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Full Version: 38 open 2006 smell in cabin
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I don't know if anyone has experienced this, if so please help me out.
It seems every time we start the boat to leave we get this smell in the cabin and I can't figure it out.
We have keep the door opened to see if the smell is better(and its not)
we then closed it and the smell is worse
We put the blowers on to see if the helps(Nope)
The smell is worse then rotten egg smell. I was told this was from having diesel verses gas. 
Is that true? if not, can someone help me try to fix this smell. I can't go into the cabin until the smell
is gone it's so bad(makes me nausea).
Any help will be appreciated.  Smile
I own a 2003 38 Open and have never experienced a smell in the cabin (or anywhere else) when starting or underway with the cabin door open or closed... Is the smell a diesel exhaust smell? Not sure what would cause a rotten egg smell although diesel exhaust does smell somewhat like rotten eggs. Are your engine smoking black smoke when first started? Sure sign of something not quite right.M2C
Is this every time you start it or just the first time after the boat has been sitting in the slip for awhile?
If it is the first time it may be from just sitting.
I keep a dehumidifier running while I am not on the boat. It helps keep some of the odors down and all of the mold. I also put some citrus cleaner in the mid bilge to keep that from causing odors in the cabin.
If it is every time you start the boat. Do you leave the transom door open when you start it? That may allow some fumes to come into the cockpit and ultimately the cabin. You may also need to check the engine room and make sure there isn't an exhaust leak at start up.
Thank you for writing back. Our boat only sits for a week. we r out on it every weekend and yes it happens every time we leave our slip or even when we r tied up or out on our boat. So basically every time we start it and go on our way. As for the transom door it’s always close due safety. We did have a little black smoke In the begin when we put our boat in the water for the season in June, but it’s gone away. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
You probably need to check your battery bank. A bad battery can smell like rotten eggs A bad voltage regulator overcharging your batteries can cause them to boil and give off that smell.


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I agree with misdirection (and don't know why I didn't think of it). Overcharging a battery will definitely give off that kind of smell. And if you boat is like mine there are multiple ways it could enter the cabin. There is a bathroom fan vent that goes directly into the engine room. When not running the fan it could very well back flow the odor.

Look at the batteries and see if one or all are gassing off while charging.
Are you using deoderizer in your holding tank? Is your galley sink drain clear of rotting debris?
Hi,

I had a bad battery on my boat that was the cause of the smell. Easiest way to check batteries with out isolating each battery is to hit them with an infrared heat gun, this showed the bad one right away! Heat gun is real handy to have on board - many uses for it in the engine room.
The holding tank has a vent with a filter. Do you get your tank pumped out regularly? I ask because I had an issue. Went from a 28 Grady that we rarely slept on to the 38’ Open that we weekend on all the time with three daughters. Well I didn’t pump out the tank fast enough and the waste clogged the filter and it stunk. Once I changed the filter it was back to normal: Now I pump out all the time!


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So we still have the smell and did everything you all recommend as for the filter for the toilet we looked everywhere for it for two years now and no where to be found we decided to take out the take out the tank the summer and put a new one in..hopefully that will help with the smell
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