I was going to reseal my knot sensor by loosening the nut inside the hull and caulking, but alas, I have a darned bilge pan liner which means that I have a 1/8 -1/4 inch thick piece of fiber glass sandwiched to the hull... without epoxy. So when I reseal the nut, water seeps in between the liner and the hull. Has anyone successfully drilled out the liner in this area? How without cutting the hull? What tool? If I can't remove the liner.. then I have to have the boat pulled from the water.. $150-$200 to solve a $5.00 leak.. Help.... Also, I have heard people talking about drying the bilge to protect the hull, but apparently in the 34 all that one dries is the liner.. Any ideas on this?
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Liners may be strong but they are a pain in the a
ft cabin and in the fore cabin and the main cabin too! I have not pulled the fittings on my sensors yet so I cannot compare my H34 with yours. Mine is on the hard so I do not have the same problem. Unless someone can go over the side and smear some sealant on the fitting, it will probably continue to leak. A long term fix will be to fix the gap in the fiberglass. I think a Dremel Tool with the proper bit should be used to open up the gap and then reseal it with epoxy. Then you can rebed the fitting and stop worrying about leaks. There were several discussions last summer on the pan and the problem with keeping the bilge dry. Limber holes can be added to drain the pan. Make sure the Icebox drains into a sump or you will always have a wet bilge when you use the box. I added limber holes in the bilge, between the pan and the hull. These holes are being added on all 4 sides of the bilge in order to remove trapped water. attached is a photo of the first hole I started. Didn't finish it yet cause my 25 year old Dremel tool finally bit the dust and I have to go buy a new one. The edge of the pan is glassed to the hull but the quality of the glass work on my boat is marginal at best as water seeps through a fold in the fiberglass. When I cut the first hole I got about four cups of water from the hole. I started at the existing wiring hole in the pan liner and carefully cut down through the pan and removed the fiberglass that was holding the pan to the hull in a space about 3/4" wide. Plan to do the same thing three more times on the other sides. I will finish up the new limber holes with some epoxy on all the raw edges and gaps and finally a fresh coat of paint to make it shipshape. There was also a discussion on water weaping up from the screw hole where the float switch and the bilge pump are mounted. The worry last year was that water was leaking through the keel/hull seam and leaking into the boat. Well my boat has been on the hard since November and when I pulled the pump and switch in February, water started weeping into the bilge by comming up into the bilge through the screw holes. When I winterized the boal last fall, I drained the water heater. The water is still somewhere in the pan cause It has not yet made it to the bilge. Unless of course the water heater is hooked to the schew holes in the bilge. Short of pulling the sole and adding lot of limber holes and then tearing out some of the fiberglass from the bilge and removing and reglassing some of the pan, I do not think I can get a clean and dry bilge in my H34. Hope this helps, sorry I do not have a good answer for the original problem
ft cabin and in the fore cabin and the main cabin too! I have not pulled the fittings on my sensors yet so I cannot compare my H34 with yours. Mine is on the hard so I do not have the same problem. Unless someone can go over the side and smear some sealant on the fitting, it will probably continue to leak. A long term fix will be to fix the gap in the fiberglass. I think a Dremel Tool with the proper bit should be used to open up the gap and then reseal it with epoxy. Then you can rebed the fitting and stop worrying about leaks. There were several discussions last summer on the pan and the problem with keeping the bilge dry. Limber holes can be added to drain the pan. Make sure the Icebox drains into a sump or you will always have a wet bilge when you use the box. I added limber holes in the bilge, between the pan and the hull. These holes are being added on all 4 sides of the bilge in order to remove trapped water. attached is a photo of the first hole I started. Didn't finish it yet cause my 25 year old Dremel tool finally bit the dust and I have to go buy a new one. The edge of the pan is glassed to the hull but the quality of the glass work on my boat is marginal at best as water seeps through a fold in the fiberglass. When I cut the first hole I got about four cups of water from the hole. I started at the existing wiring hole in the pan liner and carefully cut down through the pan and removed the fiberglass that was holding the pan to the hull in a space about 3/4" wide. Plan to do the same thing three more times on the other sides. I will finish up the new limber holes with some epoxy on all the raw edges and gaps and finally a fresh coat of paint to make it shipshape. There was also a discussion on water weaping up from the screw hole where the float switch and the bilge pump are mounted. The worry last year was that water was leaking through the keel/hull seam and leaking into the boat. Well my boat has been on the hard since November and when I pulled the pump and switch in February, water started weeping into the bilge by comming up into the bilge through the screw holes. When I winterized the boal last fall, I drained the water heater. The water is still somewhere in the pan cause It has not yet made it to the bilge. Unless of course the water heater is hooked to the schew holes in the bilge. Short of pulling the sole and adding lot of limber holes and then tearing out some of the fiberglass from the bilge and removing and reglassing some of the pan, I do not think I can get a clean and dry bilge in my H34. Hope this helps, sorry I do not have a good answer for the original problem
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Different boat, same problem.
Jim: We have the H'31 but the problem is basically the same. I have seen this done before and yours was probably done wrong from the beginning. They would normally cut a hole with a hole saw that is larger than the nut. Then you would only be placing the nut against a solid piece. A better solution would be to move the transducers to an area (like under the v-berth) where there is no liner. Then the transducer can be properly installed with a plywood or polyboard backing plate. It looks like you do not have a lot of choice at the present, but I think I would move it on your next haulout, if you don't sink first (just kidding).
Jim: We have the H'31 but the problem is basically the same. I have seen this done before and yours was probably done wrong from the beginning. They would normally cut a hole with a hole saw that is larger than the nut. Then you would only be placing the nut against a solid piece. A better solution would be to move the transducers to an area (like under the v-berth) where there is no liner. Then the transducer can be properly installed with a plywood or polyboard backing plate. It looks like you do not have a lot of choice at the present, but I think I would move it on your next haulout, if you don't sink first (just kidding).
31 and 34 same-bilge is inaccessible
As we now learn the truth.. unless you remove the bottom of the fake bilge (bilge liner).. you will never get the water out of the real bilge.. which lies beneath the liner. What a stinking lousy deal.
As we now learn the truth.. unless you remove the bottom of the fake bilge (bilge liner).. you will never get the water out of the real bilge.. which lies beneath the liner. What a stinking lousy deal.
31 and 34 same-bilge is inaccessible
As we now learn the truth.. unless you remove the bottom of the fake bilge (bilge liner).. you will never get the water out of the real bilge.. which lies beneath the liner. What a stinking lousy deal.
As we now learn the truth.. unless you remove the bottom of the fake bilge (bilge liner).. you will never get the water out of the real bilge.. which lies beneath the liner. What a stinking lousy deal.
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