Controlling Diesel Odor?

[hellosailor]

The search functions of any VBulletin forums all seem to be, well, firmly stuck in the 1960's.

Some people are bothered by diesel and kerosene stink, others never notice it. It is a genetic trait more than anything else.

But once diesel gets into anything porous, it is a bitch to get the odor out. You have to get all the diesel out. If that's plywood...good luck, you can solvent wash it but eventually you'll have to coat it and seal it with epoxy paint or a good urethane. If it has gotten into cushions, your best bet is to remove the covers, have them cleaned, then steam clean the cushions or have them professionally cleaned, be as aggressive as you can and then leave them out in bright sun for a couple of days to dry and air. Diesel stink really can defy your attempts to get it out.
Carpet cleaners, steam cleaners, ozone generators, all can be rented.

[CapnCrunch]

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

Remove the stinker and use the sails! Using the wind and patience can take you anywhere.

So how do you get in and out of marinas? LOL

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

It’s not the smell that is an issue, it is a toxic gas, that decays rubber among other tings and has I believe been linked to Cancer.
If your closing up the Boat and going away, and then airing it out on return, surely that mitigates any adverse health effect, but after reading that article I’m not sure I would want to leave one running and sleep in the same room night after night.
Duration of exposure and I’d assume concentration is the issue.

You wouldn’t live through being in a room with enough ozone to kill odors or mold etc. If you try it you probably wouldn’t be bothered by boat odors anymore, but may become the problem.

[CapnCrunch]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

You wouldn’t live through being in a room with enough ozone to kill odors or mold etc. If you try it you probably wouldn’t be bothered by boat odors anymore, but may become the problem.

Dang! I was just thinking that maybe I could develop an "Ozone Shower" to avoid having to use precious fresh water!

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

You wouldn’t live through being in a room with enough ozone to kill odors or mold etc. If you try it you probably wouldn’t be bothered by boat odors anymore, but may become the problem.

If you can’t get a high enough concentration for it to kill odors, what is the point?
The EPA link says approx the same thing, that is that it takes a lot of it to kill odors, so much that it’s a health risk, and your not likely to be able to get that much anyway.

[a64pilot]

There used to be a product sold for airplanes that seems to work called Ozium. It’s not I’m sure ozone, just a play on words, but it did seem to work inside of small airplanes, they get an odor too, no idea why though.

[sailorboy1]

Well I don’t really understand posts now so I’ll just assume I’m wrong

[CapnCrunch]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

If you can’t get a high enough concentration for it to kill odors, what is the point?
The EPA link says approx the same thing, that is that it takes a lot of it to kill odors, so much that it’s a health risk, and your not likely to be able to get that much anyway.

My impression is that its kinda like a flea bomb. You close up the boat, turn it on and go away for however long you want to run the thing. Then, when you come back, reverse the process and give the generated ozone a little while to dissipate. You should not be in the same enclosed space as an operating ozone generator.

[JPA Cate]

@CapnCrunch:

Under the CF search button is a menu of searches. Select the CF Custom Google Search, and I think you'll be more satisfied. It works on ideas like removing diesel smell, but the first one you come to does not, it is a word matcher sort of deal. It's about 4th down the menu, iirc. Just go till you get to it.

Ann

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

There used to be a product sold for airplanes that seems to work called Ozium. It’s not I’m sure ozone, just a play on words, but it did seem to work inside of small airplanes, they get an odor too, no idea why though.

Eau De Boeing and Lockheed No 5, ah the joys of the airline industry!

[Lepke]

You have to clean the engines with soap and water. And anything else that came in contact. There are bilge cleaners with an enzyme that eats diesel and oil. If you install a low volume powered vent for the engineroom and maybe other bilge areas, you should be able to stop new smells. I have a wood boat so have the wood bilge smells, too. I power vent the engineroom and all the bilge areas. My boat smells like a house.
Or change some of your eating habits to include beans or maybe cabbage and your complainant will look back fondly on the diesel smell.

[CapnCrunch]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

@CapnCrunch:

Under the CF search button is a menu of searches. Select the CF Custom Google Search, and I think you'll be more satisfied. It works on ideas like removing diesel smell, but the first one you come to does not, it is a word matcher sort of deal. It's about 4th down the menu, iirc. Just go till you get to it.

Ann

Ahhhh! I thought that was taking me to a web search function, which is not what I wanted. Thanx for the tipp

[CapnCrunch]

Originally Posted by Lepke

I have a wood boat so have the wood bilge smells, too.

I lived on a 43' Trojan woodie that I recently had to put on the hard and dismantle (which broke my heart). She had that musty old wood boat smell that was also damn near impossible to control.

Originally Posted by Lepke

Or change some of your eating habits to include beans or maybe cabbage and your complainant will look back fondly on the diesel smell.

Brilliant! LOL

[hellosailor]

Ozium is used on aircraft? And here I thought it was designed for cars, but really didn't get popular until the head shops started carrying it.

[Cheechako]

Had an ozone generator on my 44 footer. The boat had sat a long time prior to purchase and was pretty moldy. I loved the smell of the ozone but learned later, a month or two, that you weren't supposed to leave it on while you were there. So I stopped. But I turned it on every day when I went to work and used it until it finally failed and no longer produced ozone. It helped a lot along with my other schemes to de stink the boat. For a while I opened the bilge up and put it under the floor boards each day to kill any spores in the wood under there.