FV270 Isolating the engine room fumes and smells from the front cabin door void.

J3ff

It still stinks!

J3ff

So somehow there's still fumes/smell coming forward, sigh. 

aero3113

Could there be a break in the line from your toilet to the tank? Maybe it's not coming from your engine room, it could be forward of that?

frodo13056

I had a 2003 270 and don't recall any smellies from the engine compartment. I have been on boats that left their holding tanks / hoses full for WAY too long and those boats had the stinkies big time - not only in the engine compartment but also in the cabin due to the hoses.
Did you try some bleach / water mix in a spray bottle and spray it around the holding tank (or wherever you think it may be coming from) and let it sit for a few hours? 

rasbury

You need to inspect that tank- mine had a still unexplained little hole that would leak sometimes and it always stunk until I finally found it.

J3ff

will do.

wm61356

Could the smell be caused by your sanitation (marine head) system? Some types of hoses used in the sanitation systems on boats tend to break down over time and emit odor even though the hose isn't leaking any liquid anywhere. The only cure when that happens is to replace the old hose(s) with new ones. If that is the case it pays to buy the better grade hose that is "non-permeable" or impermeable and will not emit odor over time.

I've had boats where this has happened and the odor can come from any compartment on the boat that the sanitation hose passes through. Just a thought if you haven't checked this already...

rasbury

@j3ff I looked and looked and would have sworn the smell was from somewhere else- I also discovered a bellows leak  and if I recall, like you, kept having unexplained water in the beige...I thought my problem was the tank when I found that but after fixing that, then found the slight leak in the bellows which I'm now addressing. I went from a boat you had to hold your nose to go through the cabin door to absolutely no odor - and it did not leak all the time as sometimes the sludge would plug up the little hole and then it would move around and leak! My hole was located toward the motor, very low back towards the transom. I don't know if there was a plug of some sort that was there and fell out- you could not have drilled a more perfect little hole that was 1/8th to maybe 3/16"- it would be dry around the tank when It was not leaking and then it would be wet-I also assumed it was water coming in from the exhaust things just above the tank when it was wet- it was not a crack which can be another big issue if the tank is sucked out with to much force. I don't think a beige will smell unless there is just standing water in it for a very long time. These are pretty heavy duty hoses on these tanks and I'm sure CC approved and all that stuff and likely won't split very easy...just sayin

trip_n

just asking....have you cleaned  your shower sump system

J3ff

rasbury said:

@j3ff I looked and looked and would have sworn the smell was from somewhere else- I also discovered a bellows leak  and if I recall, like you, kept having unexplained water in the beige...I thought my problem was the tank when I found that but after fixing that, then found the slight leak in the bellows which I'm now addressing. I went from a boat you had to hold your nose to go through the cabin door to absolutely no odor - and it did not leak all the time as sometimes the sludge would plug up the little hole and then it would move around and leak! My hole was located toward the motor, very low back towards the transom. I don't know if there was a plug of some sort that was there and fell out- you could not have drilled a more perfect little hole that was 1/8th to maybe 3/16"- it would be dry around the tank when It was not leaking and then it would be wet-I also assumed it was water coming in from the exhaust things just above the tank when it was wet- it was not a crack which can be another big issue if the tank is sucked out with to much force. I don't think a beige will smell unless there is just standing water in it for a very long time. These are pretty heavy duty hoses on these tanks and I'm sure CC approved and all that stuff and likely won't split very easy...just sayin

okay, so here's what I'm thinking. first of all there has been no #2 in this tank since I got it... and it was empty when I got it. 

I'm going to fill the thing up with just water and chemical, slowly, and inspect it with a scope as I do.  Maybe that will lead to it. I do know I have black mold looking things in the bilge and when I vacuum out the water, the smell goes away.. 

rasbury

all the same here....but even when I pumped it out, there was a sludge of what looked like TP that either non marine paper was used and it will not suck up through the tube, or TP that had just not broken down yet. I also had and still have a badly stained bilge but no real smell to it unless you get right down there. I'm going to find something to spray it down with not that I'm fixing my bellows leak and get it back in shape. That sludge would move around and plug the dam hole- your plan sounds good- I'd squeeze on the dang thing to if you can't find a hole and eliminate it. I did not see the sludge in mine until I pulled the tank and emptied it. I'd bet the farm that is where it is coming from if your lines are not leaking to the tank. Blew my mind when I found the hole...it was behind something, trim lines or something and I did not see it right off until I squeezed it and saw the water...could yours be cracked from a bad pump out? It does not have to be #2 to make a stank!

randy56

Use bleach, about 1/2 gallon. the rest with water.

bazza

When we leave our boat for a week or more we always pop a Milton sterilising tablet in the pan and flush it into the tank, also have a carbon filter in vent, no smells 99% of the time. Bazza

gack

@j3ff Have you had a valet dock your boat?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pEhqiCD27E

J3ff

ha ha ! no change in smell, still stinkin.. if I leave the blower on it's fine..

gack

@J3ff , you sure you don't have a dead rodent somewhere in the engine compartment? Hard to believe that you can't get rid of the smell.

J3ff

Coming back to this.. My smell is completely gone.... the ONLY thing I've changed this summer with regards to the bilge is that I have the AC now draining into the shower box and being pumped over.  I'm not sure what the water that comes from the AC is made of, but is it possible that something in it was reacting with something down below the engine?  There is still water in there everytime I come down to the boat (hope to solve that problem this winter, by finishing a smaller pump install) but it no longer smells bad. 

I don't get it, but that's the only thing I've changed and the smell is LONG gone.  Was just down there today redoing something with the hot water lines and there really isn't anything going on at all. 

Handymans342

Is your bilge totally dry now?

J3ff

Nope. Still has the normal rainwater down there.. 

rasbury

Huh! Interesting....

Liberty44140

The ac and/or shower draining in to the bilge can be super stinky from the what I have read. When I bought my 310 the sump tank was gone and I considered letting the shower drain in to the bilge. 30 min on the google and I was replacing the sump tank. Lots of stories online about how the shower stank and or the ac condensation can really stink things up. These things need to get overboard and not in to the bilge. Glad that the sump tank solved your problem @J3ff , that is a great win! I always have a little water in the bilge from rain, our boats blower vents are not set up well and the rain can easily get in. One thing Sea Ray does a good job of is th blower vents, they are nicely set up to let almost no rain in. 

J3ff

yeah, I've never seen a shower drain to the bilge but who would have thought the AC going in there would have been a problem?  Especially since that was how it was set from the factory!!

rasbury

Interesting....

thepriceisright

J3ff said:

yeah, I've never seen a shower drain to the bilge but who would have thought the AC going in there would have been a problem?  Especially since that was how it was set from the factory!!

I just discovered today that my shower drains to the mid bilge. Even though there’s a sump in there that the AC and something I can’t identify drain into. I’m going to replace the old sump and connect the shower to it. 

The water I cleaned out of there was the stuff of nightmares. 

randy56

older boat's were all set up that way shower dumped into bilge.

J3ff

Again, I don't think the shower draining to the bilge was my problem. I believe it was the Air Conditioning draining to the bilge that was stinking my boat up. I really have no idea how this is possible, however, I had multiple people down to the boat to look at it... they all had various solutions... and then right before my long trip I switched the AC drain to the shower box and since then there has been ZERO smell on my boat. It's crazy, I don't get it, but it's true. 

What is in the water that an A/C sends into the bilge??

randy56

Nothing just condensation, just like your AC at home. I'm glad you solved the problem. cannot imagine that water stinking though. 

thepriceisright

My AC appears to drain into the sump box, which has cut wires, so I gotta fix it either way. Gonna plumb the shower in the new box while I’m at it. 

trip_n

we ave a 06 ..not sure where the ac is draining..we cleaned everything we could reach or see when we bought our 270.. and when i started in on the shower sump area it had a horrible odor....
took a part cleaned a couple times...ran lots of fresh water through...the original attwood  shower box had become brittle and the screw mounts had broken and of course after a good cleaning and reattaching......it stopped completely 
we replaced with a rule shower drain system and it has worked great so far..we both shower every night ..i like it because the top screws down ...the filter is a lot easier to remove and clean and the pump and float are separate ...we also replaced the attwood bilge pump with a separate rule pump and float at the same time.....since the replacements our mid bilge has stayed dryer without  Oooooh that smell... cant you smell that smell............................and thats the rest of the story

Kaptain_Ken

I have a 2000 FV 270.  Didn't come with A/C originally, but the previous owner installed a new Dometic unit in the same space the factory unit goes.  When he bought the boat three years ago it had a new engine and out drive.  Last year the gas tank crapped out and he had it replaced.  He also has brand new snap in carpet made for the cockpit.  That's where I come in.  Stay with me.  Everything was going great with the boat when it developed a horrific odor.  I couldn't figure out where it was coming from.  I bleached every drain, both the holding and water tanks.  Cleaned the **** out of the bilge.  Cleaned out the A/C pan and drain line and actually found a kink in the A/C drain line.  Fixed that and thought I had problem solved.  Nope.  Still no change.  It only got worse.  Didn't smell too much on deck, almost not at all really, but it really stunk in the cabin.  It was a rank, smell like something dying or rotting and decaying.  At one point I took the snap in carpet out to clean the deck and the boat.  Lo and behold I found the culprit.  It was the rubber backing on the new carpet.  When it got wet underneath it would emit an odor.  I took out the carpet and then cleaned the boat cockpit and the smell was gone.  I dried out the carpet in the sun at my house for several days but it still has a faint smell and when I use it i can smell it in the cabin.  That being said, I don't really use the carpet much and on the rare occasions when I do, I make sure it doesn't get wet.