Folks HELP - My two year old H-26 has developed a serious leak. Water came up one inch above the cabin sole in a two week period while docked. It is very salty so I do not think it is rain water. I checked the compession post seal and the knot meter through hull and they look ok. There are no other below water line through hulls. The water appears to come up around the access cover floor fitting from the bilge below. The vee berth floor and areas below the cabin seats are dry. The water seems to be leaking into the bilge from either the hull or water ballast tank.I have not determined which. The rear bilge pump is below the center bilge water level but there is a 3 by 4 inch fiber glass hump across the bilge just behind the access cover. This hump prevents the center bilge under the cabin sole from draining into the stern bilge until the water level is above the galley floor level. If the boat is heeled the water can drain to the rear around the hump but if the boat is docked it cannot and as the bilge fills it seeps up around the access cover. Anyone have any advice on- 1) How to find and fix the leak. 2) How to drain the bilge under the cabin sole before it floods the floor. 3) Should the access cover be water tight? It was installed without caulk or o-rings and is not water tight. 4) Similar experiences? Thanks Pat H
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Dave Oberholtzer
dye
Maby try a colored dye in the ballast tank (food coloring or something) to see if it is from there
Maby try a colored dye in the ballast tank (food coloring or something) to see if it is from there
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Dave Condon
LeaK
Pat; You advised water leaking into the boat and it tasted salty. Here is what you need to do. First, remove the access panel at the base of the compression post which is either screwed or siliconed down. The post sits down on top of a plate which contains a large bolt. There are several things to check here. First, see if you have any holes on the base appx 1 inch up from the base that the compression post fits into. IF you do and there are no screws, insert two #10 screws with 5200 selant. The second item the plate resting on top of the fiberglass which may have a broken seal. You will be able to detect if you take the boat out sailing on both heels and/or under motor. Also you might be able to detect with 6-8 beefy guys on board standing at the bow and then in the back. Use 5200 to seal. Finally, tighten bolt if not tight and smear 5200 on it. The next place is the controls under the step. See if the drain bail plug is tight. Also check to see the gasket under the flat washer is ok. To see if water tight, then have the guys stand on the rear of boat and observe. The next area to check is the hull to deck joint on the transom. Again with the guys standing on the back of the boat, observe this area inside from the rear berth. If any add ons are below the water line, check them. Finally, if nothing appears to be leakiing, add a large can of pink cool aid mix to the tank when filling as this will show if any tank leaks. Frankly, I believe you will find your problem at the base of the compression post. If you are still having trouble, call Gregg Emerson at Hunter and he will give you my number. I know the boat too well
Pat; You advised water leaking into the boat and it tasted salty. Here is what you need to do. First, remove the access panel at the base of the compression post which is either screwed or siliconed down. The post sits down on top of a plate which contains a large bolt. There are several things to check here. First, see if you have any holes on the base appx 1 inch up from the base that the compression post fits into. IF you do and there are no screws, insert two #10 screws with 5200 selant. The second item the plate resting on top of the fiberglass which may have a broken seal. You will be able to detect if you take the boat out sailing on both heels and/or under motor. Also you might be able to detect with 6-8 beefy guys on board standing at the bow and then in the back. Use 5200 to seal. Finally, tighten bolt if not tight and smear 5200 on it. The next place is the controls under the step. See if the drain bail plug is tight. Also check to see the gasket under the flat washer is ok. To see if water tight, then have the guys stand on the rear of boat and observe. The next area to check is the hull to deck joint on the transom. Again with the guys standing on the back of the boat, observe this area inside from the rear berth. If any add ons are below the water line, check them. Finally, if nothing appears to be leakiing, add a large can of pink cool aid mix to the tank when filling as this will show if any tank leaks. Frankly, I believe you will find your problem at the base of the compression post. If you are still having trouble, call Gregg Emerson at Hunter and he will give you my number. I know the boat too well
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Richard
h26 leak
I had a leak on my 26 and discovered it was the rudder bolts. They had stripped the in hull threads. I used a little sealent and bolted it through the hull with a couple of self locking bolts with flat washers and haven't had a drop of water since.
I had a leak on my 26 and discovered it was the rudder bolts. They had stripped the in hull threads. I used a little sealent and bolted it through the hull with a couple of self locking bolts with flat washers and haven't had a drop of water since.
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John Scharer
Compression Plate
This summer we started taking on water while at the Hunter Rendezous. It turned out that the water was coming throught the compression plate where it meets the fiberglass. There was not a good seal. The whole centerboard bracket had to be dropped out of the boat, a major project. It turns out the factory never sealed the underside plate with 5200. Zahnizers the host marine for the rendezous did a great job but it took 3 days.
This summer we started taking on water while at the Hunter Rendezous. It turned out that the water was coming throught the compression plate where it meets the fiberglass. There was not a good seal. The whole centerboard bracket had to be dropped out of the boat, a major project. It turns out the factory never sealed the underside plate with 5200. Zahnizers the host marine for the rendezous did a great job but it took 3 days.
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Alan Long
Another possibility
I'm not sure if this is relevant to a 26 due to the different location of the porta-potti. My 23.5 developed a serious leak and accompanied by a bilge pump failure it nearly went down. Turned out that I had recently replaced the porta-potti and removed the screws that held the original one in. The screws were a little long and had penetrated the ballast tank when the boat was manufactured...when I removed them, it started leaking. The solution was to replace the screws with new stainless steel ones, a bit longer and covered with 5200. Hasn't leaked a drop since. Hope this helps Alan Long S/V Random Access
I'm not sure if this is relevant to a 26 due to the different location of the porta-potti. My 23.5 developed a serious leak and accompanied by a bilge pump failure it nearly went down. Turned out that I had recently replaced the porta-potti and removed the screws that held the original one in. The screws were a little long and had penetrated the ballast tank when the boat was manufactured...when I removed them, it started leaking. The solution was to replace the screws with new stainless steel ones, a bit longer and covered with 5200. Hasn't leaked a drop since. Hope this helps Alan Long S/V Random Access
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Steve
Check the tank !!!
All of the aforementioned responses are excellent and should be investigated completely!!!!… I had (many!!!) leaks in the compression post area exactly as described and in the post plate including the screws not sealed. (seal the big bolt, it will work and become loose) Nevertheless, the biggest problem was a defective ballast tank discovery that put water many inches over the sole as you indicated. After many weeks of confusion and shop vacuuming water out of every space on the boat (check your ballast water level looking into the vent hole, if it drops after being full.. well…). It turned out I had several radial cracks in the tank top from below the stair area several feet towards the bow. This turned out to be a factory defect that occurred when someone or something dropped onto the tank during construction and before the sole section was laid into the hull. To fix; professionals had to remove the sole area forward of the stairs a good five feet by the width, expose the tank top problem area (they just kept cutting until they found no more cracking), and re-glass. It is now likely stronger then OEM, and you can not tell the fix was made in end. The sole sits only a few inches over the tank top and the inspection plate is indicative of the limited space. A timely and expensive fix, however I was still under warranty, thank god. I would check all possibilities especially dying the tank… and hope it is the compression post, the easiest and cheapest item to fix. LET EVERYONE KNOW WHAT YOU FIND.... GOOD LUCK
All of the aforementioned responses are excellent and should be investigated completely!!!!… I had (many!!!) leaks in the compression post area exactly as described and in the post plate including the screws not sealed. (seal the big bolt, it will work and become loose) Nevertheless, the biggest problem was a defective ballast tank discovery that put water many inches over the sole as you indicated. After many weeks of confusion and shop vacuuming water out of every space on the boat (check your ballast water level looking into the vent hole, if it drops after being full.. well…). It turned out I had several radial cracks in the tank top from below the stair area several feet towards the bow. This turned out to be a factory defect that occurred when someone or something dropped onto the tank during construction and before the sole section was laid into the hull. To fix; professionals had to remove the sole area forward of the stairs a good five feet by the width, expose the tank top problem area (they just kept cutting until they found no more cracking), and re-glass. It is now likely stronger then OEM, and you can not tell the fix was made in end. The sole sits only a few inches over the tank top and the inspection plate is indicative of the limited space. A timely and expensive fix, however I was still under warranty, thank god. I would check all possibilities especially dying the tank… and hope it is the compression post, the easiest and cheapest item to fix. LET EVERYONE KNOW WHAT YOU FIND.... GOOD LUCK
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Ron M
Getting water to the bilge pump.
Pat - Sorry to hear about your leak. As you wrote, the flooded floor area has no way of draining to the rear bilge pump (at least not until it is a couple of inches deep. Don't you all find this to be unacceptable. I do. Someone out there must have some idea as to how this problem can be overcome. Would love to hear from that person. Thanks - Ron M
Pat - Sorry to hear about your leak. As you wrote, the flooded floor area has no way of draining to the rear bilge pump (at least not until it is a couple of inches deep. Don't you all find this to be unacceptable. I do. Someone out there must have some idea as to how this problem can be overcome. Would love to hear from that person. Thanks - Ron M
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Dave Condon
Response to Steve
It is very rare to see a tank that is cracked but it was resolved and for what it is worth, Hunter has a good warranty department and they should be commended for an excellant job well done
It is very rare to see a tank that is cracked but it was resolved and for what it is worth, Hunter has a good warranty department and they should be commended for an excellant job well done
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