effective sanitizing.

Hotels and motels routinely use ozone generators to rid their rooms of cigarette and other odors - but - they use "industrial-sized" machines. These units put out serious amounts of ozone and do the job very nicely. But they are very "hazardous to your health" and anything else "organic." In other words, they can kill you or anything else organic unless you air out the room quite well after the "sanitizing" treatment is finished.

The use of fans and other air moving equipment to get the ozone around and into cracks and crevices is also needed before they are anything more than temporarily effective.

If you have an underlying problem/source of "stink" that will have to be addressed and fixed or the "stink" will simply return quite quickly after your finish your ozone treatment.

[GaryMayo]

Ozone is right up there with Bonnie & Clyde as public enemy #1 from uncle Sam it seems.

My take on ozone is quite different. The only rubber attacked by ozone that I have seen is rubber bands like you would find on your news paper. Higher grade rubber seems to weather it just fine.

I have a retail store from 1991 and an ozone generator has been running non stop all those years to one degree or another.

Yes, for day to day use, run it low and slow, and you have a room that smells wonderful and is healthy.

Some here warned high doses of ozone is bad. Rethink that. Several studies from around the world have done wonders treating illness with ozone. .

I am not a doctor, however, some doctors use ozone to bring ill people back to health.

Back to boats:

Ozone will not repair rotten wood. If your boat has wood that is mush, it must come out. No getting around that.

I have used it on each one of my old boats to 100% change the feeling you get on the boat. No more bad smells. I shock the boat for 24 hours, then open it up to fresh air. Smell has not come back on the three boats I have used it on.

You need a big unit like they use to clean up fire smells.

[Phil Turner]

Bad mildew problem. 6 hours fixed. Also use in small rental units. 400sq ft.for odors. Works great. No signs of rubber degrading. Good folks. Can actually talk to someone. Phil Turner
Basic Build 3600 mg/h Ozone Generator - Ozone Generator USA LLC

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

... Some here warned high doses of ozone is bad. Rethink that. Several studies from around the world have done wonders treating illness with ozone ...

I can find no evidence for the claims supporting the use of ozone (O3 Therapy), in treatment of disease, in reliable scientific literature.

In fact, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reflects the scientific consensus that:

“Ozone is a toxic gas which has, as yet, no demonstrated safe medical application in specific, adjunctive, or preventive therapy. One possible reason, noted by the FDA, is that in order for ozone to be effective as a germicide, it must be present in a concentration far greater than can be safely tolerated by man or other animals ...”

Here ➥ CFR - Code of Federal Regulations Title 21

[osirissail]

I suspect that the "curative" aspects of ozone fall into the same category as arsenic, absinthe and even caffeine.

In very small quantities they cause a reaction in the body as it tries to fight or remove the toxin from your system. The process usually involves accelerated hormone levels and a feeling of renewed vigor and/or awareness. However, in larger doses they are quite toxic.

The accumulative affects are probably different amongst such supposed "beneficial poisons" with some staying in the body and eventually reaching a toxic level while others are purged and your body can, if it hasn't been overworked, again tolerate small amounts.

[Canibul]

I guess I wasn't being very clear. Apparently. I wasn't planning to drink the stuff. Or fill a SCUBA bottle with it and go diving.

I was asking if anyone had first hand experience on whether or not it's useful for deoderizing a stuffy, musty smelling boat.

I'm perfectly capable of resisting the urge to gargle with it. As an example, I use idodine on cuts and lacerations and not once in sixty years have I felt the urge to mix it in a drink.

[bobconnie]

I don't know about the health problems. I know I don't want to sit in a room full of Ozone!! But you must be somewhere else when ya use Ozone gennys to rid your boat of smells!! rent one from a smoke removal company! the biggest one ya can get aboard! turn it on close boat 24 hrs later open boat, air out shut machine down, smell gone !! as said above if ya have rotten wood or anything else the smell will return !! Ive seen it remove the smell of Dead things inside of a car, that everything you could think of had been done to remove the smell!! and Ive used them on boats and they do work !! but ya have to really use alot more then the little ones they sell at marine stores LOL just my 2 cents

[Canibul]

thanks, and that's what I had in mind.

As for the odors returning, that's okay. If I have a combination of five or six odors contributing now ( wet carpet, smoke, cooking odors, food storage, head, chemicals stored in the lazarette etc.} and the ozone gets rid of them after I've cleaned the boat ( currently in progress) then I know the one that comes back is the one I have yet to track down.

The ones that don't come back tell me that's been addressed sufficiently.

Renting one from some kind of store is not an option. I have to mail order one and have it shipped in from another country. If I could have rented one for a day I would have done that right away instead of asking here.

If I want to use one, I'll have to buy it. Hence the question, before the not insubstantial investment. The upside of that hassle is that I am not subject to US federal regulations.

And if it kills the roaches at the same time, well, praise the lord.