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23-10-2020, 07:45
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Wickford RI
Boat: Bristol 31.1 , 31'
Posts: 39
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interior smell from bilge
I had a crack in water tank (built into keel) allowing water to enter from aft bilge. Patched it with flex seal and dropped in new water tank (much smaller. No more bilge water but having a hard time getting rid of bilge smell in main cabin. Air fresheners only work for awhile. Any ideas to get rid of smell?
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23-10-2020, 08:38
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 2,690
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Re: interior smell from bilge
Hey Taoist,
There was a great thread on this topic a month ago (Sept 2020) which should be of help:
Help - Super Funky Smell
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ll-240361.html
In particular for you - Peggie Hall's Post #19.
Good luck,
LittleWing77
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23-10-2020, 08:52
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Skagit City, WA
Posts: 25,513
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Re: interior smell from bilge
Well, surprising that fresh water would cause much problem, but you could have a lot of things going on in there.
My fix is to use a garden sprayer to spray Joy or Dawn/water mix up under all the under floor places, all the fiber glass and including the bottom of the wood that is the floor. This is mostly for if you have oily residue.
If not oily, water with a little bleach kills stuff.
Then hose it out everywhere with pressure and leave it open to dry.
Are you sure it isn't the cushions? They are infamous for holding mildew /mold smell.
An ozone generator works wonders on smells, but they are expensive. Dont know if you can rent one for a week?
I bought a damp moldy smelling 44 footer and after replacing all the cushions I bought an ozone generator and man it worked great. I left it on for a few months.
I used to put a bit of Pine Sol in the bilge occasionally just for general small.
__________________
"I spent most of my money on Booze, Broads and Boats. The rest I wasted" - Elmore Leonard
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23-10-2020, 08:57
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Wickford RI
Boat: Bristol 31.1 , 31'
Posts: 39
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Re: interior smell from bilge
Many thanks for the reply and directing me to that earlier post - very helpful.. I do have Peggy H's book. It's like the Seinfeld episode with the car with body odor he couldn't get rid of.
Actually not really that bad but it bothers me more than anyone else.
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23-10-2020, 09:44
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Portland Oregon
Boat: Leopard 45
Posts: 325
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Re: interior smell from bilge
Clorox bleach at about 1/4 cup per gallon should kill off most mold and their smell. I'd pour it directly into the bilge and also use a spray bottle to spray down surfaces. Just don't get it on fabrics or it will take out the color.
cheers,
jim
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23-10-2020, 10:00
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Skagit City, WA
Posts: 25,513
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Re: interior smell from bilge
Quote:
Originally Posted by jim King
Clorox bleach at about 1/4 cup per gallon should kill off most mold and their smell. I'd pour it directly into the bilge and also use a spray bottle to spray down surfaces. Just don't get it on fabrics or it will take out the color.
cheers,
jim
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That's a lot of bleach, you may never get rid of the bleach smell!
A cup +/- per 500 gallons is used for drinking water. You can do more than that ratio though for cleaning.
__________________
"I spent most of my money on Booze, Broads and Boats. The rest I wasted" - Elmore Leonard
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23-10-2020, 12:35
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Jensen Beach, Fl
Boat: O'Day 34
Posts: 392
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Re: interior smell from bilge
Ozone generators work great for eliminating smells but...
DO NOT LEAVE IT ON FOR TOO LONG!
When strongly concentrated ozone will eat rubber and vinyl, destroying them.
Our HVAC company owned a large commercial ozone generator that worked great. I loaned it to a friend who was trying to eliminate smoke odors from his home and I warned him not to leave it on for over 24 hours. Against my warnings, he left it on for 48 hours and it turned all of his new modern vinyl furniture very sticky. This ruined his new furniture
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23-10-2020, 12:52
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 2,690
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Re: interior smell from bilge
Quote:
Originally Posted by jim King
Clorox bleach at about 1/4 cup per gallon should kill off most mold and their smell. I'd pour it directly into the bilge and also use a spray bottle to spray down surfaces. Just don't get it on fabrics or it will take out the color.
cheers,
jim
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Jim King!
What is with you and your bleach-cures-everything advice? You sure you're not British?
Oh no, then it would be a cuppa TEA cures everything! (Don't pour tea in your bilges, Taoist.)
Taoist - be careful with bleach on boats. Not only does it produce toxic gas that can be harmful to your lungs in the small space of an enclosed cabin (although it must not bother Jim, as he's still alive and kickin'); it also will gradually destroy hoses - such as those used in marine heads. (But Peggie's book would have told you that.)
Maybe after properly powerwashing/cleaning the bilges, try the ozone generator suggestion? There sure are a lot of people on that last thread who suggested and endorsed them. (Never even heard of them until that thread.)
Warmly,
LittleWing77
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23-10-2020, 12:55
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Long Beach, CA
Boat: Gulfstar 37
Posts: 133
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Re: interior smell from bilge
Quote:
Originally Posted by jim King
Clorox bleach at about 1/4 cup per gallon should kill off most mold and their smell. I'd pour it directly into the bilge and also use a spray bottle to spray down surfaces. Just don't get it on fabrics or it will take out the color.
cheers,
jim
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Bleach does not kill mold, and can actually feed it. Vinegar is the best solution I have found for killing mold in a boat.
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23-10-2020, 13:08
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Wilmington Shores Cal.
Boat: Seawind 1160 38' # 60
Posts: 55
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Re: interior smell from bilge
don't be afraid to take a garden hose in your boat with a high pressure nozzle and dishwashing soap , it all runs into the bilge . spray away into every crack and crevasse ,using a wet and dry vacuum you can pick all the crap that ends up at the bottom of your boat , I do it once a year when I change the motor oil ,
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23-10-2020, 13:29
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Skagit City, WA
Posts: 25,513
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Re: interior smell from bilge
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quadrille in JB
Ozone generators work great for eliminating smells but...
DO NOT LEAVE IT ON FOR TOO LONG!
When strongly concentrated ozone will eat rubber and vinyl, destroying them.
Our HVAC company owned a large commercial ozone generator that worked great. I loaned it to a friend who was trying to eliminate smoke odors from his home and I warned him not to leave it on for over 24 hours. Against my warnings, he left it on for 48 hours and it turned all of his new modern vinyl furniture very sticky. This ruined his new furniture
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I think I used my Little Panda for a year living on the boat with no issues. But sure, excess ozone can deteriorate some things. We just left it on when gone, probably 10 hours a day.
__________________
"I spent most of my money on Booze, Broads and Boats. The rest I wasted" - Elmore Leonard
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23-10-2020, 19:19
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Olympia, Washington
Boat: 1979 Mariner Ketch 32-Hull 202
Posts: 2,124
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Re: interior smell from bilge
Quote:
Originally Posted by taoist
I had a crack in water tank (built into keel) allowing water to enter from aft bilge. Patched it with flex seal and dropped in new water tank (much smaller. No more bilge water but having a hard time getting rid of bilge smell in main cabin. Air fresheners only work for awhile. Any ideas to get rid of smell?
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Might be late in suggesting but, after cleaning bilge areas, scrubbing with a brush and rinsing with fresh water, drying.
In every boat I've owned, I've painted the bilge with bilge paint.
It changes everything.
It's like new again.
It may be hard to get to every cranny, but it will definitely get rid of the bilge smell.
So coat everything you can.
Let the paint cure a couple days and it'll lose the solvent smell quickly.
Worked for me.
SV Cloud Duster
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24-10-2020, 05:25
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#13
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Southern Maine
Boat: Prairie 36 Coastal Cruiser
Posts: 3,110
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Re: interior smell from bilge
If you have any standing water in the bilge, drop in a bromine tablet. They sell them in the pool and spa section at WalMart, or any spa (hot tub) supplier.
As I understand it, bromine is preferred in spas because it's less corrosive on the different metals and hoses. Same thing applies on a boat.
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24-10-2020, 05:35
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#14
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CLOD
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: being planted in Jacksonville Fl
Boat: none
Posts: 20,415
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Re: interior smell from bilge
Instead of a bromine tablet that is corrosive, drop an AC Pan treatment tablet in it as it is non corrosive. Just a thought.
__________________
Don't ask a bunch of unknown forum people if it is OK to do something on YOUR boat. It is your boat, do what you want!
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24-10-2020, 06:04
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 2,690
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Re: interior smell from bilge
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lazerbrains
Bleach does not kill mold, and can actually feed it. Vinegar is the best solution I have found for killing mold in a boat.
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Thanks for that, Lazerbrains.
I'd forgot to include that essential component in my post (but had remembered in the Help - Funky Smell thread:
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ll-240361.html.
What you get when you bleach mould is... white, bleached out, mould!
LittleWing77
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