Advice needed: smell in cabin bilges 07' 52 Sedan

[Gary B]

Has anyone had a foul smell under the cabin floor boards and in the floor compartment where the washer/dryer is under galley floor in a 50/52 sedan? We purchased the boat this spring and have had the odor all summer. I am thinking the waste hoses from the head(s) need replacement. The engine room bilge has zero smell. The odor is only noticeable under the cabin floor boards. Anyone have a similar issue? Thoughts/advice?

 

[HUMPH]

Do you notice the washer discharging water out of the through hull while running? If so, does it come out with the force it should be producing? If not, the discharge hose may be compromised. Where is your sump located? It can produce some nasty smells as well.

 

[cod]

Gary,

Is the bilge pump sump area in the washer/dryer area dry? If you have stagnant water in there, you will get a smell. Also, how often do you clean the sump box for the plumbing drain....

 

[Gary B]

The sump box is relatively clean and we put a bleach tablet in there about once a month. It is located under the floor between the forward stateroom and the guest head. When we open the sump box it does not have a strong odor but the floor compartment it is located in as well as the other under floor storage areas smell bad. The compartment where the washing machine is located (under galley floor) also smells. Ironically the engine bilge has zero odor.

All the gray water on the boat drains overboard via the exhaust ports on the sides near the stern so you can not see if the washing machine is draining forcefully. It is functioning fine.

My next move was to replace the waste hoses but still not 100% sure if that's it. Any other ideas?

 

[cod]

You didn't mention the sump area next to the washing machine.. Are you aware there is another sump area kinda behind the washing machine but really it's next to it to port....I am not speaking of the one in the engine room as that is a separate compartment altogether.....

 

[gerryb]

My guess is that something is/was leaking somewhere on the boat and you have mold/mildew growing creating the smell. We had this problem when an AC condensate pan backed up on extremely hot/humid days, leaking water onto the fiberglass floor down under the salon floor and led to growth. Look in the areas around washer, ac pans, discharges, hose joints, etc. and see if you see any part of the floor that looks brownish in color.

Re the waste hoses, probably not the issue on an '07 boat but you can test this by leaving a damp towel on a section of the hose for a half hour or so and see if there is any smell on the towel. Or run the towel over the hose for a bit and see if the smell is leaching through badly. Of course you can also put your nose up to the hose if you can get access to it. Note the the smell from a bad head hose is much different that sitting/molding water. The molding water just smells 'off' to most people but doesn't really smell like sh^t - just smells bad/off. If you step onto the boat and say 'it smells like sh^t' immediately, then it might well be a leak in the head system somewhere.

 

[cod]

Gary,

To expand on this, see the attached diagram. "C" is the bulkhead wall between the engine room and the laundry room. As you can see there is a bilge pump and float switch located in the laundry room sump (right side of the bulkhead wall labeled "C"). This is not the grey water box. As I previously mentioned, this sump is next to the back of the washer /dryer. You will need to remove the ladder to the laundry to get to it. This sump is the overflow for the grey water box (via a hose from the grey water box to this sump area) and for discharging any water in the laundry room, should water somehow get in there.

 

[Gary B]

Very helpful. Did not know there is a separate sump for the washing machine. I can only image how cruddy it will be. That would answer the smell under the galley. Thank you!

We did have water under the guest head that rolled back into the floor compartment in the guest (2nd) stateroom earlier this season. It was brown & smelled. The water seemed to come from the porthole lugs not being tight in the guest head shower. We shop vacuumed the water as best as we could (nearly impossible to reach under bathroom floor from guest stateroom floor compartment) and it was dry ever since. Maybe there is residual mildew that is causing the smell. My thought would be to spray tilex or Clorox clean up into the carpartment but again the access is extremely limited so it's impossible to wipe the residual up. Any other suggestions?

 

[Emagine]

Did you ever figure this out?

 

[Gary B]

Emagine thanks for asking.

Yes, there was stagnant fresh water in two different areas. One was the floor compartment under the floor between side stateroom and port head. I think it was due to the porthole in the head leaking. The second source was water in a small bilge compartment (I had no idea existed) next to the washer/dryer in a hard to get at spot.

After draining both with a shop vac, some mildew spray and running a dehumidifier I think the problem is solved but hard to be sure as the boat is on the hard for winter.

2015 was our first year with this boat and with amazing advice from everyone on this site we have figured out a few things....