I am cursed ! I have managed to fix every deck leak on my boat, except for one. Directly above a bulkhead in a very hard to see area I am plagued with a spot that repeatedly becomes damp after a steady rain fall of 20 minutes or more. Above this bulkhead on the deck are; a stantion and a cleat which I have already re sealed with 3M 4200, a waste pump out fitting and a marine radio antenna which show no signs of dripping. Aft of the damp spot is bone dry as is the forward area, and the boat is blocked in such a way that any leak would run aft. I am thinking of filling a couple of spray bottles with water and a dark food dye solution and having someone administer a continuous flow of this mixture from the exterior. I will set up my camera to get pictures of the under side of the deck in this area in hopes that we can determine where the water is getting in from. Has anyone got any experience or comments on this procedure that will either encourage it or put a stop to it before I wreck something?
Food dye to locate leak ?
- Thread starter Chris Nowell
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I would definitely not use a dark dye! Were I to use this method I would try to find a clear fluid that glows under EV light (i.e., "black light").
However, I fail to see how this will isolate the leak.
I think 4200 is a mistake for bedding things on deck. I highly recommend butyl tape.
Is the deck cord? Could be water moving through the core from relatively far away, higher up, like where the mast enters the boat.
However, I fail to see how this will isolate the leak.
I think 4200 is a mistake for bedding things on deck. I highly recommend butyl tape.
Is the deck cord? Could be water moving through the core from relatively far away, higher up, like where the mast enters the boat.
Food dye to locate leak?
I don't have any experience with food dye to locate a leak but have had great success with the following method. Seal all obvious openings in your deck with tape. Pressurize your cabin by reversing a vaccum cleaner and inserting and sealing the hose outlet inside the cabin while the motor section is on the outside. Mix up some liquid dishwashing detergent and water in a spray bottle and spray any suspected areas with the solution. Bubbles will form where air is escaping form the cabin indicating where your leak is coming from. Remove the hardware and seal with approprite sealant. Problem solved!
I don't have any experience with food dye to locate a leak but have had great success with the following method. Seal all obvious openings in your deck with tape. Pressurize your cabin by reversing a vaccum cleaner and inserting and sealing the hose outlet inside the cabin while the motor section is on the outside. Mix up some liquid dishwashing detergent and water in a spray bottle and spray any suspected areas with the solution. Bubbles will form where air is escaping form the cabin indicating where your leak is coming from. Remove the hardware and seal with approprite sealant. Problem solved!
You have actually done that? I can't imagine how I would make my C36 cabin tight enough to be able to blow bubbles through a leak.
Consider, for a moment, if nothing else, that the engine blower and vent, both 3" or 4" in diameter, are vented to the outside.
Consider, for example, that the cabin is vented to the area under the lazarette.
Consider that if there is a hole in your mast for wires, etc., and that the bottom of it on the step is hardly air-tight; and the mast is vented to the outside, at the top, if nowhere else.
I am incredulous.
I think we've stumbled onto the source of an oft used expression.......
"He (She) runs a very tight ship!" :stirthepot:
How about trying Captain ? (I can't remember)'s Creeping Crack Sealer?
"He (She) runs a very tight ship!" :stirthepot:
How about trying Captain ? (I can't remember)'s Creeping Crack Sealer?
what items on boat are uphill from the water ingress? is there a hatch or mast step? grabrails?? ports??
good luck. have fun chasing the leaks all down. i had a bothersome overhead leak in my ericson--i learned it was the mast step on the deck. would run down to the chain plates then sneak into boat without leaving a track.
good luck. have fun chasing the leaks all down. i had a bothersome overhead leak in my ericson--i learned it was the mast step on the deck. would run down to the chain plates then sneak into boat without leaving a track.
Food dye to locate leak?
Works like a charm. Sealing the large openings is easy. You can use plastic bags with tape or rubber bands over cabin vents. It's impossible to seal every opening but it's not necessary. Concentrate on the large openings first until you get some good pressure. A vacuum cleaner (in reverse) generates a considerable amount of cubic feet of air per minute. As long as you can provide some pressure within the cabin you'll be blowing bubbles in no time.
Works like a charm. Sealing the large openings is easy. You can use plastic bags with tape or rubber bands over cabin vents. It's impossible to seal every opening but it's not necessary. Concentrate on the large openings first until you get some good pressure. A vacuum cleaner (in reverse) generates a considerable amount of cubic feet of air per minute. As long as you can provide some pressure within the cabin you'll be blowing bubbles in no time.
Leaks come from holes that pierce the deck.
if you can wet down each hole in turn and check for leaks each time you should be able to ID the offending hole.
if you can wet down each hole in turn and check for leaks each time you should be able to ID the offending hole.
Captain Tolley's
31 Seahorse is right. Try Captain Tolley's creeping crack sealer. It is a thin liquid that seeps into the smallest of cracks and seals them. I use it on all of my deck mounted fittings, around the mast step, and around all screw heads. Not a leak in years. Wipe up any drips or runs because it darkens in the sun.
31 Seahorse is right. Try Captain Tolley's creeping crack sealer. It is a thin liquid that seeps into the smallest of cracks and seals them. I use it on all of my deck mounted fittings, around the mast step, and around all screw heads. Not a leak in years. Wipe up any drips or runs because it darkens in the sun.
Ahoy, thanks all for your inputs. I tried sealing an' pressurizing but I guess there are too many other areas for air to escape the small amount of pressure that I was able to apply with my shop vac. Maybe if I had "shop" pressure of 160 psi it may have worked but I'm on the hard in the middle of a gravel lot with only my little gen set. The dye DID work, bright orange streaks were followed back to, (this is embarasing), a faulty fiberglass repair that I had done a few days previously. Looks like I didn't wet the cloth out well enough in just one little spot and a pinhole developed before the resin kicked. It was so small that the water just seeped in, took a few minutes of saturating the spot to begin seeing it on the inside. I won't be in such a hurry next time. Thanx all.
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