Bilge cleaning advice needed

[BobM]

Wow...the bilge design of my new (to me) S2 9.2A REALLY leaves something to be desired from a "green" perspective. The keel is part of the hull with the bilge in the aft part and the lead ballast is encapsulated. The engine is mounted right over the bilge and the fuel tank is behind the bilge. So diesel and oil are funneled right into it. The fuel tank had been leaking and was repaired as a result of the survey. I pulled up the bilge pump for inspection yesterday. The survey recommended cleaning the bilge and boy he wasn't kidding. HELP. I need suggestions on getting nasty oily muck out of my bilge. I am considering partially filling it, adding liquid laundry detergent then using my bilge pump to circulate it around and to hose down the walls (bilge is about 4 feet by 1 foot by 2 feet). Then I will pump this and the subsequent rinse into waste containers for proper disposal. Other thoughts were to throw some of those oil absorbant pillows down there first to try to get some of it under control. Any idea how fast and effective those are?I am also considering adding an oil/water filter to my bilge pump line. It seems to be the responsible thing to do. Likewise I will add drip pans (somehow) to my 9.2A. Has anyone else done either?Thanks,BobM

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Use bilge pillows

BEFORE you add any detergent or other cleaner. Change 'em as often as needed till all the oil has been absorbed.Then you can use a strong solution of detergent and water to clean the bilge. But just dumping it in and letting the bilge pumps do the work will not leave you with a clean bilge...any more than just dumping some detergent into a sinkful of dirty dishwater and then pulling the plug will leave you with a clean sink. Use a power washer to get into all the places you can't reach...and then THOROUGHLY rinse ALL the dirty water out. And if you really want to do it right, use a sponge, dinghy bailer and a bucket to remove the last remaining water and then leave all the hatches open all day to let the bilge dry out.And while you're at it, clean your sumps and chain locker too.

 

[ED]

she is right again,

do it the right way and absorb the oil first, then figure out where ist coming from, then clean.

 

[BobM]

Update

A leaky fuel tank is the primary issue. The owner pulled the tank and patched some leaks, but there are a few more slow ones and I have placed an absorbant pad under the tank for now until I can replace it next season. I threw about three gallons of a strong solution of simple green into the bilge and then taped a dish wand filled with simple green to a pole and scrubbed the walls. I then pumped it out into a bucket with a lid for proper disposal. I threw a bilge pillow in there to work on the rest of the contamination until I can get back to it. I plan to change all the bilge hoses and clean everything currently dipped in muck prior to another thorough cleaning and rinsing. I did get the stuff to add an inline bilge water contamination filter that I plan to put on the small lower "maintenance" bilge pump. Use of a pressure washer sounds interesting, but the bilge is pretty inaccessible under the engine so I don't think I could direct the spray everywhere. Plus all the water in the world won't dissolve oil/ diesel fuel. I think I'll throw in some diesel eating microbes in there for a snack. Anyone have experience with those?BobM

 

[Ctskip]

I did the tide routine

Once I absorbed as much oil as I could, I added tide and went sailing. Sucked it out with a wet/dry vacuum and did it again. I added water and tide mixed it up well with the hose and went sailing. That's the hard part. Now the bilge is clean. Now I must add some nice smelling stuff. It's time to go sailing again. Darn, cleaning the bilge has got to be one of the more tedious jobs on the boat. It's the sailing and all that sloshing around that takes it's toll. Oh yea, I almost forgot. Be sure it's good and windy, the more she heels the better the sloshing is. Keep it up, Ctskip

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Bob and Ctskip...

Bob, if you used Simple Green or other detergent, bilge pads/pillows won't work any more to absorb oil...'cuz detergents emulsify oil, breaking down the molecules to be too small for the bilge pads to know the difference between oil and water. And btw, I've yet to meet anyone who couldn't aim a power washer stream to get anywhere in a bilge. That's the main advantage to a power washer...it CAN get into places that can't be accessed by hand.Ctskip AND Bob...unless you used plenty of clean water to rinse all the dirty soapy water out, your bilges are NOT clean...the walls are still coated with the same odor producing glop that a sink full of dirty dishwater or a bathtub of full of dirty bath water would leave behind. The only difference now is, the glop/scum is soapy. The ONLY way to have a CLEAN bilge is to FLUSH ALL THE DIRTY WATER OUT!To dissolve oil, put some clean water--AFTER you've flushed ALL the soapy water out--in the bilge with bilge pads/pillows. Change the pads/pillows as often as necessary. Then THOROUGHLY wash the bilges with detergent and water and rinse ALL the dirty water out.And if you want to do it right, use a wet vac or manual pump, sponge and a bucket to mop up any remaining water...and leave the hatches open the rest of the day to let the bilges dry out.

 

[Ctskip]

I use the absorbent pillows first

Once the pillows have done their job, I use the Tide without bleach and plenty of water and break down any remaining scum and vacuum the next two washings up. 5 gallons at best for each sloshing. Then on the third rinse, the water is virtually free and so is the agitation. There is very little soap left in my bilge on the third washing and after that comes clean water which is pumped out. I also get my cabin floor damp mopped as a side benefit. It works for me. Water in my bilge is the least of my problems. It's the oil scum I want to eliminate. Water is easy to put in and take out. Using a power washer inside my cabin would be a nightmare. I would have to wash all the woodwork and cushions and headliner, it would just be a nightmare. I'll keep the agitation to the dockside hose and sloshing around while sailing. I'm in no rush. It'll come clean soon enough. I make the job last approximately three days. Sometimes two. Sailing takes time. You are correct, Peggy, it must be agitated, and rinsed well, and not just put in and taken out. Thanks. Keep it up, Ctskip

 

[sand sailor]

the pillows work great

then use simple green with a pressure washer to get it out of the glass and it doesn't smell bad either

 

[BobM]

Comments

Perhaps I should be clearer in saying that my pressure washer...which has a straight nozzle and an adjustable fan tip...in combination with my boat...which has a molded in keel with a deep bilge in the aft quarter of it with the engine mounted directly over the access (gotta love the level of environmental concern in the 70's)...would make hitting every area difficult. Perhaps I should invest in a curved wand for it, which would likely solve my access problem.Water doesn't dissolve oil last time I checked (B.S. in chemistry and M.S. in Analytical Chemistry), so flushing out an oil filled bilge with copious amounts of water is the worst idea possible. Therefore, I'll be sure to continue to use bilge pillows, as everyone is suggesting. In addition, even when it appears clean, I don't recommend flushing it as very little oil will still result in pollution that violates current laws. You will also generate copious quantities of dirty soapy rinse water even doing a conservative wash (I am filling up 5 gallon buckets with lids and plan to turn then in on our annual hazmat day or otherwise pay for their proper disposal...aqueous waste is the most costly waste to discard because they usually burn it and it must be mixed with more flammable materials to burn). That is why I plan to throw some oil eating microbes in (see link). I also plan to hook my small lower bilge pump up to a bilge cleaning filter as a preventative measure and to use absorbent mats under my fuel tank and engine. Such measures really should be necessary for all of us, in my opinion. An absorbent mat is about $2 and will go a long way towards preventing this stuff from polluting your bilge. The filter is probably more of a requirement for my situation and due to the engine over bilge design of my S2 9.2A.I apparently wasn't thinking when I threw the bilge pillow in the bilge with simple green present, but oh well. In my case it is mostly diesel fuel. I will clean and rinse it one more time and then throw the bug in for a feast with some clean water. Then I will shop vac it dry (thanks for the idea).BobM

 

[BobM]

Interesting article on bilge pillows / mats

Excerpt from the attached link:"No floating sock-type product removed every trace of oil, in part because of the bathtub-ring effect. But in every case, we picked up the sheen or slight liquid oil residue left behind after both tests by simply floating pads on the surface. Then we used the pad to wipe the tub ring off the sides of the trays. We would (and do) keep a supply of these inexpensive, generic polypropylene pads on any boat, inboard or outboard, to catch the odd drip or to use while refueling.Many of the Collectors claim to be reusable. Just squeeze them out over a used oil receptacle and throw them back in the bilge, they say. Frankly, that may work well in some applications but we could see a bigger mess trying to extract the oil and even more latex gloves going to the landfill by trying to reuse these products.Note that each category of product handles the oil differently once it's off your boat. The Collectors, unless you try to reuse them, remove the immediate problem but may merely transfer the oil to a landfill so consider disposal options in your area.The Encapsulators, however, bind the oil within so that it should not leach out later. In fact, some Encapsulators are marketed to be recycled (again, check local disposal options). Bio Bugs seem to present the most environmentally responsible option because they are designed to contain the oil, then consume it over time. We couldn't test that but if it works, this long-term process offers the most promising solution."

 

[BobM]

Another good link

Some good points and tips in this one too.BobM

 

[Jim]

Scrubbing Bubbles

works GREAT!

 

[Ctskip]

Help me get this straight

After I wash my bilge twice, and removing approx. 98% of the oil/fuel. Properly disposing it. If I were to flush the remaining (third) rinse overboard (soapy water/oil residue) it (might/would) contain a small amount of oil and I would thereby be polluting. Is this what you are saying? Secondly, you are telling me that I should turn this, maybe small amount (third rinse) of soapy/oily residue in to a reclamation center, so they can add untold amounts of flammable liquid to it so they can burn it?  Wow, either I'm seeing something thats not here, or this is why we are in the financial jam we are in, in the first place. Think of how much fuel would be "wasted". See where I'm coming from. My lawn mower uses more oil in a month, than I have flushed over the side in five years. How about all those gasoline motors on the backs of vessels? Think they use any oil? And I should worry about what "small" amount I flush over the side in my third rinse? I'm all for cleaning the water and our rivers, but lets get real here. If I were to flush all of it over the side I could see the concern, but I don't. Just mostly soapy water with a small(barely traceable) amount of oily residue. I would think the Tide would be worse than the residue from a trace amount of oil. I guess I should retire the Jeep then, eh? And get a electric lawn mower. But wait ... It takes oil to make electricity to charge my new electric mower. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. What's a man to do? Kill the grass. JMHO I'll keep doing what I'm doing when it comes to cleaning the bilge. Until proven any differant. Everyone should be just half aware of our enviroment as I am Keep it up, Ctskip

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Didn't infer that CTSkip

What I saw was "I don't recommend flushing it as very little oil will still result in pollution that violates current laws."The discharge of even a small amount of oily bildge water is considered pollution in terms of Federal ( creates a visible sheen), some state and many muni laws, an example of which is Nantucket Harbor where even gray water is prohibited. It sounds more like a statement of fact vs. a value judgement.I think we all appreciate the practical distinction between the effects of an Exxon Valdes oil spill and relatively clean bilge water discharge but any statute, law or ordinance I've ever read makes no such distinction and it is important to point out most Harbormasters or other authorites don't usually have a sense of humor when it comes to how much.

 

[Randy Burns]

CTSkip

It sounds like you have done a reasonable job, but I know fishermen who dump their motor oil into the bilge and flush it out with Clorox. They think this is reasonable too. Times change.