a different smelly heads problem

Re: a different smelly heads problem

tanks ok then - white hose or rigid? (hose I think) still worth checking - some of the white "waste" hose is ....well, just white & no better than clear stuff for odours.
 
Re: a different smelly heads problem

Hi Peggie,
Definitely the hoses not replaced and are the original ones to the boat (1997) The sumps are in the same compartment as the engine which is central, with the holding tanks/pipework in compartments fore and aft. central compartment with sumps is always completely odour free, so they are not suspect. As regards spillage I will systematically go through system and tighten up all the hose clips. We did have a problem, on buying the boat, with blocked pipes preventing the pumpout from working on the aft tank, and similarly blocking the sea pumpout on the forward tank. The previous owners had left the boat with full tanks festering overwinter.(!?) we had to have the pipes cleaned/flushed through by the boatyard (this approx. 2 years ago) The smell was already evident at that point and judging by the number of spent air fresheners littering the tank area, was a problem for previous owners too. Pity they din't think of emptying the tanks more often. Their less than fastidious attitude was evident in other areas of the boat too, so spillage not cleaned up would be no surprise.
I will check everywhere down below for trapped water though there isn't a part of the boat I haven't been into for one reason or another.
 
Re: a different smelly heads problem

I've never seen a boat that did not pong a bit, especialy down the bilge around the toilet pipes, even the barge bilge stinks and thats only three years old and the toilet uses fresh water. Depending on the level of course. I think you just have to live with it.
 
Re: a different smelly heads problem

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Tanks are stainless steel, with white plastic pipework, whole installation about 7 years old.

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Uh-oh...we MAY have just found the source of your odor. Urine is highly corrosive--so corrosive, in fact, that the average life of any metal WASTE tank is only about 10 years...and often the first thing to go in a metal tank is one or more of the fittings. I've seen them so corroded that they just crumble when you remove the hose.

Typically a metal tank in continuous use holding waste will start to leak at a weld--seam or a fitting--within 2-5 years...turn into a collander in about 10 years. However, on your side of the pond tanks aren't required in most waters yet, extending the life of a metal tank quite a bit. But if the boat sat with waste in the tank before you bought it, there may be a pinhole leak somewhere.

The test for that: pump out or dump the tank and THOROUGHLY flush it out with plenty of clean water. Then fill it with clean water and enough red food coloring to be able to see it on the tank. Block the tank vent...flush the toilet in the dry mode till you start to experience some real resistance...don't OVERdo it, you just want to pressurize the tank. (Btw, it would be a good idea to replace the joker valves in the toilets before you fill the tank with water...to prevent loss of pressure through the toilet). After a few hours, if there's a leak anywhere in the tank, you should be able to see it.

I've forgotten, and too lazy to read the entire thread to find it: do you have overboard discharge pumps--either manual or electric? They could be leaking just enough to create odor. So could a y-valve.

Odors are always strongest at their source...and since your odor seems to be concentrated in the lockers/compartments where the tanks are, SOMETHING in those specific areas has to be the source.
 
Re: a different smelly heads problem

[ QUOTE ]
I've never seen a boat that did not pong a bit, especialy down the bilge around the toilet pipes, even the barge bilge stinks and thats only three years old and the toilet uses fresh water. Depending on the level of course. I think you just have to live with it.

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Boat odors are NOT all in your head...I get calls all the time from people who’ve torn out most of their sanitation system trying to get rid of what they thought was “head odor,” when all they really needed to do was clean their bilge. I don’t mean just throw in some more bilge cleaner or bleach—I mean really CLEAN it!

A wet bilge is a dark stagnant pond, a swamp in fact. And it behaves like one, growing a variety of molds, fungi and bacteria—some that thrive in dark stagnant water, others that just like damp dark places. The warmer the weather and water, the faster they grow. Add some dead and decaying sea water micro-organisms, dirt, food particles, rain water, wash water, hot weather and humidity, plus a little oil or diesel, and you have a real primordial soup…no wonder it stinks!

Most people’s approach to bilge cleaning consists only of throwing some bilge cleaner/and or bleach into that soup when it starts to stink and calling it done. I’ve never understood why they think that’s all there is to it. They wouldn’t just toss some tub and tile cleaner into a bathtub full of dirty bath water, drain it and call the bathtub clean. Or just add more dishwashing liquid to sinkful of dirty dishwater, pull the plug and expect to have a clean sink...so why do so many boat owners think it’s possible to clean a bilge without actually doing a little work, then rinsing all the dirty water out of it?

And if you really want to do it right, you need to dry it out completely too... use a hand pump and a sponge to get what the bilge pump leaves behind, and leave the hatches open so that plenty of fresh air can circulate in it. Once a year should be enough to keep most boats smelling fresh (the best time to do it is in the spring as part of full recommissioning), although it may be necessary to clean the bilge two or three times a year in tropical climates.

Sumps are another overlooked source of boat odor. Somehow it never occurs to most people that shower sumps and drains, like bathtubs, need regular cleaning to remove the hair, soap scum and body oils that collect in it the same way they leave a ring in the bathtub. And the shower sump may not be the only sump. Central heat/air conditioning condensate and sailboat ice boxes often drain into sumps instead of into the bilge. Left alone long enough, a wet dirty sump can smell like a sewer even faster than a wet dirty bilge. It’s another wet dark place, ideal for growing odor-producing “critters.”

So try cleaning--really CLEANING--your bilges and sumps...it's not that hard to do with a power washer. You'll be amazed at how much better your boat will smell.
 
Re: a different smelly heads problem

Well both mine and Debs boats are bone dry in the smelly areas. Now I can understand my boat niffing a bit, due to the catalog of disaster stories it's starred in.

First The Exploding Bog Saga.

Then there was the blockage saga, where the tank presurised itself and I undid the pipe. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Not to mention the sinking saga when the pipe fell off the seacock.

The old poorly dog and then the new dog did not help, but it is on it's third set of carpets in twelve months. (The boat, that is!)

But I thort all this was normal. Well it always has been for me!!
 
Re: a different smelly heads problem

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Now I can understand my boat niffing a bit, due to the catalog of disaster stories it's starred in.

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Good Lord, no wonder your boat "pongs" a bit...you could star in a "how to" (as the "how NOT to do it") plumbing maintenance video! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Of course you realize that ALL of your adventures (except the dogs) could have been prevented with just a minimal amount of preventive maintenance--which is why it's called "preventive" maintenance. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

The cure:

Go to a pet supply store and get a couple of gallons of microbial (ONLY microbial...no chemical) odor eliminator. Put it in a pump up garden spray bottle and spray every inch of your bilges, carpets, cushions...wherever there's odor. Be sure to use enough on cushions and carpet to penetrate all the way through--not dripping wet, just enough saturation. Don't rinse...just let it dry. Put all cushions etc that you can out in the sun for a day...open all hatches and lockers so that plenty of fresh air can circulate...turn some fans on if you can...for at least a day. If that doesn't get rid of all the odor, it'll get rid of enough of it to let you find the areas you missed and give them the same treatment. Once you have found and treated all the sources, your boat should be odor-free.

And from now on, stop flushing if the head starts to get hard to flush...check your tank vent thru-hull for any blockage...backflush it each time you pump out and/or wash the boat...inspect your hose connections and tighten clamps regularly...and don't remove ANY hoses INSIDE the boat till after you've opened seacocks and the deck pumpout fitting to relieve any pressure! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
Re: a different smelly heads problem

Oi. You inferring that my boat stinks!!

I'll have you know, that my carpets and cushions, are brand new, and though there have been many forumites aboard, I have seen few passing out. Well thats a bit of a lie, but I,d always put it down to other things.

If you are insinuating that the excrement adventures of Mucky Farter can be diluted by a couple of gallons of some unknown ilixior, you have another thought comming.

Mucky Farter is world famous for disaster stories and we here dont want your jumped up solutions, which just makes the place less Aromatic than it already was.

Do you suggest I hide in the cupboard in the bog. Pray tell me how I assure that no foriegn objects are placed down there and short of purchasing a rack or keel hauling the suspects, as no one accepts the guilt, so further investigation is required to identiffy the guilty party and the offending artical.

You'll have some upstart mechanic comming on here next suggesting how tightening a few nuts and bolts up, will stop prop shafts falling off, or the boat from sinking.

But how much fun would that be??

Bog off, bloody upstart!! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Re: a different smelly heads problem

YOU said your boat stinks...I just told you how to cure it!

But you're right...the boating world would be a very dull place indeed without any "war stories" of exploding bogs and failed hose connections. We NEED people like you to keep things interesting!

So don't change a thing you're doing (or not)...and I shall await with bated breath the saga of your next misadventure. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Re: a different smelly heads problem

Now look here. For me to say my boat stinks is one thing. For you to tell me it does, is quite another. It's holding tank, being 16 years old, still performs it's duties with out incident and shows no sign of pee wear. Though I must admit, it's been bashed a few times.

It's more a question of how much pong and where it's coming from. Most comes from opening the sea cock.Which is dead fishy things, I know that. We have a big bottle of pet thingy stuff, I'll chuck that down there and see if it helps!!
 
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