diesel

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Oct 15, 2009
220
catalina 320 Perry Lake
If one hypothetically overfilled their diesel tank and some fuel ended up in the bilge how would one get rid of the odor in the cabin area?
 

Squidd

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Sep 26, 2011
890
AMF Alcort Paceship PY26 Washburn Wi. Apostle Islands
Good thing it's a hypothetical question..cause if that actually did happen to someone...who boy would they have a mess on their hands..

That's a hard smell to eliminate..
 
Jun 11, 2004
1,927
Oday 31 Redondo Beach
Ask Peggy in the Head Mistress forum. She will have a boat load of remedies. Or just search the archives for her forum for Diesel Smell.
 

arf145

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Nov 4, 2010
498
Beneteau 331 Deale, MD
Diesel in bilge

Our boat came with the diesel in the bilge feature--no extra charge. We even helped top it up when we did the sea trial and found the leaking fuel filter that was the source. Anyway, hopefully this hypothetical person has disposed of the diesel and cleaned up the bilge as quickly as possible. The longer the smell hangs around the deeper it seems to get.

We wiped down all surfaces on the boat and sprayed them with some odor removers like Pure Ayre. That definitely helped. But the cushions were the final odor repository, and it's not just the covers, which are relatively easy to clean, but the billions of pores in the foam. I painstakingly soaked all foam in a product called Kids N Pets, squeezed them all out, and dried them. Really did the trick.
 

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
Re: Diesel in bilge

Worked in a house that had a fuel oil tank in the basement and the filler pipes leaked for years and coated the floor and the tank with dust filled diesel oil. Some "Zep" brand citrus cleaner used nearly full strength, a lot of water and elbow grease did a very good job. Now when we enter the basement we smell mold and mildew but not fuel oil.
 

zeehag

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Mar 26, 2009
3,198
1976 formosa 41 yankee clipper santa barbara. ca.(not there)
i cleaned my bilges with a good bilge cleaner and did it repeatedly and used some laundry soap and rinsed well and is not stinky anymore. good luck.
 

Gary_H

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Nov 5, 2007
469
Cal 2-25 Carolina Beach NC
My tank leaked diesel into the bilge once and I used Simple Green to clean it. It took about four cleanings but I can't smell anything at all now.
 

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
My tank leaked diesel into the bilge once and I used Simple Green to clean it. It took about four cleanings but I can't smell anything at all now.
Not even flowers?
 

NYSail

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Jan 6, 2006
3,184
Beneteau 423 Mt. Sinai, NY
As was previously stated, hopefully all the spilled fuel was cleaned right away and then at least attempted a good cleaning in the spill area with a lot of soap. There are products I am sure that will get all of it up, however I have been reading about ozone generators and the affect they have on mold and oders in general... maybe that would help.
 
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