Smelliest boat EVER

G

Grand Larsony

Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2005
RO Number
18485
Messages
155
OK - bought a 1989 Sea Ray 300 Sundancer last year with a Vacuflush head system. Worked great but did notice some "head smell" from time to time.

Ordered 1.5" hose from Boatfix (thanks guys!), had it shipped to my boat man, no problem. He was really cool about allowing me to save money this way (he charges $10 a foot) and even said he'd keep the rest of the hose and apply it against his labor. Pretty nice guy. AND he's now gonna use BF for his own purchases since they're CHEAPER than his source.

So, they finally start the job today. Pull ONE hose end. Entire garage empties of all personnel. It smelled that bad. Now he's gotta do the work himself since everybody else threatened to quit.

Here's the questions:

1. How could things get that bad? I replaced the $90 vent filter last year (no improvement). Tried a few different chemicals, no chemicals, frequent pumpout, wait for full tank, etc. Nothing helped. We expect it's possible - not likely - that the vent hose could be plugged. In the end I settled on old hose as the culprit.

2. We agreed to completely uninstall the Y valve, macerator, and hoses, and cap off the sea cock discharge since I'll never ever use that feature. Saves on parts & labor, but is this a dumb idea?

3. Are we done once we replace all 1.5" hose? I'm thinking we might need a new tank, and was considering just doing it right now. Anyone have a tank that became permeable around this age?

4. He's insistent that he must allow some of the sludge into the bilge (I suspect he's gonna dump about 1-2" from the tank when he pulls the bottom hose) during the job. Says he can clean it out well, has the boat tipped way up, plug out, etc. I'm skeptical. Should I be worried about my bilge after he does this?

Great forum - great people. Thanks for any advice.
 
1. How could things get that bad? I replaced the $90 vent filter last year (no improvement). Tried a few different chemicals, no chemicals, frequent pumpout, wait for full tank, etc. Nothing helped. We expect it's possible - not likely - that the vent hose could be plugged. In the end I settled on old hose as the culprit.

You have 21 YO hoses, they don't last that long. All a vent filter does is prevent air from getting in the tank, once it clogs it is worse than usesless. Get rid of the filter, use Odorlos and you should be fine.

2. We agreed to completely uninstall the Y valve, macerator, and hoses, and cap off the sea cock discharge since I'll never ever use that feature. Saves on parts & labor, but is this a dumb idea?

I did the same thing on my last boat, I had no regrets.

3. Are we done once we replace all 1.5" hose? I'm thinking we might need a new tank, and was considering just doing it right now. Anyone have a tank that became permeable around this age?

Tank could be permeated, but probably not. It's a question of "might as well" - especially if you can put a bigger one in its place.

4. He's insistent that he must allow some of the sludge into the bilge (I suspect he's gonna dump about 1-2" from the tank when he pulls the bottom hose) during the job. Says he can clean it out well, has the boat tipped way up, plug out, etc. I'm skeptical. Should I be worried about my bilge after he does this?

Just wash it out good, I'd use a bleach solution.
 
Grand

if it is as bad as you say...I would certainly look at options to dumping it in the bilge...
just cap it would be better...or sacrifice a shop vac to the cause..anything

All that perfume in the bilge may defeat your efforts...
 
A little sewage in the bilge can easily be cleaned up with some enzymes. Use the bleach only AFTER you have used the enzymes.

Your hoses are permeated. Your holding tank stinks because you let it go without oxygen, promoting the bacteria that causes stink over the bacteria that doesn't. Holding tanks don't need to smell. The cause is too small vent lines. Have them replaced with at least 1 inch vent hose. Cross ventilation is even better. You won't need a filter if you vent properly.

The holding tank lasts longer than the hose, but CAN permeate. Mine did.
 
I hope you have your mechanic check your holding tank. I had a similar situation in my 17 year old Aluminum holding tank. The tank had a small fracture so little that the waste never showed in the bilge but laid under the tank. Once we pulled the tank and re-coated the bilge after cleaning it everything has been perfect.
When the tank was removed it looked like about a 1/2" of yellow powder or cake. The tank smelled so bad it was moved to a remote area of the marina filled with bleach and still stunk if you got within 50 feet of it until the scrap guy picked it up.
Bill
 
Thanks everyone... I may not have an answer until we get back in the water and use it a bit, but I will update this posting once I have something to report. Don't you just hate it when posts don't have a final recap from the OP?
 
there's no reason to work dirty/smelly. simply flush the system/tank with water, fill the holding tank with fresh water. use some bleach in it and pump the whole thing out dockside. you might have to do this cycle a couple times. yes there will be some residual water left in the holding tank but it will be generally pretty clean.

the permeated lines will still have a smell to them, but you'll be dealing with the permeation, not sewage.
 
Doug, see my "sticky" up top: How Much Water Does My Toilet Use? Particularly note my comments on how to flush a Vacu-Flush toilet...

People are obsessed about their holding tank filling up too quickly, and having to pump it out more often. So they use as little water as possible when flushing the toilet. Yes, you won't have to pump out the tank as often, but you WILL end up with a smelly boat.

It's better to use more water to move the sewage through the lines, and be sure it actually gets to the tank, than to skimp on water and have the sewage laying in the hose between the head and the tank. Then the hose permeates from raw sewage laying in it, and the boat stinks. It's been known to happen in as little as 30 days, if the absolute best hose isn't used.

Vacu-Flush systems in particular are prone to this situation, as they can be flushed with very little water. But again, see the "sticky" at the top.
 
Per the sticky:

<<< With a Vacu-Flush, it depends on how long you press down the pedal, as well as how much water you added to the bowl before stepping on the pedal, plus how the plumbing is laid out.

With a Vacu-Flush, hold the pedal down for NO LESS than 3 seconds, and preferably 5 seconds, then let the pedal "snap" back up. Don't ease it back up with your foot. It is spring-loaded for a reason, and it is supposed to spring back up. >>>

Yes -- we do flush in the recommended manner. Lift the pedal to "load the bowl" (for #2's), do your thing, flush and hold pedal a few seconds. Let it snap back.
 
In addition I would add everything should run downhill from the head to the holding tank. This will allow using less water when flushing and still clearing the hoses. I always run 2 full bowls of water through the head to the holding tank when we leave the boat.
 
Ok - Boat went in Friday (another story) and generally the work on the head system looks great. No way it's "all downhill" due to the vacuflush pressure accumulator tank and associated hose routing, so there will be waste sitting in the hoses but I'll be sure to do some extra flushing to minimize the issue.

Question: When I flush my vacuflush, does the waste get sucked into to the pressure accumulation tank and then, slowly, as the pump cycles to build vauccm, does the waste then get moved along to the holding tank? I'm not exactly sure how that part works.

And we'll be using Odorloss again this year... but in the exact recommended amount (I think I was using too much last year).
 
quote:
Originally posted by king5899

You mean crap guy.

Click to expand...

I remember the day we pulled the tank. The smell was so bad all but the marina's manager mechanic and I stayed in the boat. The 2 helpers went running, gagging. It was a disgusting sight and I will never forget the smell. It's been 5 seasons now and no odors. However most of the hoses were replaced last year when I installed the new H-N-T/PuraSan and Elegance head.
Bill
 
quote:
Originally posted by Grand Larsony

Ok - Boat went in Friday (another story) and generally the work on the head system looks great. No way it's "all downhill" due to the vacuflush pressure accumulator tank and associated hose routing, so there will be waste sitting in the hoses but I'll be sure to do some extra flushing to minimize the issue.

Question: When I flush my vacuflush, does the waste get sucked into to the pressure accumulation tank and then, slowly, as the pump cycles to build vauccm, does the waste then get moved along to the holding tank? I'm not exactly sure how that part works.

And we'll be using Odorloss again this year... but in the exact recommended amount (I think I was using too much last year).

Click to expand...
yes
 
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