Water in Honwave air floor

Chairmanrush · 07 October 2015, 17:11

When deflating my Honwave sib for the first time in years I was soaked with a solid jet of water coming out of the floor valves. This was a good going stream lasting several seconds as the pressure dropped. The operating pressure for the floor is 0.8 barg and this pressure is held for weeks on end. It is over wintered indoors and holds pressure to 0.5 barg after the five months or so of winter inactivity whereupon we top up the pressure to 0.8 barg. At the weekend past, I inflated the tubes and positioned the floor valves as the low point and drained 6 litres of FRESH water (tasted ok). The only fresh water this has seen is a rinse with a bucket after washing down and of course rainwater.

Thoughts appreciated on:

- how water finds a route in against 20 plus feet head of water (0.8 barg),
- how to diagnose the problem, and
- now I've got the bulk of the water out, how do I dry the chamber?

Has anyone seen this before?

office888 · 07 October 2015, 17:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chairmanrush

When deflating my Honwave sib for the first time in years I was soaked with a solid jet of water coming out of the floor valves. This was a good going stream lasting several seconds as the pressure dropped. The operating pressure for the floor is 0.8 barg and this pressure is held for weeks on end. It is over wintered indoors and holds pressure to 0.5 barg after the five months or so of winter inactivity whereupon we top up the pressure to 0.8 barg. At the weekend past, I inflated the tubes and positioned the floor valves as the low point and drained 6 litres of FRESH water (tasted ok). The only fresh water this has seen is a rinse with a bucket after washing down and of course rainwater.

Thoughts appreciated on:

- how water finds a route in against 20 plus feet head of water (0.8 barg),
- how to diagnose the problem, and
- now I've got the bulk of the water out, how do I dry the chamber?

Has anyone seen this before?

Have you ever used an air compressor, then drained the tank? It produces condensate.

That is more than likely what you've experienced, although 6 liters is a lot. Is it possible you left it deflates with the cap off the valve at some point in time?

Fenlander · 07 October 2015, 17:41

Yep that was the though going through my mind... could this water have been in since it was inflated the last time years ago... would you have noticed?

Otherwise it has to be the rainwater if it's fresh... but hard to see how it would get in if it really has been pressurised constantly. Are you sure it was never left deflated for a while so long ago you've forgotten and possibly rain water got in then?

Odd.

Re clearing it total of water... as long as it's drained surely the remaining damp will be OK??

Chairmanrush · 07 October 2015, 18:23

It's only ever been inflated with the foot pump. I've racked my brains on this one big time. My first inclination was if the water has been in there for years it would be a bit rancid - I tasted it and it was drinkable. If anything was notable I'd say it had that "dry sense" to the taste which I associate with de-ionised water. That set me to thinking condensate from compression followed by cooling by the balmy waters of Loch Sween but push as I may with the compression/ humidity calcs I can't get more than a few grams of water in each time, so cumulatively only a couple of hundred and not six thousand. It's never been deflated in the wet or left outside with rainwater on board except when inflated to operational level. This may remain an enigma I suppose but what I'm left with is wondering if there will be any long term internal consequence if I reflate and leave it damp inside.

H

Fenlander · 07 October 2015, 18:52

>>>any long term internal consequence if I reflate and leave it damp inside.

I'm trying to think why it would matter when the whole SIB construction is about being in water... what could be different about the inside of the air floor that would be harmed by damp?

...and I think you're right... this will have to be accepted as one of life's weird events... assuming it doesn't happen again.

Dave Cowell · 08 October 2015, 15:06

I wouldn't worry too much about moisture on the inside. The drop thread material the floor is constructed from is used in other applications where it is filled with water not air.

Chairmanrush · 08 October 2015, 15:15

Thanks Dave - bright sunny day here so I will reflate and maybe get a last weekend out of this season.

jeffstevens763@g · 08 October 2015, 20:02

Weird is that I would re-inflate and fill the boat with water and leave a few weeks then see if it's got into the hull again.

beerbelly · 08 October 2015, 20:23

I cant see how water can get inside while it is inflated to full pressure surely its impossible .it has to have been pumped in with the air

jeffstevens763@g · 09 October 2015, 09:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by beerbelly

I cant see how water can get inside while it is inflated to full pressure surely its impossible .it has to have been pumped in with the air

i would totally agree if it were not for the fact that having been diving since the 80's i have had dry-suits punctured from the outside but when detecting the leak by blowing the suit up the hole seals its self but soon as your in water it leaks again, the only other way i would say is the water got in when the hull was very cold during winter when the pressure was very low in the hull i don't know the storage details but worth thinking about.what i find strange is the water was fresh so cannot have been there for long.

Chairmanrush · 09 October 2015, 14:00

Jeff/Beerbelly,

You can see why I'm stumped with this. Winter storage has always been inside my dry garage and inflated. The garage is not heated so it will see cold temperatures.

The only logical conclusion is that it's condensate from humid air being compressed and that it is the result of an accumulation of many cycles. It just flies in the face of intuition and the compression calculations for there to be such volume in there.