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Foul smell

Posted: May 11th, 2020, 11:11 am
by boat36forfun
My 1985 36' Mariner has a foul order coming from around the forward air conditioner. In the same are is the vent running under the forward sink to the outside which I believe is the vent for the holding tank. The holding tank is clean and clear right now as we have just had the boat opened up a couple weeks ago.The order seems to come and go a bit but stumped on where its coming from and just how to get rid of it. Please help.

Tom P.

Re: Foul smell

Posted: May 11th, 2020, 11:26 am
by Tireless
Check for stagnant water in the bilge or in the A/C tray. If its not from your holding tank, it could be permeating through the waist lines that run from your head to tank, vacuum pump, even your waist tank vent lines. If these are the original, that could be the issue. May also be time to flush out the bilge with a cleaner, as there may be areas holding water that you can't see.

There are many variables, so I recommend that you get right in there and sniff around. You may need to provide more details so folks on forum may help you. What's in the area where the odour seems to be coming from.

Greg

Re: Foul smell

Posted: May 11th, 2020, 11:48 am
by boat36forfun
Good points Greg. I smell it coming from the vent under the bed which is for the air conditioner and also under the sink in the bedroom which has the vent from the holding tank. Next time down I will climb under there and investigate a little closer.

Re: Foul smell

Posted: May 11th, 2020, 12:12 pm
by tgebler
I had this problem last year in my 396 AC and discovered the pump in the sump for the aft shower was not operating. It was foul in the sump but once I cleaned it out and replaced the pump, no more smell.

Re: Foul smell

Posted: May 11th, 2020, 2:36 pm
by boat36forfun
There is a bit of standing water that only gets taken out thru the bilge when the boat is moving. Will have to dig a little deeper. Thanks for your thoughts.

Re: Foul smell

Posted: May 12th, 2020, 9:09 am
by RGrew176
Keep us posted and let us know when you find the source of the problem. A learning experience for all of us.

Re: Foul smell

Posted: May 12th, 2020, 9:53 am
by bud37
boat36forfun wrote:Source of the post My 1985 36' Mariner has a foul order coming from around the forward air conditioner. In the same are is the vent running under the forward sink to the outside which I believe is the vent for the holding tank. The holding tank is clean and clear right now as we have just had the boat opened up a couple weeks ago.The order seems to come and go a bit but stumped on where its coming from and just how to get rid of it. Please help.

Tom P.


Considering it just came out of storage...have a look for critters and old nests......The drain pan under the ac and any of the shower sumps can really stink from mold even from a distance away, due to the air movement in the bilge.

Check your holding tank lines using the warm damp rag method.