Smell from head / cabin area

[ryno1234]

My new (to me) cuddy cabin has a smell coming from the cabin area. I cannot pinpoint it but I would guess it is coming from the head.

The smell is strong "good" (floral?) fragrance that is overwhelming and somewhat chemical but it seems like it may be masking a bad smell that I can't quite decipher.

This is completely new to me. My previous boat was an 19 ft open bow. When I'd take the cover off of it, I'd have a distinct smell of burnt gas. With this new boat, I don't get that smell and instead I get the smell described above and it is particularly strong in the cabin area.

Is this a common problem with boats with heads? I imagine the smell is some sort of cleaner used. I'd like to flush / clean that as much as possible to see if that is the problem.

Any tips? Guidance? This is all new to me.

 

[tpenfield]

Common to have odors coming from the head . . . yes. Foral? . . . no.

As you guessed, probably something that is masking either a mildew smell or a toilet smell. You may want to air out the cabin for a while and then see if you can isolate the smell. Also in the process you may discover the 'bad' smell that the foral was masking and be able to remedy that as well.

Enclosed head or just port-a-pottie in the cabin?

 

[ryno1234]

Common to have odors coming from the head . . . yes. Foral? . . . no.

As you guessed, probably something that is masking either a mildew smell or a toilet smell. You may want to air out the cabin for a while and then see if you can isolate the smell. Also in the process you may discover the 'bad' smell that the foral was masking and be able to remedy that as well.

Enclosed head or just port-a-pottie in the cabin?

Enclosed head (Maxum 2400 SCR).

Maybe floral isn't the correct word, but think Febreze or something like that. Essentially it is something meant to smell good, but smells like it might be masking something bad and my assumption is that it is from the whole head system.

Because I've never dealt with a system like this, I didn't know if there is a standard procedure to eliminate odor / flush the system, etc.

I did notice that the previous owner has 3 separate air fresheners spread around the cabin (just noticed that yesterday). The smell coming from them does not match the smell in the cabin, but I think I'll throw all of those away to make sure they aren't playing into what I'm detecting.

I also opened up the cabin windows to air it out and see if the smell sticks.

 

[Grub54891]

If it is from the head, It could be from the hoses, they get saturated over time and seep the odors through. Also a plastic holding tank will do that the same way. The only cure to replace all of the above with new. If the po used some kind of odor eater in the head you may be smelling that.

 

[ryno1234]

If it is from the head, It could be from the hoses, they get saturated over time and seep the odors through. Also a plastic holding tank will do that the same way. The only cure to replace all of the above with new. If the po used some kind of odor eater in the head you may be smelling that.

I'm wondering if the odor eater is the thing. I see 2 containers of it in the head area. Is there some reasonable way to "flush" the system?

 

[Grub54891]

Not if the hoses and tank are saturated into the plastic. I work on many boats and the only cure is replacement, and cleaning the areas they were in after they are removed for replacement.
I know that’s not what you want to hear being you just bought the boat.

 

[cptbill]

I would suspect that someone loaded the head/holding tank up with campa kem. as was said hoses should be replaced and the tank cleaned out and restarted. It makes a difference what the water source is for the head, salt water requires more cleaning than fresh water from your water tank, river or lake water is subject to whatever kind of allege or pollutants so keep that in mind

 

[Sea18Horse]

I would recommend a book by Peggy Hall, "The HeadMistress" called "Get Rid of Boat Odors". It goes over all of the info mentioned above and a lot more.
Cheers..........................Todd

 

[QBhoy]

Check your holding tank isn’t full

 

[crazy charlie]

Had similar but mine was stanky!!! was ready to replace everything but figured anything was worth a try before investing labor and $$ in replacement.Start with discharging every drop of whatever may be in the holding tank.Take a gallon of regular old fashioned bleach.Not dripless or extra strength ,just regular old bleach.Pour it into you head and slowly flush it.Now take another gallon and slowly pour it down your outside pumpout outlet.Wait approx 5 mins and pump it all out.Repeat with fresh water after waiting another 5 mins after pumpout of the system.Come back next day and see if there is any odor.If so repeat process again.I am on year 18 after doing this and all is good .Many here will chime in as to how bad bleach is for the system and I can tell you that these individuals that chime in on that note have never done the process properly.BTW get all of the air fresheners out of your boat.The only other thing I have done is wipe down the exterior of all hoses with straight bleach without rinsing.The sanitation hoses get permeated with basically living,growing organic bacteria crap.You cant mask crap,you gotta kill it.Bleach will kill it.After that look for any inline check valves/vents and replace them.As per my experience,you stand better than a 50/50 change of success with an investment of a few bucks.Post back results if you try this method.Charlie

 

[ryno1234]

Had similar but mine was stanky!!! was ready to replace everything but figured anything was worth a try before investing labor and $$ in replacement.Start with discharging every drop of whatever may be in the holding tank.Take a gallon of regular old fashioned bleach.Not dripless or extra strength ,just regular old bleach.Pour it into you head and slowly flush it.Now take another gallon and slowly pour it down your outside pumpout outlet.Wait approx 5 mins and pump it all out.Repeat with fresh water after waiting another 5 mins after pumpout of the system.Come back next day and see if there is any odor.If so repeat process again.I am on year 18 after doing this and all is good .Many here will chime in as to how bad bleach is for the system and I can tell you that these individuals that chime in on that note have never done the process properly.BTW get all of the air fresheners out of your boat.The only other thing I have done is wipe down the exterior of all hoses with straight bleach without rinsing.The sanitation hoses get permeated with basically living,growing organic bacteria crap.You cant mask crap,you gotta kill it.Bleach will kill it.After that look for any inline check valves/vents and replace them.As per my experience,you stand better than a 50/50 change of success with an investment of a few bucks.Post back results if you try this method.Charlie

I was just looking into this earlier this morning!

Last night I put about 5 gallons of water from a garden hose into the toilet and pumped it into the holding tank in case there were any chemicals, etc. that were in the toilet.

I'll pump that out and then try your beach method.!

My next question is... how do I pump out at home? I have a macerator pump that can screw into my waste connection on the stern of the boat. I screwed in the pump and ran it, but nothing was coming out the pipe on the other end. (this will end up going into my public sewer)

It's a gross job, but I need to clean this out.

Does the holding tank need to be more full so I'm not trying to pull so much "weight" of liquid, etc. up through my waste connection? (i.e. almost like priming the line)

 

[ryno1234]

Holding tank is a about 1/3 full by the way at this point after adding water through the toilet.

 

[Grub54891]

If you have the macarater, it has a Y valve to switch from overboard to holding tank. Look for that.

Bosworth Sea-lect® YV-094D-L Easy-Turning Y-Valve w/ Acetal Handle

Since 1974, JME has been a trusted distributor of petroleum equipment, loading systems, sanitary supplies, fire safety products, and industrial parts. Shop now to see why 1000s of customers have chosen us as their preferred provider.

www.jmesales.com

 

[ryno1234]

Had similar but mine was stanky!!! was ready to replace everything but figured anything was worth a try before investing labor and $$ in replacement.Start with discharging every drop of whatever may be in the holding tank.Take a gallon of regular old fashioned bleach.Not dripless or extra strength ,just regular old bleach.Pour it into you head and slowly flush it.Now take another gallon and slowly pour it down your outside pumpout outlet.Wait approx 5 mins and pump it all out.Repeat with fresh water after waiting another 5 mins after pumpout of the system.Come back next day and see if there is any odor.If so repeat process again.I am on year 18 after doing this and all is good .Many here will chime in as to how bad bleach is for the system and I can tell you that these individuals that chime in on that note have never done the process properly.BTW get all of the air fresheners out of your boat.The only other thing I have done is wipe down the exterior of all hoses with straight bleach without rinsing.The sanitation hoses get permeated with basically living,growing organic bacteria crap.You cant mask crap,you gotta kill it.Bleach will kill it.After that look for any inline check valves/vents and replace them.As per my experience,you stand better than a 50/50 change of success with an investment of a few bucks.Post back results if you try this method.Charlie

Bleach seemed to work well. I did a mix of water and bleach down the toilet and flushed it into the tank. I then continued to do water to flush the lines after letting the bleach sit for a couple of minutes. I repeated this process for about 10 minutes total. I then went to the stern and poured a bleach mix down the waste pump out followed by tons of water until my tank was 3/4 full. I drove around for 10 minutes with the boat attached and then drained everything.

I then repeated the process (including driving around), but this time with no bleach, only water.

Perhaps I could have gone for a 3rd repetition? I know bleach has a tendency to stick.

So far so good.

 

[Grub54891]

I’ve heard that if you put ice in a tank and drive around it scrubbes the tank. I did that on my camper and it worked fairly well.

 

[crazy charlie]

Bleach seemed to work well. I did a mix of water and bleach down the toilet and flushed it into the tank. I then continued to do water to flush the lines after letting the bleach sit for a couple of minutes. I repeated this process for about 10 minutes total. I then went to the stern and poured a bleach mix down the waste pump out followed by tons of water until my tank was 3/4 full. I drove around for 10 minutes with the boat attached and then drained everything.

I then repeated the process (including driving around), but this time with no bleach, only water.

Perhaps I could have gone for a 3rd repetition? I know bleach has a tendency to stick.

So far so good.

Glad to hear it worked for you.If you are going to do another treatment ,go straight bleach.The smell is/was live organic .It needs to be killed .Bleach will kill it and stop it from growing and coming back.Charlie

 

[PathfinderTX]

A few other suggestions on the topic...If you have a holding tank vent line filter, replace that. You can also check to see if the hoses are permeated by wrapping a warm wet rag around the hose and letting it sit for 5 mins. If the rag smells after those 5 mins, the hose is permeated and needs to be replaced. If the hoses are not permeated, it may be time to replace the tank.

 

[ryno1234]

A few other suggestions on the topic...If you have a holding tank vent line filter, replace that. You can also check to see if the hoses are permeated by wrapping a warm wet rag around the hose and letting it sit for 5 mins. If the rag smells after those 5 mins, the hose is permeated and needs to be replaced. If the hoses are not permeated, it may be time to replace the tank.

This is a great suggestion. I do see coloration in the vent hose. They may be permeated. I'll check that next! Thank you.