F32 Bilge smell

fpawn1 · Post by **fpawn1** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 11:57 am

I think I have seen a familiar post in the past, but here it goes.

My bilge in the center of boat that runs from the galley forward smells terrible. What can it be??

Thanks

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 12:08 pm

Stagnated water in the hollow keel , Many post has been wrote on this

wowzer52 · Post by **wowzer52** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 12:28 pm

Do a search on here for "hollow keel" and you'll find lots on the subject.

jon_e_quest · Post by **jon_e_quest** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 12:30 pm

Many Trojans have a so-called hollow keel which holds water. One way to illiminate the smell is to vacuum it out of that hollow area. This can be accomplished by drilling a 1.25" hole into the cavity up near the v-berth where the bilge is at it's lowest point. This will allow you to vacuum out the water using a small wet/dry vacuum. You can get away with a smaller hole by using an adapter available from Shop-Vac (and sold at Lowe's). The fiberglass there is only 1/16" or so thick. Drill just deep enough using an appropriate hole saw over the longitudinal centerline of the boat. You can follow by pouring bleach into the bilge, then diluting with water to take care of the smell. And obviously, this all needs to be done at above freezing temperatures!

I vacuum out as much bilge water as I can at the end of every season. And you wouldn't neccessarily need to use bleach in subsequent seasons.

jon_e_quest · Post by **jon_e_quest** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 12:32 pm

You're quicker than I am, wowzer!

wowzer52 · Post by **wowzer52** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 4:32 pm

This topic has been brought up several times before and I'm just one of the lucky ones that haven't had to deal with ongoing bilge stink. I scrubbed my bilge out by hand from bow to stern three years ago and haven't had a problem since. However, that was one of the nastiest and snottiest jobs I think I've ever done.

Molly Too · Post by **Molly Too** » Thu Dec 09, 2010 3:41 pm

I'd still like to see some pics posted showing what folks have done to make access to the hollow area. Are there any bulkheads within the keel? Is it one full length cavity? If not, where does it start and where does it end?

wowzer52 · Post by **wowzer52** » Thu Dec 09, 2010 11:38 pm

It starts at the V-birth and ends at the transom. I believe it was for structural strength. The best place to access is under the step below the V-birth, the lowest point, that's where mine is opened up and my forward bilge pump is there in the opening.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Fri Dec 10, 2010 6:33 am

I believe the hollow keel ends about where the rear bulkhead ( back of engine room) is not at the transom ,

randyp · Post by **randyp** » Fri Dec 10, 2010 8:48 am

On the F26 I think the hollow keel runs from the v-berth bulkhead back to under the cabin steps, but the deepest part is just behind the v-berth steps. Like others, I drilled a hole over that area and used a manual pump and even a shopvac to suck the water out occasionally. Then I got lazy and widened the hole with a keyhole saw and installed a bilge hose with filter on the inlet down there, ran the bilge hose back to original manual bilge pump in the hanging locker, replaced the manual pump with a 12v model, hooked into the fuse panel and operated off a push-pull switch mounted just under the regular bilge pump switch on the instrument panel. This gives it a "stock" look. The pump came equipped with a seperate filter housing which I made the mistake of mounting beween the inlet and the pump. Every once in a while smaller particles of gunge make their way past my first "filter" (a screen hose insert used with garden hoses) and plug up the main filter element (a much finer screen). That means I have to remove the cabin floor section and clean that element. I'm remounting the cabin floor next spring and will install a better access to that area. But, the system works great and I don't have to get up close and personal with my bilge.

Nancy · Post by **Nancy** » Fri Dec 10, 2010 8:26 pm

Don't you guys have removable hatches running from the bottom of the steps to the V-berth riser?

Nancy

ready123 · Post by **ready123** » Fri Dec 10, 2010 8:34 pm

prowlersfish wrote:I believe the hollow keel ends about where the rear bulkhead ( back of engine room) is not at the transom ,

Correct

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Fri Dec 10, 2010 8:46 pm

Nancy wrote:Don't you guys have removable hatches running from the bottom of the steps to the V-berth riser?

Nancy

they do , the hollow keel is below that . When you lift up the hatches and see the bottom of the boat you are really look at the top of the hollow keel ( only in the center)

rbcool · Post by **rbcool** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 8:22 am

What is the purpose of a hollow keel?? Bouyancy ??

Ron

jon_e_quest · Post by **jon_e_quest** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:03 am

rbcool wrote:What is the purpose of a hollow keel?? Bouyancy ??

Ron

Don't think of it as serving any particular purpose, but merely as a consequence of stiffening the junction between the bottom and the keel.

Interestingly, my '72 F-36 does not have a closed-off 'hollow keel'. The keel was left open. Trojan apparantly decided later to strengthen this area by adding the extra glass.