The bilge goes dry. De-stinking?

[JuiceClark]

While the ol' girl in on the hard, I'm having a decent list of items completed. One is installing dripless shaft seals.

There's been water in this bilge since 1985. The first thing I'll do after bringing her home will be to vacuum the water out and let it dry. So, it'll be a priority to clean the formerly wet and damp areas of the bilge with some sort of sweet smelling cleaner before painting it all down there. Maybe I should dump a gallon of something in there before the ride home?

I don't know what I'd use other than my old Formula 88 degreaser which I use for everything. Any tips for a newly dry bilge and a sweeter smelling boat??

[SEVEN]

Look at the purple stuff or purple cleaner. Makes 5 gallons. Degreaser and cleaner. It improves the small as well.

[madhatter1]

Be careful what you use. Go with odor free cleaners as much as possible. These smells can find their way into the salon and cockpit if vents are under gunnel. I had some old oily gunk under my STB pump in ER and used lemon Dawn to clean up and shop vac out. Left a weird odor for a week or 2 that was very noticeable in the cockpit and a bit in the salon. Weird thing was I didn't really smell it down in the ER or through the hatch.

[JuiceClark]

Sounds good. Just a normal cleaning and thorough rinse. Might as well give the bilge pumps some exercise one last time!

[rwaldrop13]

I actually just dealt with a worst-case scenario of this - My drain hose from the galley was split just inside generator room and was blowing some pretty nasty water into the generator room. I vac'd the water out, replaced the hose and sprayed SimpleGreen in the bilge to kill the odor. I let it dry in the bilge and it did a pretty fair job of overcoming a noxious odor problem that i would compare to roadkill in August.

[JuiceClark]

I actually just dealt with a worst-case scenario of this - My drain hose from the galley was split just inside generator room and was blowing some pretty nasty water into the generator room. I vac'd the water out, replaced the hose and sprayed SimpleGreen in the bilge to kill the odor. I let it dry in the bilge and it did a pretty fair job of overcoming a noxious odor problem that i would compare to roadkill in August.

Ugh. That's a tough one.


I guess the real destinkification will happen with the painting of the bilge. So, this is more paint prep than anything.

[bostonhatteras]

Maybe I should dump a gallon of something in there before the ride home?

I don't know what I'd use other than my old Formula 88 degreaser which I use for everything. Any tips for a newly dry bilge and a sweeter smelling boat??[/QUOTE]

The coast guard looks upon foamy bilges with considerable dismay. They see it as a method of dumping oil. probably best to clean it on the hard. Spray nine is the best I've used for nonpetroleum degreasers.

[rwaldrop13]

Maybe I should dump a gallon of something in there before the ride home?

I don't know what I'd use other than my old Formula 88 degreaser which I use for everything. Any tips for a newly dry bilge and a sweeter smelling boat??

The coast guard looks upon foamy bilges with considerable dismay. They see it as a method of dumping oil. probably best to clean it on the hard. Spray nine is the best I've used for nonpetroleum degreasers.[/QUOTE]

As an old Coastie with Captain of the Port experience (3 years pollution investigator) we never challenged someone for foamy bilges. That being said, I shop-vac'd my generator room bilge but first I dropped sorbent pads in to make sure there was no oil present. With the SimpleGreen trick, I haven't noticed any weird smells, other than mustiness but the generator room has benefitted from a lot of cleaning since I got rid of the CrusAir compressors.

[JuiceClark]

So, I should spray the bilge down with degreaser to clean it. Then, I can spray it with used motor oil to knock down the foaminess and please the CG. Got it!

I'm looking forward to painting the entire bilge, from the stern to the bow, before it gets hot again. I bet the entire vessel will smell anew.

[rwaldrop13]

So, I should spray the bilge down with degreaser to clean it. Then, I can spray it with used motor oil to knock down the foaminess and please the CG. Got it!

I'm looking forward to painting the entire bilge, from the stern to the bow, before it gets hot again. I bet the entire vessel will smell anew.

Haha... Honestly, I don't have an answer for you there. I ended up replumbing the generator room bilge pump/hose completely. Hatteras didn't install an anti-siphon, just a check valve. I replaced the valve AND included a new anti-siphon. But in the bilge I haven't had an odor problem since I resolved the sink drain hose issue. And I did it without used motor oil...