My name is Larry. I sail the Herring bay area of the Chesepeake Bay on my 27 ft Watkins. I am looking for ways to rid my cabin of "Diesel smell" My first move is going to be replacing all the cushion covers. (should I replace the foam cushions as well?) but I need information on getting the permeated odor from the fiberglass and other porous materials. Smooth sailing to all and a happy Fourth of July Larry
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Peggie Hall/Head Mistress
Lots of detergent, water, and Febreeze
a strong solution of detergent and water to clean the hard surfaces...Febreeze may save your cushions AND upholstery, although it may take several applications. Cleaning your bilge--really CLEANING it, not just some bilge cleaner thrown into it--should help a lot too. That diesel smell has to have a source...get rid of it. Check the HM forum library (that's the LIBRARY, not the archives) for help to get rid of all kinds of odors.
a strong solution of detergent and water to clean the hard surfaces...Febreeze may save your cushions AND upholstery, although it may take several applications. Cleaning your bilge--really CLEANING it, not just some bilge cleaner thrown into it--should help a lot too. That diesel smell has to have a source...get rid of it. Check the HM forum library (that's the LIBRARY, not the archives) for help to get rid of all kinds of odors.
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Harley
smelly Diesel
I read some where about using the diesel fuel that is made from soy beans. The article claimed the exhaust smelled more like french fries. You may want to see if it's available in your area and if your motor can use it with out any harm being done.
I read some where about using the diesel fuel that is made from soy beans. The article claimed the exhaust smelled more like french fries. You may want to see if it's available in your area and if your motor can use it with out any harm being done.
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LaDonna Bubak - CatalinaOwners.com
Air Sponge
West Marine (and I'm sure other sources) has a product called Air Sponge. It's in a margarine-type tub and actually sucks the smells into it. There's very little odor from the thing itself and works! Rob spilled some diesel in a cabinet (don't ask) and I put that in there for a week or two and it sucked up all the smell! Of course we cleaned the diesel out but the odor was still there. You might try those before resorting to new cushions (unless you're using the smell as an excuse to get new ones!). LaDonna
West Marine (and I'm sure other sources) has a product called Air Sponge. It's in a margarine-type tub and actually sucks the smells into it. There's very little odor from the thing itself and works! Rob spilled some diesel in a cabinet (don't ask) and I put that in there for a week or two and it sucked up all the smell! Of course we cleaned the diesel out but the odor was still there. You might try those before resorting to new cushions (unless you're using the smell as an excuse to get new ones!). LaDonna
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Bob Howie
Had same problem
I once had a Yanmar YSM-12 that created this same stench in my boat. I replaced the engine -- old one was just too far gone to be worth it and I hated it besides -- and then changed the cushion fabric and carpet. Febreeze, as Peggy recommends, works temporarily, but it does nothing to get to the root cause permanently, at least as far as fabrics go; I know, I tried it repeatedly. You can use mild detergent and fabric softener and that seems to help. Fiberglas can be washed down with vinegar water and that helps to some degree. Make sure your engine compartment is kept spotless and check your breather elements as well as all your exhaust fittings or else you're gonna continue having the problem. Make sure your cabin is also well ventilated. I also use an ozone generator now and that, more than anything, has helped considerably. Good luck.
I once had a Yanmar YSM-12 that created this same stench in my boat. I replaced the engine -- old one was just too far gone to be worth it and I hated it besides -- and then changed the cushion fabric and carpet. Febreeze, as Peggy recommends, works temporarily, but it does nothing to get to the root cause permanently, at least as far as fabrics go; I know, I tried it repeatedly. You can use mild detergent and fabric softener and that seems to help. Fiberglas can be washed down with vinegar water and that helps to some degree. Make sure your engine compartment is kept spotless and check your breather elements as well as all your exhaust fittings or else you're gonna continue having the problem. Make sure your cabin is also well ventilated. I also use an ozone generator now and that, more than anything, has helped considerably. Good luck.
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Peggie Hall/Head Mistress
Ozone generators are a bad idea on boats
Ozone is highly corrosive, and also highly destructive to rubber, neoprene, a soft plastics--iow, all the valves, seals and hoses. It's also a health hazard...read the information at these links: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/protection/warnings/1999/99_62e.htm http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html At best, ozone generators are only air fresheners...if they put out enough ozone to destroy the sources of odors, it would only be necessary to run it once when a spill or mildew etc occurs. Ever meet anyone who has one who's been able to use it that way? So not only are they dangerous, they don't work any better than Febreeze or stick ups...just differently.
Ozone is highly corrosive, and also highly destructive to rubber, neoprene, a soft plastics--iow, all the valves, seals and hoses. It's also a health hazard...read the information at these links: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/protection/warnings/1999/99_62e.htm http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html At best, ozone generators are only air fresheners...if they put out enough ozone to destroy the sources of odors, it would only be necessary to run it once when a spill or mildew etc occurs. Ever meet anyone who has one who's been able to use it that way? So not only are they dangerous, they don't work any better than Febreeze or stick ups...just differently.
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Bob Howie
Root cause of odor
If the root cause of an odor is NOT removed, then no amount of ozone, Febreeze, Stick-ups, Glade Air Freshner, Carpet Deordorizer or anything else, for that matter, is NOT going to help. Diesel exhaust gets out of the engine and exhaust system only if there is a leak someplace...as was very much the case with the old Yanmar YSM-12 junk-clunker that was formerly in my boat. Since the repower, we have only been left with the remnants of the past problem...not re-generation of an on-going problem. It's tough to beat, but we are making progress. As to ozone generators, hepa filters and/or cream cheese being outright dangerous or unhealty, well, I guess you could say that about just about any ol' thing in our society today...eat enough cream cheese and your cholesterol might go up and that could possibly lead to coronory disease of some sort and that would probably kill you at some point in time. All things in moderation and perhaps when the problem is solved, one might divest one self of various devices and chemical fresheners...hell, what do I know? What I do know is that because of an $8,000 engine change, new carpet, new cushions, new cushion covers, some judicious use of vinegar and water on sidewall coverings, completely hosing down the old engine spaces when the old engine was not there which probably had me violating a dozen or so EPA rules and most likely has the Sierra Club gunning for me, improving the boat's overall ventilation and, yes, the use of a small ozone generator when I'm NOT aboard the boat, I NO LONGER have an odor problem aboard formerly wrought by a clunker of an inboard. I'll probably die of cancer, tho, a lot sooner breathing Houston air downwind of all those gosh-darn chemical plants in Pasadena...of course, that is if the ozone generator don't get me first. Geez.
If the root cause of an odor is NOT removed, then no amount of ozone, Febreeze, Stick-ups, Glade Air Freshner, Carpet Deordorizer or anything else, for that matter, is NOT going to help. Diesel exhaust gets out of the engine and exhaust system only if there is a leak someplace...as was very much the case with the old Yanmar YSM-12 junk-clunker that was formerly in my boat. Since the repower, we have only been left with the remnants of the past problem...not re-generation of an on-going problem. It's tough to beat, but we are making progress. As to ozone generators, hepa filters and/or cream cheese being outright dangerous or unhealty, well, I guess you could say that about just about any ol' thing in our society today...eat enough cream cheese and your cholesterol might go up and that could possibly lead to coronory disease of some sort and that would probably kill you at some point in time. All things in moderation and perhaps when the problem is solved, one might divest one self of various devices and chemical fresheners...hell, what do I know? What I do know is that because of an $8,000 engine change, new carpet, new cushions, new cushion covers, some judicious use of vinegar and water on sidewall coverings, completely hosing down the old engine spaces when the old engine was not there which probably had me violating a dozen or so EPA rules and most likely has the Sierra Club gunning for me, improving the boat's overall ventilation and, yes, the use of a small ozone generator when I'm NOT aboard the boat, I NO LONGER have an odor problem aboard formerly wrought by a clunker of an inboard. I'll probably die of cancer, tho, a lot sooner breathing Houston air downwind of all those gosh-darn chemical plants in Pasadena...of course, that is if the ozone generator don't get me first. Geez.
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Bob Howie
Just so you can't say...
that I didn't read the references Peggie made to the Canadian and US EPA articles, I did read then and I agree somewhat -- not knowing the methodologies used or the ppm ozone to air content -- that if you sat there in a confined space and breathed the output of an ozone generator religiously, there might be cases where a person would encounter some form of health risk. I'll also point out that at least the EPA agrees with my original statement that if the source of the odor is not removed, then the odor will persist. I might also add, too, that the OG I have used was given me by a friend who has 2, lest anyone think I plopped down $300 for one...which I didn't and wouldn't. Let me also point out that neither me nor any of my usual crew has suffered any apparent adverse affects of the OG being used and there are no cases of affected fabrics, artwork, gaskets, electrical insulation or anything else whose adverse and deteriorating condition could be linked to the OG...which, by the way since I no longer have the odor problem I formerly had, is no longer in use, simply because I no longer have a need for it...not, I might point out, because the EPA suggests I'm running some sort of health risk. This gets back to what I've always said about making informed decisions and using common sense. Come to think of it, Common Sense should have told me to stay away from this particular debate in the first place, ergo, I'm done.
that I didn't read the references Peggie made to the Canadian and US EPA articles, I did read then and I agree somewhat -- not knowing the methodologies used or the ppm ozone to air content -- that if you sat there in a confined space and breathed the output of an ozone generator religiously, there might be cases where a person would encounter some form of health risk. I'll also point out that at least the EPA agrees with my original statement that if the source of the odor is not removed, then the odor will persist. I might also add, too, that the OG I have used was given me by a friend who has 2, lest anyone think I plopped down $300 for one...which I didn't and wouldn't. Let me also point out that neither me nor any of my usual crew has suffered any apparent adverse affects of the OG being used and there are no cases of affected fabrics, artwork, gaskets, electrical insulation or anything else whose adverse and deteriorating condition could be linked to the OG...which, by the way since I no longer have the odor problem I formerly had, is no longer in use, simply because I no longer have a need for it...not, I might point out, because the EPA suggests I'm running some sort of health risk. This gets back to what I've always said about making informed decisions and using common sense. Come to think of it, Common Sense should have told me to stay away from this particular debate in the first place, ergo, I'm done.
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