smell of non-toxic antifreeze

The interior plumbing in the 1989 27' Bayliner that I bought this summer had been winterized last fall with non-toxic antifreeze. Hadn't been cleaned out when I bought it and about early July, I filled the water tank to check for leaks in the system. Had to take out the supply strainer to find a replacement, so I let the water (with diluted antifreeze)drain into the center bilge and pumped out what the pump would reach and left the rest. Three weeks later, I got the boat back from the shop where it had sat outside in extreme heat all closed up, and the smell of the remaining water in the center bilge was overpowering. Talk about going sour! Anyway, I sucked it out with the shop vac and dumped in bilge cleaner, and then sucked that out. After drying out and airing out for some time, the smell in the cabin is just about tolerable. Though dry, the center bilge area still has the faint sour odor of the antifreeze that I would like to get rid of. What should I use next, bleach diluted with water? Any one else exerience diluted antifreeze going extremely bad?

Re: smell of non-toxic antifreeze

I'm not sure what will work best but here are some ideas:<br /><br />- lightly sprinkle Arm & Hammer baking soda in the bilge<br />- spray some Febreeze deoderizer in the bilge<br />- have as large of a fan as possible blow air through the bilge for awhile

Re: smell of non-toxic antifreeze

Might try sprinkling some lime in the area.<br /><br />Good luck

Re: smell of non-toxic antifreeze

Nontoxic antifreeze may not kill you but it does stink to hell if not rinsed out completely. There are a number of water tank treatments at most marine suppliers - just make sure you don't use too much - I got rid of the antifreeze once but replaced it with suds that took about 5 flushes to clear.<br /><br />My freshwater pump gets used 100x more Spring/Fall in flushing/draining the system than in anyone actually using water foor its intended purpose. What's wrong with this picture?

Re: smell of non-toxic antifreeze

I sprayed some of the better-half's laundry treating fabreeze around in the bilge area last night. We'll see if it covers it up for long. I keep thinking some kind of bacteria may have grown in that water and cleaning that out would be the solution. However, the bilge has been bone-dry for at least three weeks and there is still a slight odor. By the way, that center bilge was clean and dry before I drained the water tank into it.