Odor Problems on 53 Convertible

[53hatt]

I have an odor problem on a 1980 53 Convertible. There are two compartments (one under the hatch in the floor in the master stateroom where the master shower drain pan is located, and one in the floor of the galley). Both of these have a small amount of standing water that is very stinky- like sulfur or sewage. I have tried draining them by hand pump, flushing with soapy water, but the end up with more water after a few weeks with the same smell. Both holding tanks have been pumped and flushed. In the stateroom compartment, there is a pipe running aft- I have plugged that and the water seems to have stopped in that compartment, but I can't tell where that drains, except it seems to be flowing forward. The shower sump tub is not leaking. I havetried flushing both heads and watching for leaks and don't see anything. Any ideas?

[rtrafford]

first issue will clearly be to source the water origin. you've got a single water tank and two holding tanks, i believe...at least mine does. empty the tanks. watch for water after rain, running, etc. fill one tank. watch. repeat for the others. once the source is spotted, fix the leak. next, check your drainage from these compartments. you may need to bore and glass in tubes to assist in helping the water find the bilge pump. do NOT bore a hole and allow the water to free-flow. you MUST glass a tube in the stringer to carry the water.

currently my entire floor is up in the front. i know the layout well.

[Nonchalant1]

It's not just the tanks that leak. It's usually a transfer hose or pipe. The long runs and turns of head flush water may be leaking through the hose at a kink or at their favorite spot, the hose clamp or hose guides. When Hatteras made them, the hose guides just held the hose against a stringer or bulkhead, but as the hoses age they can bend into the shape of the hose guide and eventually kink and pinch the sidewall there. Like rtrafford said, find the source and you'll fix the problem.

[Genesis]

Fresh water gets NASTY fast. Salt water gets nasty less fast, but still gets nasty.

Standing water in the bilge WILL stink over time. The key to having non-stinking bilges is to have dry, clean bilges.

This is not easy to achieve - but its the only way you win this war.

My 45C drains towards the engine room bilge pump when the tanks are full, but accumulates water forward up near the forward bulkhead when the tanks are low. That bites, because there's no pump there, and no communication between that and the forepeak bilge where there IS a pump.

Go for a run and it all drains out, but a problem arises if you hose the bilges down while at the dock with less-than-full fuel tanks and then DON'T go for a run right away to get it all out towards the engine room pump. You then get water under the galley floor in the bilge space there, and under the master stateroom. In a few days it'll start stinking.

I've learned that if I'm going to clean the bilges and not go for a run right away that the shop vac needs to come out to evacuate that water before it can turn smelly.

This is one place where I think Hatt dropped the ball a bit on these boats....

[rtrafford]

some simple green in the effected areas really helps after you've dried them out to kill what was making the odor.

bottom line, the water is coming from "somewhere". source it via process of elimination. some of those chambers in that region should never be able to get water unless there's some other problem....

[Genesis]

I'm not sure WHY, but that stuff seems to "feed" some of the things that make for stink if it, and water, gets into a place where there's no circulation and it sits for a bit!

[rtrafford]

really? never experienced that issue. then there's always a little bleach solution in a spray bottle...