Avon 580 taking on water

Camerons · 21 October 2010, 15:29

I have a new Avon adventure 580 (6 months old). If it is left sitting on the water for more than a week the hull starts to fill with water, recently after 3 or 4 weeks it was completely full, effecting the performance dramatically. there is no pump fitted and the only way to drain the hull seems to be to take the boat out of the water. Should I be accepting this a general RIB problem or is it an Avon problem?

I have a friend who bought one at the same time and he has the same issue.

Anyone else?

DJS · 21 October 2010, 15:36

My Delta is nearly 15 years old and is as dry as a whistle! I would be seeking answers and a resolution under warranty!

Cheers

martini · 21 October 2010, 15:46

If you search on here for "Avon Adventure" you'll find they have been the subject of much "discussion"

recently, unpopular with a few people!

Best advice would be to get in contact with your dealer or Avon direct, as it's only 6 months old and this absolutely should not happen, there shouldn't be any problem getting it sorted under warranty.

Just double/triple check you haven't left the bung out before you get on the phone shouting the odds

PeterM · 21 October 2010, 15:47

Is it just raining hard ? Any RIB (OK not all - the big ones have decks abover the waterline so can drain) will fill up if not fitted with a pump of some kind.

If its between the deck and the hull then I'd say you have problems - but if its 6 months old give it back to AVON to fix asap.

Roll on the Avon comments.....

HUMBER P4VWL · 21 October 2010, 16:22

Not sure what the avon is like however on our Humber OP the deck drains to a well at the back where there is a float switch/pump.

The inner hull has a bung in the bow anchor locker and a bung at the back to drain in to the aformentioned well.

If we leave both bungs in, the bow anchor locker fills with water over a few weeks of rain and on arrival we have to unplug the bung to let it drain through to the rear well.

So when we leave it on the mooring we leave the bungs open so it drains through to the rear well and is pumped out. I spoke with Humber re this and they said it is perfectly acceptable to leave it like this.

If your inner hull's drain plug is on the exterior of the boat you can't do this obviously and if the design is that the inner hull should be sealed, go back to Avon.

Others will be along in a minute to help confound any of your worries re the adventure. Not the most popular of boats on this forum. However some like them.

lakelandterrier · 21 October 2010, 16:27

When you say "the hull is filling up" I presume you mean the inside of the rigid GRP hull, not the above deck area (my mind's gone blank on the technical terms).

If so - and the transom bung is in & fully done up - then I think it's a warranty issue as others have said. Can you see any obvious crack or damage to the hull / gelcoat?

Any rib without a bilge pump will fill with water if kept uncovered and it rains. If its' the "hull" above the deck, ie between the deck the tubes then a cover / automatic pump I'd suggest would be in order.

PeterM · 21 October 2010, 16:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by HUMBER P4VWL

Not the most popular of boats on this forum. However some like them.

I love my 4m Adventure !

I'll get my coat ............

Avocet · 21 October 2010, 17:01

Well it's got you to Yarmouth and back safely enough in early January for the last two years!

Camerons · 21 October 2010, 18:54

It is below deck inside the rigid hull that fills with water. the bung for this is below the water line and was in place and tight. above deck drains fine.

It (the water) could be rain water getting into the holes drilled by the boat builder for cables etc, however these are covered, but when taken out of the water at the weekend it was completely full, 40 gallons at a guess. seems too much for rain through some small sealed holes. which are under the seats and the console and the water was salty so some sea water is getting in somehow .

I will take it up with the dealer/Avon

thank you for the advice

ribraff · 21 October 2010, 20:16

I think it's been mentioned before that you can make the best Rib in the world ony to have a dealer or someone else drill holes in to the deck and screw up the whole operation. I'm not saying this is the case here but it could be.
It may be worth putting it on the trailer and having a good look at the hull and if possible leave it out of the water when it rains to see if it still fills up.

Brian · 21 October 2010, 20:46

I had an Avon Adventure with the same problem.
My solution was to fit an extra long bung in the transom. As I remember it was at least 3 inches long. This seemed to fix it. It appears that the bung fitted as standard allowed sea water leakage past it.
The precise model was one that replaced the "bung it in and fold it over" type (plastic) with one that screwed in and was made of brass.

Xk59D · 21 October 2010, 20:54

that is a lot of water, even for scotland! for rain to have been the cause through deck fittings.

i think the best case scenario would be the bung/bung fitting has a problem or there is a big problem there-either way it isn't your problem so let us know how you fair with your dealer and what it turns out to be.

since 2 boats have the same problem i'd think both need the bung mech replaced. i can't imagine both have serious problems let alone one.

my 560 adventure-diff hull-stays dry completely. longest i've left it afloat is 3 days though fyi.

cheers

ADI · 21 October 2010, 22:38

It sound like the hull drain bung is leaking under water pressure.

You could get the hull pressure tested to see if it's the deck fittings that are causing the leak.

Nos4r2 · 21 October 2010, 23:04

Or try what I did-get the boat on the trailer so it's bow down,squirt a load of water into the underfloor of the hull with a hose,then follow it up with 4 bottles of red or blue food colouring. Stick the bung back in, hose off the excess food colouring (there's always some), wind the jockey wheel up 'til the bung is the lowest point and wait to see if/where the coloured liquid leaks out.

You need to thoroughly flush the coloured liquid out immediately afterwards though.

BogMonster · 22 October 2010, 01:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by HUMBER P4VWL

on our Humber OP the deck drains to a well at the back where there is a float switch/pump.

The inner hull has a bung in the bow anchor locker and a bung at the back to drain in to the aformentioned well.

If we leave both bungs in, the bow anchor locker fills with water over a few weeks of rain and on arrival we have to unplug the bung to let it drain through to the rear well.

My Destroyer was like that except that the anchor locker bung leaked and so did the one in the well (albeit slowly) so I used to leave them both out all the time otherwise the hull just filled up when it rained.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

You need to thoroughly flush the coloured liquid out immediately afterwards though.

Otherwise when you put the bilge pump on it'll look like the Red Arrows just went past

Stoo · 22 October 2010, 02:50

My Hurricane has always had the same problem. Initially I took it back to the dealer where they resealed everything they cold find to reseal. It didn't solve the problem and I learned to live with it. I store my boat dry so it isn't a big deal unless we are away camping for several days. If I am on the water all day, I might drain 1 or 2 litres of water tops.

My belief is that the water is getting into the hull from the engine well somehow, but I can't really access the area. (The engine well will get water into it from the trunks if they aren't all the way up

I will point out that I picked up my boat used after it was flipped by the previous owners... a Police Marine Unit. They kept the boat in the water and my understanding is that the boat flipped end over end when they stuffed it with a hull full of water and under-inflated tubes.

willk · 22 October 2010, 15:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stoo

a Police Marine Unit. They kept the boat in the water and my understanding is that the boat flipped end over end when they stuffed it with a hull full of water and under-inflated tubes.

The day pigs flew, eh?

searover · 24 October 2010, 20:34

I got a couple of plumbing fittings and t piece and screwed a presure gauge on one end and a pump fitting on the other and screwed it in . then pumped it upand waited no problem it kept the pressure, so i wonder i can leave some pressure in cant leak in then but id have to make a differant fitting then .. avon 560 very happy with it,for what i do....exept of course that cheap plastic bung. now fixed a new brass one.......cheers

Stoo · 28 October 2010, 16:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by willk

The day pigs flew, eh?

LOL... So it seemed. There was three of them launched I understand. It probably would have been fairly entertaining to watch. Fortunately, only their pride was injured.

I've since run into one of the officers that was on board that day and he was pleased to see "his" abandoned boat was still in service.

9D280 · 29 October 2010, 11:20

Assuming it's the bung, I had the same problem on a Laser dinghy. by smearing the bung threads / seal area with petroleum jelly (AKA vaseline - don't tell Mrs 9D where I got it from

) cured the leak instantly. Same with the threads on the storage bucket hatch. I now do te same with the big brass screw bung on the humber.

It;s quite easy to get a shrader valve out an old bike inner toob & mount it in a similar bung, I made one for testing bouyancy tanks on dinghies, but it works equally well for rib hulls!

The fact it's salt water shouts "bung", but it's a rib, any water is going to be salty, even if just because the rain washed the dried salt from the last trip off the floor / toobs ......