Strange Egg Ammonia Smell?

[Diving4food]

Help! I ve been staying on our 33 Foot Hunter Sail for 3 weeks and all of a Sudden I came back from exploring the area to a Rotten Egg Ammonia type smell and can't figure out where it's coming from, it's going on day 3 and I am about to jump ship!!! Any help will be greatly appreciated, I ordered the Book by Peggie Hall but it will not be here for a couple of days...
Thanks!!!

 

[SFS]

Assuming you are running a battery charger, check the water level in the batteries, and check to see if they are hot. You could be boiling sulfuric acid.

 

[Diving4food]

Thanks, I checked both batteries they are not hot and the water levels are normal...

 

[JamesG161]

Those smells are chemically, the opposite.

Rotten eggs = Sulfur Dioxide or like a strike any where match smells. Acidic ph smell
Ammonia = Smelling salts, Parsons Ammonia, Windex with Ammonia D, etc. . Basic ph smell.

Rotten Eggs would be mostly on boat, and I would guess from your hold tank having a plugged vent line. Wasp nest or the like.

Open your RV deck suck out cap and see if the smell is there , after air out your cabin.

Jim...

 

[SG]

Generally "rotten egg" smell (as I would describe it) is a sulfur dioxide smell. Often the first place to look is at lead acid batteries as SFS suggested for obvious reasons.

You can have water tanks, or other places places that water and the "gooh of life" might cause problems that you could confuse with a horrible smell. I wouldn't describe "rotten eggs" as ammonia like?

You could have a holding tank vent, or a leak in a line that this depositing schtuffff in places it shouldn't or releasing gas.

There are conditions where you have leakage from chemicals that you have stored in lockers or wherever that lead to inorganic chemistry experiments. Etc., etc.

 

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[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Rotten Eggs would be mostly on boat, and I would guess from your hold tank having a plugged vent line. Wasp nest or the like.

A blocked tank vent is an interesting possibility, but gasses in the tank that can't get out the vent try to get out through the toilet...which would make his head the epicenter of his odor problem. He doesn't seem to found that yet. When he does, it'll provide a lot of help in pinning down the source.

Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein

 

[justsomeguy]

Generally "rotten egg" smell (as I would describe it) is a sulfur dioxide smell.

Hydrogen sulfide, actually.

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

Some hot water tanks do create that smell from time to time. Run some hot water in a bowl and take a whiff. If that is your problem, you'll need to thoroughly clean and re-commission your fresh water system.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

That won't work, Claude...at least not for long. The following is from Vic Willman, who has retired from Raritan after 40 years, the last 20 in tech support...and my guru for all those 20 years:

Water heaters 101
If you put two metals together in water, one will corrode to protect the other. Which metal is which is determined by where they are on the galvanic scale. Most plumbers (but not necessarily most boat owners) know better than to screw a steel fitting into a copper fitting because the steel will immediately start to rust. It is less “noble” than copper. The metal being protected is the cathode. The metal being consumed is the anode. The anode protects all the other metal in a water heater...and removing it won't just shorten the life of a water heater, it'll cut the life of a water heater in half...which is why every domestic water heater mfr specifically states that removing the anode voids the warranty.
Anodes are included in the water heaters that have glass-lined steel tanks to protect the inside of the tank against corrosion from acids in the water, stray electrical currents, etc. Glass lined tanks, when the water heater is being built, are heated up red hot. Then glass powder is sprayed inside the tank and it adheres upon contact. However, it doesn't cover every single crack and crevice inside the tank - it should, but in actual practice, it doesn't. The purpose of the anode is to protect those spots inside the tank that have not been glass-covered from rusting away prematurely. The anode is eaten away, rather than the tank being eaten away. Kind of a backup to the glass lining.
The anode is a magnesium rod, about 3/4" in diameter that is attached to the inside of the hot water "out" nipple, via a plastic coupling. It is electrically isolated from the fittings and from the tank. It extends all the way across the inside of the tank, stopping just short of the other side. There is an iron rod in the center of the magnesium that supports it, the iron being stronger than the magnesium. As the magnesium is eaten away and the iron rod exposed, there's a chemical reaction between the water, the iron and the magnesium that causes the "rotten egg" smell. Replacing the anode and flushing out the tank will usually make the foul smell go away.
The least expensive marine water heaters don't have replaceable anodes...instead of glass lined tanks, they have anodized steel or even aluminum tanks...when the anodizing wears off the tank walls, the only cure is a new water heater. But ALL water heaters, domestic and marine have anodes of some kind.

Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein

 

[jviss]

But ALL water heaters, domestic and marine have anodes of some kind.

That is not so. The Seaward water heaters, which are arguably the most popular water heatings on boats, do not come with anodes. The manual says:

"ANODES
In a small number of instances tap water may have sufficient concentrations of
dissolved salts to cause corrosion of the heater tank. Anode rods preserve the life of a water
heater by corroding themselves so the water heater doesn't. These anode rods are easy to
install! Simply replace the drain plug with this product to protect the water heater tank.
Note:
DO NOT USE ZINC ANODES. THEY WILL NOT PREVENT
CORROSION TO YOUR HEATER TANK!!!!
If you live in an area known to have such water please contact our customer service
department at 562-699-7997 to order a Magnesium Anode."​

It goes on to explain that if you need an anode, you must remove the drain valve and install the anode in its place.

"Part No. 74556, Magnesium 4” Anode with ¾” thread to replace drain valve."
​

Further, I never had an anode in my water heater on the Catalina 36 in 18 years. I would occasionally get that sulphur smell in my hot water, at the beginning of the season, but after some use it would go away. We have well water at our marina. Coincidentally, there is often a strong sulphur smell at the nearby beach. It comes from dimethyl sulfide, DMS. There is a particular algae that produces this. Many organisms produce and consume sulfides, referred to as the sulphur cycle (similar to the carbon cycle), and I suspect that the stink in the water comes from some organic infestation that is dissipated with use and refilling of the water tank. This is a case where a little bleach might help.

​

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Anyone else on board?

 

[pateco]

Help! I ve been staying on our 33 Foot Hunter Sail for 3 weeks and all of a Sudden I came back from exploring the area to a Rotten Egg Ammonia type smell and can't figure out where it's coming from,

One last thing for you to check. Who stored your food on the boat at the beginning of your 3 week cruise? Ask them where it all is, and check each location. Rotting fruit, vegetables, or other food items can produce a lot of awful smells. Make sure perishable items were not incorrectly stowed. I missed a grocery store package of pre-cut fruit in my cooler once after a weekend of sailing, and when I came back a week later, the boat reeked to high heaven. This smell was so bad it had permeated the boat even out of a fully closed and latched Yetti Style (Yukon 70) cooler with a lid gasket. Even after hosing the cooler completely out and washing with soap and water, the smell was still there. I ended up closing it back up with an open box of baking soda inside, and by the next weekend, the smell had dissipated.

The offending cooler

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

That won't work, Claude...at least not for long.

Thanks Peggy, I am aware of that ! I should have been clearer in mentioning that I sometimes have that happening early in the Spring when I first commission the freshwater system. Probably air left in the system from winter storage. Flushing thoroughly and making sure the system is ''burped'' at all faucets generally takes care of it...unless I'm careless and pick up some sulphur laddened water at a marina, which means I have to recommission to eliminate the smell. Regards and thanks for the Vic Willman write-up.

 

[JamesG161]

"unless I'm careless and pick up some sulphur laddened water at a marina, which means I have to recommission to eliminate the smell"

@Claude L.-Auger
If you use this for transient marina water,
https://www.amazon.com/DuPont-WFPF1...528813512&sr=8-6&keywords=dupont+water+filter
with these Active Carbon Filters..
https://www.amazon.com/Filtrete-Sta..._rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=65XSTHK4DDB4G3C862RP

You can essentially eliminate the Sulphur entering you water tanks. MaineSail has a different brand, but same thing installed on his boat. I have one, not installed, but I take a pre-assembled one with Standard Hose connectors to fill my tanks, if transient unknown water is eminent.

If your water tanks are Aluminum, the cartridge removes most of the free Chlorine prior to entering your tank [reducing the tank corrosion potential].
Note: Once the line pressure is removed from the shore water source, the dissolved Chlorine gas dissipates anyway. Disinfection has been done prior to boat entry.

No need to recommission each time.
Jim...

 

[JamesG161]

Here is another handy device to help avoid overfilling your water tanks.
https://www.amazon.com/Save-a-Drop-...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B0058EOC5M

That is also on my transient water filter. Different shore water pressures yield different fill rates too.
Jim...

 

[jviss]

Here is another handy device to help avoid overfilling your water tanks.
https://www.amazon.com/Save-a-Drop-...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B0058EOC5M

That is also on my transient water filter. Different shore water pressures yield different fill rates too.
Jim...

Excellent, thank you! Of course, you have to know how much capacity remains in the tank before you start. But then, by the time we get water, we're almost always nearly empty!

I read reviews for this meter on Amazon, many complain it breaks easily, and is inaccurate. What has your experience been?

I was thinking of installing whistles in my vent lines, like your home heating oil tank.

 

[JamesG161]

What has your experience been?

Well it is meant for the house hose bib and being in a kinda fixed spot.

I put mine on the end of the filter so it is fixed for me. There are a few more types available.
I did calibrate it using a 5 gallon bucket and stop watch, it is accurate.
My level transmitter works but only ±5%
Jim...

 

[jviss]

Thanks Jim. I never thought of overfilling water tanks to be a problem, except that the plastic ones can swell quite a bit. Our old boat we'd fill 'til water came out the vent. On the new one, the tanks vent into the bilge, so it's hard to tell from on deck when they are full.