smelly times.....

seatray

New Member
Nov 17, 2014
13
plymouth
Boat Info
2000 searay 270 da, a few gizmos but you'd be jealous
Engines
4.3efi mercruisers
I have this weird smell emanating in the boat - not all the time though. It happened once when I got the boat but once I had cleaned it top to bottom it was ok. 4yrs on and I woke to find this smell had returned but was making me feel sick enough to pass out and I couldn't locate the source. the engine had been run up but this was middle of the night. I checked the engine bay and the waste tank (source of original smell) and all was clear but when I pulled the under sink cupboard open the smell was really bad enough to be ill again. I didn't find any smell in the engine again and the head / shower areas and even checked the waste tank from the shower. It came as quick as it went after venting the boat 10 mins so am thinking its the head system pipes behind walls or the fridge gas system???? I do have water in places where there was none before ( or cleaned out from the start ) so not sure what or where it came from. Btw filters etc have been changed and full engine serviced risers done etc so nothing mechanical like oil or fuel..... oh that's the other fun things in my bed under the deck has water from someplace getting in...….
 
Sink drain? They get nasty. Run a hose spray nozzle through the galley drain, or just replace the hose. I did ours last year, it was black inside from 20 years of shit
 
Find out where your toilet hoses go and remove those access panels and see if the smell is in there. happened on my 290, the hoses never get completely flush out each time and with time the smell will start getting thru the hoses as they get old and collect in all kind of places before they get out to the living areas.
 
yeah I think I redid all the seals on the sink and hoses as had leak there and don't use the head except to flush cleaner / deodoriser through and top up water in the bowl when its dry. All I know is I near passed out from the smell but wasn't fuel / oil / human waste. think i'll redo the hoses and bang a lot of sealer around when the panels off.
 
Which undersink door did you open up? Galley or head?

Smell the water... especially the hot water. Anything?
 
Not real familiar with a 310. But - did you check your sump pump to the head shower? Odor will come up through the shower drain from the sump pump. To keep all my drains clean I use pine sole, Tropical Scent. Just poor down all of my sink, shower and a/c pan drains (not the toilet) 3 or so times a season. Works well and leaves a nice scent. Especially the shower drain. We don't use the shower but the a/c unit drains there and it will cause some really yucky smelly stuff by itself if not flushed out occasionally.
 
I didn’t notice it was a 310, a buddy has a 98 and didn’t realize there was another sump under the aft berth. It was horrendous last year, he had to replace the whole box
 
Critter crawled up under sink and passed on? Old food got lost? Being to OP said no odor from waste systems leads me to believe it is something else.
 
yeah I think I removed all the boards in the engine bay last year to clean up the bilge pumps and all were working and smell free.checked the galley hoses previously and recently checked the shower bilge box as had tonnes of water in it - all clear there and smell free. I will be going there tomorrow with a drain cleaner and more mould cleaners etc.once i have the board at the end of the main bed area off I can see what is going on there. My friend thought the fuel seal had broken but as mentioned no fuel oil waste smells there just this other ungodly smell which went after venting the boat. I am going to pump the bilge for the shower and the engine bay completely clear and use some bilge cleaner and go from there....oh and remove the fridge too as last year found a dirty food bag behind it stinking....
 
tiara in the snow 01.JPG
yeah I think I removed all the boards in the engine bay last year to clean up the bilge pumps and all were working and smell free.checked the galley hoses previously and recently checked the shower bilge box as had tonnes of water in it - all clear there and smell free. I will be going there tomorrow with a drain cleaner and more mould cleaners etc.once i have the board at the end of the main bed area off I can see what is going on there. My friend thought the fuel seal had broken but as mentioned no fuel oil waste smells there just this other ungodly smell which went after venting the boat. I am going to pump the bilge for the shower and the engine bay completely clear and use some bilge cleaner and go from there....oh and remove the fridge too as last year found a dirty food bag behind it stinking....
You need to be careful with drain cleaners. Domitec specifically tells owners to not use them as they damage the seals used in the plumbing. You could end up needing expensive parts to get things functioning properly again after their use. A good way to inspect hoses for odor permeation is to take a clean wash cloth, dampen it, wipe the hose you are checking with it and then sniff it. If the hose is permeated, the odor will transfer to the wash cloth. If that is the case, there is a possible method of fixing the problem short of replacing the hose.
 
Check out Peggy Hall’s “The new how to get rid of boat odors”
She goes by “The Headmistress” on some other boating forums.
Worked for Raritan I believe, now does consulting work and talks at various functions. It’s somewhere around 10 or 12 dollars for your kindle
 
Norflex Digestor works wonders on old sanitation hoses, bilges, etc. I tried another digestor for a few months because it was cheaper and less hassle to use. Went right back and will not change again. When you put it down the toilet, it is heavier than the water and some will settle in the hoses, duckbills, the whole system, and clean it all up. Norflex Digestor is one of the best products for a boat with a head that I have ever found. Shower sumps, bilge sumps, etc. it will clean them up....

Bennett
 
Norflex Digestor works wonders on old sanitation hoses, bilges, etc. I tried another digestor for a few months because it was cheaper and less hassle to use. Went right back and will not change again. When you put it down the toilet, it is heavier than the water and some will settle in the hoses, duckbills, the whole system, and clean it all up. Norflex Digestor is one of the best products for a boat with a head that I have ever found. Shower sumps, bilge sumps, etc. it will clean them up....

Bennett
@bbwhitejr - I noticed one of the reviews on Amazon says “Not for Vacuum Toilets - Works well with older toilets but the granules do not disolve quickly and should not be used with vacuum toilets.“.

I assume your heads - like most other Sea Rays - are vacuflush. Have you noticed what the Amazon reviewer described being an issue?
 
@bbwhitejr - I noticed one of the reviews on Amazon says “Not for Vacuum Toilets - Works well with older toilets but the granules do not disolve quickly and should not be used with vacuum toilets.“.

I assume your heads - like most other Sea Rays - are vacuflush. Have you noticed what the Amazon reviewer described being an issue?

Have 2-vacuflush heads and it works beautifully!! Been using it for 2-years now with 100% positive results!

Bennett
 
if you pour the Noflex into the toilet bowl and do not wait long enough for the granules to dissolve before flushing some of the granules can/will get caught between the ball and the rubber seal.....this results in the vacuum generator not being able to build a vacuum in the system because of the leaking seal....this is easily corrected by taking a toilet bowl brush and cleaning the underside of the seal while holding the foot pedal down to keep the ball out of the way.....

cliff
 

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