Outside the box thought. UV LED against mold?

[Franziska]

Standing under the shower today, I had a thought, as one does.

The obvious enemies of mold are ventilation, Ozone, Chlorine and, UV light.
Some areas, (like behind ceiling panels) are hard to ventilate and hard to reach or ventilate but may still have mold growing.

An ozone generator may help but is unhealthy when running while someone is onboard and can create corrosion and inflict damage on some materials.

As more and more boats have ample solar, I was wondering if one could not install constantly running UV LED in these hard to reach spaces to make them uncomfortable for mold.

Providing that the materials in the spaces have no problem with UV exposure or are thick enough so that a little degradation does not matter.

As I said it's just a "shower thought" and I did not try it.

Maybe we have some folks here that are experts regarding mold and or UV LED...

[Chotu]

You could…. But if you can reach the area once, leaving a film of borax stops it from growing as well. Bleach is kind of a temporary thing. And in some cases people say it helps mold come back. I don’t know how, but I have heard that. However, borax will stop all mold growth if you leave a little film on there. It’s absolutely poisonous to mold.

I have many decades of experience fighting mold thanks to allergies. Top research project for me about 10 or 15 years ago.

[JBP]

UV light would probably work, but UV light capable of killing mold is bad for a lot of other things, like epoxy and humans. UV light is not as effective on mold and fungus as it is on viri and bacteria. And of course it doesn't prevent it from coming back.
That said, there are a lot of UV devices available, so it's worth a try.

https://www.amazon.com/Rveal-UVILIZE...53976521&psc=1

As Chotu said, one of the most common methods is to change the pH so that mold won't grow. Borax, baking soda, and washing soda are alkaline, vinegar is acidic. I've heard that vinegar breaks down and actually becomes a nutrient, but many people still swear by vinegar.

https://www.practical-sailor.com/blo...at-really-work

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultr...al_irradiation

[JPA Cate]

I haven't tried it, but wiping with a solution of 10 drops clove oil to 1 liter of water, has been reported here and in a few other contexts to destroy mold spores. It would be worth a try. Just take down one headliner, and wash and treat half with the clove oil, and half with the borax soap, and compare a year or two later. Clove oil is available from chemist shops (pharmacies), to be rubbed on babies' gums, sold as a relief for children teething.

Ann

[John_Trusty]

A couple of Canadians from University of British Columbia are building a company around LED UV bulbs, using considerably less power than the traditional ones - https://acuvatech.com/ I ran across this as one of their first products was a UV water purifier that the PO of my new (to me) boat installed. Apparently, they're developing a surface disinfector which may be fit for the purpose Franziska described. Personally, I think lighting up the bilges and overheads with blinding light would be cool, but you gotta post some sort of sign and a easy switch or pay for canes and dogs for the poor workmen.

[chris mac]

We bought a 12 volt ozone generator from amazon for under 30$. When we're away from the boat we set it up on a timer to run twice a week for 3-4 hours.
When we are aboard we run it on days that we are all away for a few hours. Grocery runs or big snorkel days. Usually every couple weeks or so.
As long as fans are running it circulates throughout the boat and we rarely find mold growth. We also set it up to run during the day so basically off solar. It really doesn't use much power

[Franziska]

Originally Posted by chris mac

We bought a 12 volt ozone generator from amazon for under 30$. When we're away from the boat we set it up on a timer to run twice a week for 3-4 hours.
When we are aboard we run it on days that we are all away for a few hours. Grocery runs or big snorkel days. Usually every couple weeks or so.
As long as fans are running it circulates throughout the boat and we rarely find mold growth. We also set it up to run during the day so basically off solar. It really doesn't use much power

Thank you and the other for commenting.

***
Can you please point me to the exact generator model you bought?
There are an aweful lot of them on the net and some of them make claims which can not be true.
If we get one I'd like to get one which someone actually had good experience with.
Did it create problems with increased corrosion on electrics? Any other materials?
Since how long do you have it in use?

***
Regarding UV and my initial question and the answers from others directly relating to it.

The idea was permanently running UV LED in the hard to access spaces behind ceiling panels where it's hard to clean and which are extremely difficult to ventilate.
No UV light of significance should escape those black voids.

I think any cabling in there should definetly get some sort of UV protection.
Our foam ceiling panels are 4cm thick, so no worries, they can suffer a bit of UV damage on the backside without creating problems.
The plywood deck underside is wood, so I do not think either that will pose significant problems.
The UV will not penetrate deep enough for that.

***
Regarding surface treatment, I am mostly relating to the very hard to reach areas.
We already tried vinegar essence, that did not work.
The anti mold with chlorine worked but needs repeating every few days.
So next step Borax and clover oil. I give that a try, hope it last longer.
If that does not work we try the Ozone.

***
Thanks for everyones thoughts.

[Chotu]

borax will last until the borax is removed. It forms a sort of chalky paste if you concentrate enough of it into the water. Once the water dries out of it, it remains somewhat like concrete. Like a very thin chalky layer. The only way it stops working is if you wipe the borax back off or you splash water on it enough that you rinse it away. Otherwise it just stays there forever. It’s a permanent treatment. It is a mineral after all.

To do the borax right, you want to be wiping as much of it as you can onto the surface and leaving white everywhere. Just gob it on there as best you can. Transfer as much from the bucket and sponge onto the surface as possible. The surface will have a white chalky appearance with chunks of borax everywhere also.

you had asked for a good ozone generator. This one is amazing.

do not use this ozone generator when you are at the boat. Set it and leave immediately. It will kill everything on the boat including you. Lol. This thing is a BEAST.

it has a timer so you can run it, go ashore and enjoy the afternoon, then come back and air the boat out.


I use this one for my RV. The way I built my boat I don’t need an ozone generator because mold can be quickly wiped off if it is anywhere. There are no hidden areas.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07D8...b_b_asin_title




I have not had any materials degrade that I know of, but my Bose headphones ear foam seem to have degraded very quickly. That’s the only thing I had some trouble with I think. And I can’t even say it was the ozone generator. It just seems to have been. Maybe they just make bad headphones. I don’t know. Nothing else degraded. Nothing that came with the RV degraded. I have not used it in my boat because I have not needed to. I can just wipe mold off in here.


Edit:. that ozone generator is on an incredible sale right now. That’s the best one they make. I would snap that up if anyone’s trying to buy one. I paid full price. And I’m still really happy.

[Franziska]

We can't buy Borax in Germany. It's not available to retail clients anymore. Even if it's branded Borax it's not inside anymore.

I'll have to check in Portugal.

[CaptTom]

Never heard of using borax. I have a liquid sprayer I've used for bleach; one of those pump-up bottles with the spray wand. I wonder if it could be applied this way?

I happen have a box of borax I've been wondering what to do with.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Franziska

We can't buy Borax in Germany. It's not available to retail clients anymore. Even if it's branded Borax it's not inside anymore.

I'll have to check in Portugal.

good Lord. I can understand the paint. But borax? That’s the one of the primary ingredient in many powdered laundry detergents.

[chris mac]

Originally Posted by Franziska

Thank you and the other for commenting.

***
Can you please point me to the exact generator model you bought?
There are an aweful lot of them on the net and some of them make claims which can not be true.
If we get one I'd like to get one which someone actually had good experience with.
Did it create problems with increased corrosion on electrics? Any other materials?
Since how long do you have it in use?

***
Regarding UV and my initial question and the answers from others directly relating to it.

The idea was permanently running UV LED in the hard to access spaces behind ceiling panels where it's hard to clean and which are extremely difficult to ventilate.
No UV light of significance should escape those black voids.

I think any cabling in there should definetly get some sort of UV protection.
Our foam ceiling panels are 4cm thick, so no worries, they can suffer a bit of UV damage on the backside without creating problems.
The plywood deck underside is wood, so I do not think either that will pose significant problems.
The UV will not penetrate deep enough for that.

***
Regarding surface treatment, I am mostly relating to the very hard to reach areas.
We already tried vinegar essence, that did not work.
The anti mold with chlorine worked but needs repeating every few days.
So next step Borax and clover oil. I give that a try, hope it last longer.
If that does not work we try the Ozone.

***
Thanks for everyones thoughts.

The unit I bought is not available at the moment, but there are other 12volt ones linked.
Ivation Vehicle Air Cleaner Ozone & Plasma Generator 300 MG/H, Air Ionizer & Odor Eradicator with Home & Car Power Cords, Eliminates Odors and Pollutants for areas Up to 2,500 Sq/Ft https://a.co/d/2dJzBIh
I went this route instead of uv because with fans running, ozone will circulate into the hard to reach areas. Uv needs direct line of sight. Borax also works great, as chotu said, but again needs direct aplication., which isn't always possibly.
Like most things on a boat you have many options. Finding which is right for you is the trick

[wyb2]

I think the issue you may run into is power vs surface area. Doing a little swag calculation, I think the sun puts down about 10w of UV radiation per sq ft of surface area. You probably don’t need all that, but even at half that power, with 100% efficient LEDs, the watts are going to add up.

[Montanan]

Ventilation is only of benefit if the ventilation is dehumidified air such that moisture is removed from surfaces and materials [especially between inner surfaces and the hull, or say below the mattress and the bed support.

UV light is only effective on the surfaces its wave length of light is exposing, so it will not be of any assistance behind a ceiling, wall or floor panel or nooks and cranies. There are different UV light wave lengths and one should not be exposed to such.

Ozone is a No Zone.

pH adjustment is beneficial, but pH needs to be augmented periodically, it is not a once and done chemical process.

Borax, baking soda [sodium carbonates], trisodium phosphate, other alkaline carbonates, +++



Vinegar, [odiferous] and indeed will break down into nutrients.