Bilge ventilation.unpleasent smell in bilges.

[jurgenscraft]

Hello all.
how do get rid of that typical bad sea water smell in the bilges under the deck of my boat, I do have bilge pumps that remove most of the water that makes it way into the bilges( recent addition) I also have drain plugs tha I use to drain excess water from the bilges I gave one large inspection hatch that gives me acess to the bilge pump area.
the hull of the boat is devided into three compartments along the length of the vessel, the two outer comprtments are foam filled for bouancy and the centre compartment is the bilge area which has polystyrene foam for aditional bouancy the hatch and bilge pump are recent additions and I made up a extractor fan that I have been using to ventilate the centre bilges as well as the foam filled sections under the deck.
Regards William Wright,

 

[clemsonfor]

Re: Bilge ventilation.unpleasent smell in bilges.

Is this a question or a comment? Not to be a smart @$$ but it seems like you have told us how yu corrected your problem so maybe others can benefit? Maybe i just did not read it right and you did ask a question. :/

-Nate

 

[flashback]

Re: Bilge ventilation.unpleasent smell in bilges.

suspect the foam is full of mold and mildew.. never been to S.A. but I bet its humid and the bilge never gets a chance to dry out... how old is the boat.? how big?.. you may need to open it up and strip out the old foam and in my opinion, do not put any more back in.....wear a life jacket instead...

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: Bilge ventilation.unpleasent smell in bilges.

Do you have a picture of the smell???

Smash

 

[clemsonfor]

Re: Bilge ventilation.unpleasent smell in bilges.

This post is gettin weider and weider "a picture of the smell" What does that even mean? Seriously though i think he means of the bilge are and your acess hatch if yu are asking about yur smell and not just commenting on how you are fixing your smell.

-Nate

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Bilge ventilation.unpleasent smell in bilges.

take a water hose, with strong fertilizing adapter, put the strongest bleach, some home centers have (clorox concentraded)one gallon makes 30 gallons, of cleaner, spray it into the bilge, to kill the bacteria, and scum growing in there. make some port to the other areas, also. bleach smells better than mold and scum.. find out where the moisture is coming from...tthe foam may be saturated with water.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Bilge ventilation.unpleasent smell in bilges.

if you can not get the 30-1 clorox, use swimming pool chlorine.

 

[jurgenscraft]

Re: Bilge ventilation.unpleasent smell in bilges.

Thanks for all for the replies to my question, I have tried the swimming pool chlorine and it seemed to have worked. I am going to remove the polystyrene from the middle section of the hull as I believe that is the problem the outer compartments have been recentely been filled with new foam.. and I doubt if I will be using any form of foam,instead I will fit large bilge pumps,and using extra life jackets. hi..hi.
Kind regards .
William Wright

 

[sardiver]

Re: Bilge ventilation.unpleasent smell in bilges.

First off... Great site
I know tgis is my first post so please don't shoot the messenger, but...
Chlorine is an oxidizer and as such will eat any fasteners and fittings (like through hulls) it comes in contact with.
I would advise against using concentrated mixes. The stuff straight from the chlorox bottle is MORE than strong enough to kill mold and bacteria.
There is an old trick I tried where you place a few peeled potatoes in a stinky fish box to absorb the odor.
I forgot they were in there till the next weekends canyon trip.
Guess what? They stank far worse than the slight fishy odor!