I inadvertently left the thru-hull valves from the sink in the galley and in the head open while under sail. Salt water came up the line and into the 2 sinks. Smells awful! Anybody know how best to treat to get rid of the smell? Obviously next time I will close the cock valves! Thanks.
thru hull smells
- Thread starter Ned McCrink
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Is the water there that polluted? Salt water smells fine in this part of the world.
How about closing the thru hull and pouring some water/bleach mixture down the sinks. Let it sit for a couple of hours and rinse it out.
You probably have some critters that have found a home in your drain.
You probably have some critters that have found a home in your drain.
Raritan C.P. or PureAyre, but not bleach..
C.P. is your best choice 'cuz al though it's only marketed as a toilet bowl cleaner, it's also the best drain and sump cleaner on the planet! C.P. is a bio-enzymatic cleaner that not only destroys odor on contact, but the enzymes in it "eat" hair, soap scum, grease, body oils etc that make drains and sumps smell like sewers. A few oz. in each drain and down the shower drain into the sump once a week will keep your drains and sumps smelling sweet and free flowing. It's also good for the sump pump.
C.P. is your best choice 'cuz al though it's only marketed as a toilet bowl cleaner, it's also the best drain and sump cleaner on the planet! C.P. is a bio-enzymatic cleaner that not only destroys odor on contact, but the enzymes in it "eat" hair, soap scum, grease, body oils etc that make drains and sumps smell like sewers. A few oz. in each drain and down the shower drain into the sump once a week will keep your drains and sumps smelling sweet and free flowing. It's also good for the sump pump.
Salt water is what was making my boat stink. I thought it was the crap in the head, but I recently started using only fresh water to flush the head. Now there is no smell what so ever when I go to my boat and open it up after a week. I will never use salt water again unless I am somewhere that water is scarce and I am constantly flushing it to keep it from rotting.
It's more convienent also. Instead of pumping in salt water then switching the lever and pumping everything out. I use it, then use the hand held shower sprayer to add some water, and rinse out the sides of the bowl. Then pump everything out. No switching anything and half the pumping.
Oh yeah, and I keep a bottle of olive oil in the head. Every day I use it I pour a little in. It makes it very easy to pump. I need to get a squirt bottle for that so I don't have to unscrw the lid. I am all about the convience.
It's more convienent also. Instead of pumping in salt water then switching the lever and pumping everything out. I use it, then use the hand held shower sprayer to add some water, and rinse out the sides of the bowl. Then pump everything out. No switching anything and half the pumping.
Oh yeah, and I keep a bottle of olive oil in the head. Every day I use it I pour a little in. It makes it very easy to pump. I need to get a squirt bottle for that so I don't have to unscrw the lid. I am all about the convience.
That's true when you use if for head flushing. All the little critters come in with the water, die, and rot. I have a valve that lets me switch the head sink discharge over to the water closet intake and run fresh through it every other day or so; more often when water supply permits.
I can't imagine just having salt water backing up in the sinks once though making the boat smell. Sounds more like there was a lot of stuff sitting in the drain hoses that had rotted and gotten pushed up.
Direct sink drains are bad in my mind. Everything that floats, which is a lot of the smelly stuff, just sits at the waterline. Other stuff collects behind and pretty soon you have a clog. There is also the constant opening and closing of the sea cock increased flooding hazard.
I took both my sink drain through hulls out of service and capped them. The sinks drains run through clear plastic hoses to a small sump with a small bilge pump in it. The sump is open but I have never noticed a hint of smell. The small pump takes care of normal bilge pumping as well. The big "save the boat" pumps are up high where they will stay dry until the day that I might need them.
I just described it in detail above. You can see what the bottles look like here: http://www.raritaneng.com/products/cleaning_maintenance/cleans_potties.html It's available from WM and other boat stores. The online store here has always carried it...but it seems to have been left out when the store website was updated.
Hermit...Lose the olive oil and replace it with mineral oil. Baby oil IS mineral oil...easier to find and smells good too. You're not doing your toilet pump any good by just adding water to the bowl...'cuz what's in the bowl only goes out the bottom part of the pump...so the seals, o-rings etc in the rest of the pump wear out much faster 'cuz they're always dry.
And Dog...the products' names are not "Raritan Kills Odors" and "Raritan Cleans Potties"...they;re "K.O. Kills Odors" (usually just referred to as "K.O.") and "C.P. Cleans Potties" (usually just referred to as "C.P.") which are both Raritan products.
Peggie—
I'm aware of the product names, but added Raritan so that it would be easier for the OP to find the product.
I'm aware of the product names, but added Raritan so that it would be easier for the OP to find the product.
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