Diesel odor

Maine Sail · Oct 5, 2009

Papa Bruce said:
I have an 1993 H30t. I've owned it for a couple seasons and when we clean out the boat in the Fall:cry: the towels and clothes have a decidedly diesel fuel aroma that is difficult to wash out. Are there any ideas out there to mitigate the odor during the season and to wash it out of our towels/clothes? Thanks!

If you have a diesel smell you have, or have had, a diesel leak at some point. Your boat should not smell like diesel fuel. If there was a leak prior to your owning it, fuel may be up in the bilges under the cabin sole or perhaps diesel absorbed into the wood. If this happened it can be very difficult to entirely get rid of the odor.

There is a product called Pure Ayre that works well but any traces of diesel need to be thoroughly cleaned before using it. Good luck, diesel smell is a tough one to get rid of..

kloudie1 · Oct 5, 2009

Main is correct.. more info: the "front end" of diesel fuel (the lighter components) will evaporate from warm surfaces and condense on the next thing that they touch that is cooler.. they carry the "stinkys" with them.. so, for instance, a minute leak in the engine compartment where it is quite warm, will evaporate and when that vapor touches the cabin walls, the upholstry, the floor.. etc it condenses into a very fine film.. which doesn't smell too good.. some of it will then oxidizes further and turns to a gum which really stinks.. again, I am talking a very thin film,almost invisible, but it stinks, and gets into anything that sits in the cabin for any time at all ! .. A thorough scrub down of all exposed surfaces in the cabin is in order AFTER you've stopped any fuel leaks and cleaned the bilges.. Takes a while.. Good luck !

Dan Johnson · Oct 5, 2009

Papa...

check all the fuel line washers at all the banjoes as well as the washers under all the bleed screws. They don't cost very much and replacing all of them will probably cure your diesel fuel leak source. Also check the O-ring on the filter canister as they are prone to leak after several removals and refittings.

Claude and MaineSail are absolutely right. I speak from experience in having to do this very same thing. Once the fuel system was sealed, the entire interior of my H34 was scrubbed clean. All hard surfaces were wiped down with Lysol wipes, all wood surfaces were given a coat of varnish, and all the "wall carpet" got a scrubbing with carpet cleaner and Fabreze. All cushion coverings were removed and washed several times to remove the odor in them.

It will take a lot of work, but it will be well worth it in the end!

Peggie Hall HeadMistress · Oct 5, 2009

Jeepers Dan...

You could have saved yourself a LOT of work if you'd known about PureAyre...'cuz all you need to do is clean very thoroughly with detergent and water...dry out the area...then spray every surface, nook and cranny with PureAyre. Don't rinse...just let it dry, with all hatches etc open to allow plenty of fresh air to circulate for at least 24 hours.

Soft goods: bring 'em home...remove the covers and soak overnight in soluton of PureAyre and COLD water...approx a cupful to a 5 gallons of water. Then wash 'em and dry 'em. Foam should be sprayed from both sides with enough PureAyre to penetrate all the way to the middle of the cushion.

The stuff works! The only thing I've found that'll not only completely eliminate any "organic" (sewage, mold etc) odor, but also smoke, dieselt oil etc. I first tripped over it at a boat show in Seattle several years ago and it knocked my socks off.

About spraying it. You'll wear out your arm using a trigger sprayer...but
don't spend the money for PureAyre's "fogger" either...I did, and will let it go very cheap to anyone who wants it. A $15 pump up garden sprayer works just as well for a fraction of the price and doesn't require 115v ac power.

Darryl · Oct 7, 2009

Papa,

We had a terible diesel smell on board this year

. Turned out to be the braided fuel line from the fuel pump to the filter bowl on our H35 Yanmar engine. Had the line and all the metal washers replaced but it was very difficult to get this finally stopped. Anyway ended up with deisel smell in everything and still trying to get rid of it. Definately going to try the Pure Ayre. Thanks for the tip.

Dan Johnson · Oct 8, 2009

You're right, Peggy...

had I known about PureAyre at the time it would have saved me a lot of elbow grease!

A garden sprayer is what I use to wet down wallpaper with paste release before using a steamer to remove it at home, and use it to do hull clean-up on the hard when the yard's water has been shut off for the winter. Works great with FSR when removing waterline staining.

See, there's always something to learn on this forum!

Thanks!

Don Guillette · Oct 12, 2009

Diesel smell can come from a couple of areas. The first and most obvious is a leak. Fuel tanks along with rigging have a life expectancy. Fuel tanks are about 15 years in salt water. I realize your in fresh water so your's will last a little longer. In my case I got about 11 years out of my fuel tank. When they pressure tested it I had pin hole leaks all over the place. I had a new tank fabricated.

Still there was a diesel smell. I had a Univerals 25 HP. Turns out that engine was formerly a Kubuta farm tractor engine. When the tractor engine vents into the field it is one thing but when the breather line vents into your bilge it is something else. I routed the line to the air intake and together with the new tank all the diesel smell went away.