bad smell

[Superg]

I have a mid 80s 3207. There is a funky smell coming from the forward head in the cabinet. there is a gap between the back of the cabinet and the hull wall. the smell comes from there. If I spray some soapy bleachy water in that gap down the inside of the hull wall, where does it go?

[bud37]

Unfortunately I think you will have to have a look down there to see what is going on. Not a good idea to blindly dump chemicals down there IMO....the wrong mix can create dangerous toxic gasses. Could be a dead critter/ broken waste fitting, bad hose, leaking tank, loose tank vent fitting, shower sump needs cleaning,..... who knows.

Maybe someone can chime in that knows how to access that area in 3207.

[Superg]

So I tried disassembling the bathroom cabinets. It became too cumbersome to proceed with no guarantee that it would give me better access.

My front bilge where the shower pump is is also stinky and has brownish or algaeish stuff in it a bit. I have no leaks in the waste tanks, lines or fittings. the waste tank is on the midship port side anyway. But everything is perfect. except I can't determine why there is this smell and why the forward bilge has the slime in it. it could be the forward bilge that is the problem and the odor goes up the starboard hull wall to where the sink drain exits through the cabinet. but I completely puzzled by all this.

[Superg]

Also to bote there is no odor anywhere else in the boat or main or aft bilges

[bud37]

I can say that a shower sump that needs cleaning and disinfecting will produce quite an odor......also if it has overflowed and there is soapy residue in the bilge, the same result.....has to be manually cleaned IMO.

[Superg]

I cleaned the shower sump but don't think that is the issue since the shower drain doesn't stink.

Anyway, sometimes tackling the root cause is a lost cause. Some spray foam and voila!

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