B331 Head cabinet smell

[ZeroFootPrint]

Hey guys... another smell bad situation!

Bad smell coming from under the head sink cabinet, up to now (and over a 3 months period) we did:
-Removed the Y valve (lake use only anyway);
-Changed all sanitation hoses and vent filter;
-Clean the tank inside out (which was in perfect shape and cleanliness);
-Changed the toilet;
-Clean (swipe & spray) the under cabinet area with Clorox, vinegar and anti-mildew cleaning soap while rinsing in between with plenty of fresh water;
-Used an ozone generator for 48 hours.

The freaking smell is still there (even if we did shout ''victory'' just after every steps).

My feeling is that under the shower/head floor there is standing water.
We did made a hole on the wall between the aft cabin and the head just under the cabin floor to be able to shop vac the water.

At this point I am humbly requiring help.:cry:
Please any advise are more than welcome!

 

[Captn TJ]

Was there water when you shop vac'd

 

[ZeroFootPrint]

Yes, even after three weeks I did vacuum water from the sip holes in the main saloon !
How can I clean the inaccessible bilge under my bilge?

 

[Captn TJ]

Yes, even after three weeks I did vacuum water from the sip holes in the main saloon ! How can I clean the inaccessible bilge under my bilge?

I assume you're referring to the pan liner? That's the structural grid that sits directly on top of the hull. There should be weep holes somewhere in the center of each cross 'beam' Water can get trapped there but generally flows out with the motion of the boat. I've heard of water being there but not creating the kind of odor you've mentioned. Are you positive there is no leak in the area of the holding tank?

 

[Joe2954]

You might try an enzyme cleaner. Mix it into enough water to leave some standing in the pans and let it slosh back and forth for awhile.
I've had good luck with Pure Ayre sprayed under the cabinet in the head for reducing smells.

 

[ZeroFootPrint]

Thank you for your answers , positively no leaks (although maybe something happen before I did purchase the boat).

I'll try pure ayre!

 

[Captn TJ]

Thank you for your answers , positively no leaks (although maybe something happen before I did purchase the boat). I'll try pure ayre!

One additional question when you cleaned the holding tank and replaced new hoses did you remove the tank to make sure it was clean behind the tank?

 

[ZeroFootPrint]

Yes I did removed everything, clean, sprayed and wipe the whole area.

I have to say that the bad smell went away for about two weeks after cleaning and flushing the space on the bottom of the cabinet (same area ''behind the wall'' as the holding tank).

The rest of the boat has no smells at all and the boat is sparking clean.

 

[Beneteau 321]

We had a "smell " in the head area when we purchased our 1997 B 321 (we are second owner) Replaced head,washed all surfaces,cleaned holding tank,.....still had smell .
Saw a suggestion on a post saying to dump a gallon (4 L) of drinking water in head bowl then empty on dry bowl setting ,close isolation valves.No smell when returning to boat.
We are on the Saint John River in NB Canada and water where we are the water is fresh with some salt fron tide changes ,when boat is on mooring it appears the organics in the river water was breaking down
Started this practice middle of last year no more smell

 

[ZeroFootPrint]

Hi Beneteau 321 and thank you for joining our ... problem!
Your explanation make sense because of 'salty'' water in our case we are navigating Lake Champlain with almost drinkable water.

 

[Ron20324]

Hi Beneteau 321 and thank you for joining our ... problem! Your explanation make sense because of 'salty'' water in our case we are navigating Lake Champlain with almost drinkable water.

The idea is to plumb the sink drain so you can flush fresh(tank) water through the bowl rim to wash out the dead organisms that can die there and rot/stink. Do this with a final flush at the end of the cruise.

 

[Captn TJ]

Hi Beneteau 321 and thank you for joining our ... problem! Your explanation make sense because of 'salty'' water in our case we are navigating Lake Champlain with almost drinkable water.

One additional point: our jabsco head will back up a bit even with a new joker valve. We've made it a practice of filling the head most of the way with fresh water (vs. lake water - we're on Lake Erie). That solves the problem of stagnant or waste water backing up. Not sure if this will help you.

 

[ZeroFootPrint]

Quite frankly we believe that the smell is not ''sewer like'' more like putrefaction...

My wife can smell that kind of subtility!

 

[arf145]

It sounds like you guys have done just about everything one can do to chase a smell in a boat head! But I would second the use of Pur Ayre or one of the other enzymatic deodorizers. Our head was kind of smelly, but it really did smell like hoses that had permeated., and replacing the bottom hose made a real improvement.

So has your wife's very subtle sense of smell detected a direction or location within the head where the smell is stronger? Regarding the area under the pan, I'll look on our 331 next time I'm there, but I believe all the bilge areas are connected by weep holes, so no water should be able to stay just under the head. Do you think the shower drain sump is leaking?

 

[ZeroFootPrint]

We though about this (the shower water would bring ''degradable'' material exactly on the problematic spot) and this is why we have wash the area so vigorously.

The shower drain hose seems almost impossible to change!

If other b331owners don't have the same reluctant smell there has to be a problem on our boat.

 

[DougM]

Depending on the age of the boat , it is possible that some of the odor is the result of osmosis through the head hoses. As the hoses age, this is likely to happen. There would be no cracks in the hoses and no visible deterioration. It's just the nature of the beast.

 

[ZeroFootPrint]

Hello Doug and thank you for exchanging with us!

The boat is a 2004 and the head hoses has been changed for the highest quality available (shiny white), and actually it was the first step we did which most probably helped a lot.

 

[Capn Russ]

Regarding your leaking joker valve, Jabsco valves are famous for leakage & premature failing. Pull out the Jabsco one and replace it with a Raritan valve, either C254 or C253. We replaced our Jabsco valve with a Raritan valve (we used the C253) last year and have had no back-wash problems since the swap-out.