Take a look in your Sea Ray owners manual in the fresh water system section, there are complete instructions there utilizing bleach. I have done this at least annually.

 

There are also water treatment products you can buy. Some to shock and some for mild treatment. Got mine from WestMarine.

 

There are lots of threads on this. Look here http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/62327-Ok-just-how-bad-is-the-fresh-water-in-the-holding-tank?p=699096&highlight=#post699096

Pete

 

Your pump will have no problem emptying the tank a few times. Don't be afraid of bleach. You should be using a capful with every fill up after you shock it to get rid of the smell. I would fill it and add the shock level of bleach or sanitizer, let it sit for a day or two, take it for a ride to slosh it around. Empty and repeat with 3/4 tank to let it splash around more during a ride. Empty and refill with a capful and you should be good to go. Don't let the water sit in the tank for more than 2 weeks before emptying and refilling with another capful of bleach.

 

Attwood has a procedure for sanitizing the hot water tank. Search this forum or google. It involves filling the tank with vinegar and letting it cycle then flushing.

 

Bleach kills 99.9% of germs and bacteria.
Vinegar is an alternative however with much less results, 80% or so.
If the water is going to end up in your mouth I would use the bleach approach.

 

Ok, I guess you know better than the manufacturer of the hot water heater.

Here is the procedure from the Atwood Manual.


Flushing to Remove Unpleasant Odor


A rotten egg odor (Hydrogen sulfide) may be produced when the electro galvanic action of the cladding material releases hydrogen from the water. If sulfur is present in the water supply the two will combine and produce an unpleasant smell.


1. Turn off main water supply. Drain the water heater tank and reinstall the drain plug. Remove the pressure-temperature relief valve. Mix solution of 4 parts white vinegar to 2 parts water. (For a 10 gallon tank, use 6 gallons vinegar to 3 gallons water). With a funnel, carefully pour the solution into the water heater tank.


2. Cycle water heater with the above solution, letting it run under normal operation 4-5 times.


3. Remove the drain plug and thoroughly drain all water from the tank. Flush the water heater to remove any sediment. You may flush the tank with air pressure or fresh water. Pressure may be applied through either the inlet or outlet valve on the rear of the tank or through the pressure temperature relief valve coupling located on the front of the unit.

 

That's great, I'll listen to the health dept thanks.

Enjoy your diarrhea !

OP is asking about his fresh water system.
The mfg of the hot water heater is specifically speaking of their tank and not the water system.


I do know that.

 

Actually the OP specifically asked how to clean the hot water tank:

"Is there a great way to clean, flush, and sanitize the fresh water system in my 2005 280DA?

I purchased it a few years ago and the previous owners barely used it. I have probably cycled several tanks of fresh water but my wife doesn't even use it to wash her hands...she says the water smells bad. I noticed it smelled when we first purchased the used boat and I flushed the system by filling it up and opening all the faucets letting the water run through the lines but this clearly wouldn't sanitize it. How would I clean the Hot Water Tank?"

 

We always in the fall and spring
(1) put about 2 cups of Bleach in with about 20 gallons of water then cycle all faucets cold & hot till you smell bleach, let it sit for about 4 hours then empty the tank.
(2) put about 2 cups of Vinegar in with about 20 gallons of water then cycle all faucets cold & hot till you smell vinegar, Start the boat or turn on the hot water tank for a couple hours go for a short cruise to churn things up, then empty the tank.
(3) Change filters then cycle 2 or 3 tanks of fresh water through the system.

Never have had any odor or problems with the system.

Doing the vinegar in the hot water tank would be a good idea to remove any calcium, lime etc build up on the heating element and remove any silt in the bottom of the tank. I drain and rinse out our home hot water tank every year, you'll be amazed at what comes out of the bottom of the tank NASTY.

 

We always in the fall and spring
(1) put about 2 cups of Bleach in with about 20 gallons of water then cycle all faucets cold & hot till you smell bleach, let it sit for about 4 hours then empty the tank.
(2) put about 2 cups of Vinegar in with about 20 gallons of water then cycle all faucets cold & hot till you smell vinegar, Start the boat or turn on the hot water tank for a couple hours go for a short cruise to churn things up, then empty the tank.
(3) Change filters then cycle 2 or 3 tanks of fresh water through the system.

+1 We had the same problem you described this summer (new boat to us) and followed the above process - worked great. I plan to do it every year now. While I don't do it, I have seen a recommendation to add a couple capfuls of bleach to each new tank of water to keep it fresh.

 

I use a product called aqua bon every time I fill the water tank. Never have an issue with odor at all. There is a cheaper product at Walmart by Camo that might work as well I brought some have not tried it yet.

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Page down on this thread by Gofirstclass it has some pics of what kind of gunk is in the water system.

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.ph...showthread.php/54066-Low-water-pressure-and-flow-in-galley-sink?highlight=water

 

I'm going to try that vinegar in the hot water trick in the spring. My cold water doesn't stink ,but the hot water is horrible. I use a water treatment that is just bleach without the odor,, but that hasn't done anything for the water that goes through the hot war tank.


Thanks for posting that Jimt.

 

When I bought my boat recently it came from a lake without chlorination in the water. The hot water stunk so bad my wife couldn't stay below when the hot water was running. I ran a hundred gallon through the system with treatment and had no improvement. Then did the vinegar clean and all is well. There was some gross stuff in the bottom of the hot water tank. I am now on city water so I hope that issue is behind me. Never had the bad smell on my prior boat so I am hoping the chlorine in the water will take care of it going forward.

 

Post #8 (JimT) is ok as far as it goes, but is somewhat misleading because it does not address sanitizing the entire water system, only the hot water tank. Post #2, (Dancin Dave) gives the proper method for making the water in the tank safe for human consumption.

Rather than y'all peeing on each other's shoes, why not just do the vinegar approach on the hot water tank in case there has been some galvanic action causing a sulfide odor then sanitizing the whole system using the approach outlined in the Sea Ray owner's manual?

 

...Rather than y'all peeing on each other's shoes...

[video=youtube_share;M5uBaPVz19g]http://youtu.be/M5uBaPVz19g[/video]

 

If you all think your city water system doesn't have the same gunk in it, I think you are naive. There is likely growth in ANY water tank or system. I know it was in the Navy.

 

I know I was in the Navy.

Used to love coming back from a flight - trap aboard, go down to the ready room, get out of flight gear, hot, sweaty, and all I wanted was a drink of cold water. On the USS Ranger, I will never forget the taste of the jet fuel in the water...This was in the early 70's - before the creation of bottled water....yuck!

On both of our Sundancers, we've never had a water smell or taste problem. We drain/refill the tank monthly (if we didn't use all the water sooner, and we add about an oz of bleach per 50 gallons of capacity. Never a bleach smell, never a digestive problem. It works. Follow those two rules...

 

Rick, is that how you keep the water in Four Play tasting fresh?

Carter, sometimes a little JP doesn't hurt. Adds flavor to otherwise stale tasting water....

Anchors Aweigh - Go NAVY

 

LOL. We were on "water hours" almost all the time on the old Ranger boat. She would leave a constant slick in her wake - we always called it a "fresh water" slick. The Captain would say "We are making 200,000 gallons a day and all of you are using too much" - so it had to be going somewhere. We never worried about sharks if we had to eject - we always said we would eject in the wake and sharks don't like fresh water!

 

I have a 10 gallon tank. I haven't seen vinegar in gallon capacities. Maybe Costco? I need a case (6 gallons) per #8. The pH of Vinegar is 2.2 - 2.4. Since the process of cleaning the hot water tank is an acid reaction, and the only important element of vinegar is the hydrogen ion, why can't you use any acid solution of the same pH, like a diluted solution of muriatic acid or oxalic acid? I can walk across the street to ACE Hardware and get oxalic acid or muriatic acid and carry it in a paper bag.

I copied this from an aquarist forum:

"I dilute muriatic at a 1:100 ratio for cleaning equipment. This is still faster and more effective than vinegar.

That said, assume 5% acetic acid in store bought distilled vinegar. I'm assuming this is by volume, not by weight. That's 50 ml acetic acid per liter. Applying a density factor of 1.049 grams/ml, this yields 52.45 grams acetic acid per liter. At 60 grams per mole, that's 0.874 molar. pKa for acetic acid is 4.76, or Ka = 1.738exp-5. Ka for this is [H+][CH3COO-]/[CH3COOH]. For simplicity, since the dissociation constant is so low, assume [CH3COOH] = 0.874 (that is, not much of it is dissociating) to get a first order approximation for [H+]. Now calculate SQRT((1.78exp-5)(0.874)) = 3.94exp-3. This is approximately [H+], or 0.00394 moles/liter.

The HCl from Lowes is 20 Baume, or 31.45% HCl by weight. Density of this solution is 1.159 kg/l. Molarity is 10.17 molar. Dissociation is assumed complete,so you get 10.17 moles/liter [H+].

10.17 / .00394 = 2581. That's about how many times more H+ ions you'll get from 20 Baume muriatic acid than from an equal amount (by volume) of store-bought distilled white vinegar. [edit: Assuming both are sitting in a flask, unconsumed. This changes a bit as the acetic acid continues to dissociate as hydrogen ions are consumed in a tank-cleaning scenario.]"

I have to wonder if the vinegar method described in the Atwood manual is used from a liability perspective vs. a practical perspective. If your customer dumps vinegar all over himself, then he'll smell like vinegar. If your customer dumps muriatic acid all over himself he'll look like:

 

Yeah....what he said.

 

Does anyone know how to get to both my sea strainers to routinely clean them. The previous owner installed fresh water flush kits on both the A/C and gen and it sits on top of where the strainer would go. I don't want to twist and break anything.

Thanks


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