smell

[nan1rik1]

This past summer I discovered that the mid bilge pump was not working in my 32+2 CB. Unfortunately this is the bilge that my A/C condensate drips into, the A/C pump water goes directly overboard. By mid summer the stench was unbearable, being fresh water from the A/C condensation the little critters and such had a great time reproducing, colonizing and other wise making themselves at home and stinking up the place, that's how I realized that something was not working. I have tried several bottles of orange bilge cleaner, bleach, power washing however the stink just keeps coming back whenever I close up the boat. It seem worse in the river where my marina is than out, for example we spent some time in Essex (missed the rendavous by a couple of weeks) and the stench was not as persistant.
The boat will be hauled for the winter this weekend. I was thinking of leaving some bleach in the bilge but I am afraid of it freezing, does bleach freeze? Any other suggestions would be appreciated, if I can't get rid of the stink I might have to get rid of the boat. Please all thoughts welcome, I'd hate to have to sell the boat.

Rick
Still on Vacation
32+2 CB

[DougSea]

Bleech is a pretty effective killer of little critters so I don't think you'd have to leave it in all winter. And I'd think it might freeze as it's mostly water, you could test it in your freezer at home.

I'm guessing that the nasties causing your issue could well be on the underside of your deck, in all the little nooks and crannies. If it was me I'd shut down the bilge pump and flood the area right up to the deck with fresh warm water and about a cup of bleach mixed in and let it sit for an hour or two, occasionally rocking the boat to mix things up. Pump it out, repeat and then get in there with a bunch of paper towels and clean everything you can reach as best you can. After it's dry hit it with Lysol and kill anything that survived the WMD attack! I had a similar problem and that worked for me.

In a fancier world they make odor busting ozone generators. I haven't tried one but they're said to work.

Good luck and I'm sure others will chime in.

[DougSea]

While I'm thinking about it...

Send some bleached water down the AC drain (and in the pan) as well as into anything else that drains down there so you don't send new live bugs into your clean bilge.

And one last though: have you tried one of those toilet tank bleach disks? This just occurred to me as I was typing this but it would be a way to keep the chemicals in the bilge after the pump drains it. If you just pour in a liquid it will eventually be pumped out.

And change your condensate drain to go over the side or into a small sump rather than the bilge if you can.

[Tuxedo]

You might also see if you can route the A/C drain to the shower sump pump. I did this on my 31 and it helped immensely.

[Carl]

You might also want to investigate all of the fittings for your head system. Make sure the vents are working. A small leak from this system can be the source of your problem.

[RobS]

You might also want to investigate all of the fittings for your head system. Make sure the vents are working. A small leak from this system can be the source of your problem.

I'm gonna 2nd that suggestion. IMO the condensate drain to the bilge would not create such harsh odors. There is always some water in the bilge that the pumps cannot get out. By letting the clean condensate drain into the bilge that bilge water is always getting diluted with clean water and pumped out by the bilge pumps so why would it get stagnant and smelly?

[Denis]

One more suggestion, how about putting in a couple more vents to air out the bilge. It's hard to believe that it's just water that is causing all the smell, even after bleach. Bleach is like a miracle, it kills most everything in a very short amount of time. There is almost always a breeze down at the marina, a couple more vents might just take care of the problem. D.

[RobS]

Ventilation sure is important - How often do you use the boat Rick ?

[chiefrcd]

I had a similar issue, my bilge drains towards the front of the boat and hold about 7 gals. Sometimes the smell would be terrible. I did the following. I took a hand pump and a bucket and sucked everything out of the bilge that I could. Then I took a 5 gal. bucket of hot water and dawn dish soap with a cup of bleach in it and poured it into the aft hatch. This drained through the entire bilge to the front of the boat. I then took a long handled "wheel" brush and scrubbed the bilge from the saloon hatch. I pumped this out by hand as well. Then I installed a bilge pump off the sump pump wiring and sat it directly on the bottom of the boat. This keeps the bilge down to about a 1/2" of water at most. I no longer have all that 7 gals. to contend with. Now I just keep the bilge as dry as possible and occasionally pour some Orange bilge cleaner through the entire bilge and pump it out. I do also keep my boat under a shed roof and I can keep some are circulating though the boat all year long. That in itself made a big difference.

[dkircher]

Great suggestions for dealing with bilge odor and the low spot toward the bow. I am sorting out my various bilge pumps and plan to make that forward pump automatic...

[RobS]

The second forward pump down low in the centerline was the best thing I've added - except for A/C and Auto-Pilot of course

[nan1rik1]

Thank you for all of the good suggestions, it seems like bleach is the common ingredient in most all of them. Rob S inquired about usage of the boat, just about all weekends this summer and quite a few Mondays & Fridays (the long weekend flu strain). Due to how much wind there was this summer we did not use the A/C much, mostly after I discovered the smell and pump problem tryiing to troubleshoot the problem.
I definitly like the idea of plumbing the condensate into the shower sump pump which takes a lot less liquid to initiate the pump. The hoses from the head are OK however I'm wondering about the macerator hoses. To comply with CG recommendations the valve directing effluent to the holding tank vs. the macerator has been rendered inoperable so effluent can only be directed to the tank. If somehow some liquid/solids got past the valve they might be in the macerator or hoses? Anybody know what would happen if you ran the macerator with little or no liquid flow through the hoses?

[RobS]

Anybody know what would happen if you ran the macerator with little or no liquid flow through the hoses?

Macerator pumps are not "run dry" pumps but you would not be running any length of time.

I replaced all sanitation hoses in Sept. What a PITA. They can become porous with age, especially if the waste is allowed to sit in the hoses.

If you are using the boat that often and still getting odors it sounds like something needs attention whether it be a repair and/or cleaning some area you are not accessing..

[OldDemps]

The second forward pump down low in the centerline was the best thing I've added - except for A/C and Auto-Pilot of course

Rob, does this extra bilge pump discharge directly overboard or into the shower pump out?
Thanks

[RobS]

It used to discharge into the shower pump. But I never use the shower pump so now it's directly overboard by stealing the shower pump discharge.