Black tank odor problems in aft cabin.

[Hart's Desire]

I have a 1991 carver 33 aft cabin. I bought it last summer on LakeErie and have made my way to Fort Lauderdale Florida via the Erie Canal and the itercoastal waterway.
My problem is that when I turn onthe aft air, a sewer gas smell comes out of the vents. The smell in the bilge is not strong but there.
#1 how do I get to the black tanks on this model. The only access is below the bed and under thenight stand. I cannot see the tanks from there and I could never get my body past the obsticals to look around. Does any one know how to access them?

#2. Has anyone else had this problem and how did the repair it.

I put two hundred hours on the boat it the last two months, the only problems on the trip was the ice maker, a clogged fuel filter and the black tank problems.

Carver builds one hell of a boat.

Marc Hart. Hart's Desire

[g36]

in my 405 my fwd ac under the v berth would do the same thing. it was mounted under the fwd v berth and would just suck in bilge air along with cabin air i would get the same smell of the bilge. i dont think this would be very effiicent either since you are heating and cooling the bilge by the return air coming back to the ac unit. i removed mine build a box and return hose and supply hoses and isolated the unit from any bilge air. so the result is no smell and it is also only heating and cooling the cabin air much better. if your hvac unit is just mounted under the bed and pulling in the bilge air then something like what i did could benefit you also. getting rid of the black tank smell may be challenging. the hoses and or tank could be permeated and changing the hoses might be all it needs but if your tank itself is permeated it may be difficult to rid the odor.

[bud37]

Welcome to the forum, quite the trip for you......just to add to g36, check your shower sumps, they can get pretty nasty....

[tomschauer]

+1 on the shower sump. If you use the shower you need to clean the sump regularly. It is not sealed and vents into the bilge. Also smell will be drawn into your a/c from the shower sump through the a/c drain line to the sump.
Easy fix, but needs continually maintained.

[Viper]

Welcome aboard Marc. I agree with all the above. Pretty common problem.