bilge water

[crui05]

after a week on her mooring i had reason to bring her out and whe nthe drain plug was removed a lot of water came out.
is this rain water getting through the inspection covers ?
or is it more sinister. hull seems good.
if its coming through the circular inspection covers then is there a sealant i can wipe over the rubber seals with ?

[Last Tango]

Catch some of the water and boil off a tablespoon full to see if you're left with salt.

Good indication of where it's coming from.

These circular inspection covers aren't 100%

[BigE]

My boat has always had a lot of water in the hull. I had it on the driveway for a week and with only light mist in the air it still acquired two buckets of water from the moisture.

Before putting it in the water I cut a hole in the lower hull so I could get to the lowest part of the hull just before the drain plug and fitted an automatic bilge pump. It now sits there turning itself on and off every 3 minutes but does the job. My big concern was power usage but it was doing it for over a week and still had plenty of power in it to start the engine etc.

[ShinyShoe]

Originally Posted by Last Tango

Catch some of the water and boil off a tablespoon full to see if you're left with salt.

Just double check it doesn't smell of fuel first ;-)

We've had the odd tale of a bilge full of fuel before!

These circular inspection covers aren't 100%

They should be 99.999%. Dinghy sailors use these routinely and they can be upside down for long periods and still come in dry inside. You shouldn't need a sealant...

I'd start with my drain plug - purely based on past experience.

Soapy water and the air pump should find the point of entry for you...

[Last Tango]

Originally Posted by ShinyShoe

.....They should be 99.999%.

Yep. They should be...but they're not.

I've replaced one twice because it was leaking (a "branded" make) and ended up having to use sealant on it.

They'll keep out rain but if they end up submerged under a pool on the deck they'll leak.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Last Tango

Catch some of the water and boil off a tablespoon full to see if you're left with salt.

Or stick your finger in & taste it, a much quicker "field test"[emoji6]

[willk]

Originally Posted by BigE

My boat has always had a lot of water in the hull. I had it on the driveway for a week and with only light mist in the air it still acquired two buckets of water from the moisture.

Before putting it in the water I cut a hole in the lower hull so I could get to the lowest part of the hull just before the drain plug and fitted an automatic bilge pump. It now sits there turning itself on and off every 3 minutes but does the job.

It sounds like you have a hole in your boat!

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by BigE

My boat has always had a lot of water in the hull. I had it on the driveway for a week and with only light mist in the air it still acquired two buckets of water from the moisture.

Before putting it in the water I cut a hole in the lower hull so I could get to the lowest part of the hull just before the drain plug and fitted an automatic bilge pump. It now sits there turning itself on and off every 3 minutes but does the job. My big concern was power usage but it was doing it for over a week and still had plenty of power in it to start the engine etc.

If it's a Rule Auto Computer controlled bilge pump, they cycle every 3 minutes or so "hunting" for water, bloody annoying. I have mine on a manual switch.

[Last Tango]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Or stick your finger in & taste it, a much quicker "field test"[emoji6]

There's probably lots of scenarios this would apply to but for most it would be safer to get someone else to do that for you...

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Last Tango

There's probably lots of scenarios this would apply to but for most it would be safer to get someone else to do that for you...

Ach! As a diver of many years & working in the "waste water treatment" sector, I've probably ingested much worse than a drop of bilge water[emoji6] When I'm flushing the engine, it's SOP to taste the water from the tell tale (notice I didn't say "pee hole"[emoji15]) to see if the salt is gone.

[BigE]

Originally Posted by willk

It sounds like you have a hole in your boat!

Nope, I had it in storage in a barn for 4 months, no water in the hull to come out the drain plug. Put it on the driveway, checked the drain plug, no water, Put the drain plug in and left it for 2 days, no rain, just moisture in the air. Pulled the drain plug and got a whole bucket of water out. For me at least, a lot of water seems to come from the air and collect in the hull.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by BigE

Nope, I had it in storage in a barn for 4 months, no water in the hull to come out the drain plug. Put it on the driveway, checked the drain plug, no water, Put the drain plug in and left it for 2 days, no rain, just moisture in the air. Pulled the drain plug and got a whole bucket of water out. For me at least, a lot of water seems to come from the air and collect in the hull.

Is your drive on a slope, with the drain bung at the low end? It may be that water was already in there & drained once the boat was at an angle, just a thought. I can't see you getting a bucket full of water through condensation.

[BigE]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Is your drive on a slope, with the drain bung at the low end? It may be that water was already in there & drained once the boat was at an angle, just a thought. I can't see you getting a bucket full of water through condensation.

When I took the boat out of the water last year I held it on the slipway so it was at a steep angle and drained it. Rocked it about a bit also to make sure it all came out.

The driveway is dead flat, the jocky wheel was quite extended to the boat angled towards the back so assuming the internal hull doesn't have any bulkheads or ridges to trap water all would have come out.

It is very odd and it amazes me how much water comes from the air.

[jeffstevens763@g]

every drain plug ive had has leaked to some degree, hulls condensate too lot of water in a large rib just from that.anchor/deck hatches leak too in my experience.