That Hatteras Smell

[Timeout]

I finally seem to have rid myself of the smell. The culprits appeared to be the for and aft bilges which have little to no air circulation so I installed radon fans (1/4 amp each at 120 VAC) blowing from the for and aft bilges into the engine room and I presume out the engine room vents. These are made to run 24/7 so I just leave them run. At 140 CFM each, I can now stick my head in either bilge and absolutely no smell. Wish I would have done this years ago. They are also extremely quiet.

 

[sgharford]

Thanks for sharing, I have the same thing in my aft bilge of 43DC I just can't seem to beat. Where did you mount the radon fan and (assumed) duct work? Pics are worth a thousand words

 

[rwappleton]

What is working for us is opening the rear bilge (in the aft closet) and mopping out the small amount that is there and just a very small amount of Pine Sol. Makes the whole boat smell great for months.

 

[Timeout]

I ended up putting the blowers in the engine room as there was no room elsewhere that I could get to. The aft duct goes into the electric closet then down to the bilge just above the shower sump. The forward duct goes into the bilge just above the forward shower sump. I still need to clean up the wiring. Pictures attached.

 

[sgharford]

Thanks a million for posting pictures! I really feel like I've fought the good fight on the rear bilge stink, this very well may be 2014-15 winter project, if not sooner. I've cleaned bilge, twice a year for past 5 years and you just can't help getting some water down there, I even replaced top rudder bushings and repacked rudder stuffing boxes to at least keep all salt water out, knowing how bad that can stink from saltwater toilet in prior boat. Hydrogen peroxide has helped keep the growth/smell down, but a dry aerated bilge seems to make for the best solution. A 120 volt powered fan will certainly get the job done reliably too.

I was just thinking a solar powered vent (type blowboaters use) on rear transom (mounted behind dresser drawers), but they only move 700 CFH on a good day, don't know if that would be enough. Hate to cut hole in transom to find out hard way bad idea, plus a following sea, 5" hole in transom - yep, bad idea.