Hunter 38 Water Leaks

Don S/V ILLusion · Aug 25, 2015

Doubt you will hear of any generic problems like you described other than the. Obvious window frame leaks.

A hose is your friend. Focus the stream at likely sources one at a time and you'll have identified the cause.

mz4wheeler · Aug 25, 2015

Seadaze38 said:
Hello,

My recent purchase of a 2007 Hunter 38 keeps turning up
problems, so I am wondering if the leaks are common and if anyone has experience with them (I am new to sailing and still trying to get this thing ready to go).

I was in the boat one evening recently and it started raining fairly hard, when I noticed water on the floor in front of the oven. A preliminary investigation found water pouring in under the oven in the open space below the actual oven bottom and above the drawer below. I could not figure out where it was coming from and it wet the whole area under there pretty good. Anyone?

A little more straight forward is a problem where water is dripping down the starboard interior of the stern state room, appearing to come from the port windows that is closest to the stateroom entrance. But when I open the port I do not see a sign of leaking. Is there a reseal kit available for this?

Any hints are appreciated.

Chuck

Check behind the rub rails. On my 33.5, there were quite a few open holes hidden that took months to figure out the source.

Ken13559 · Aug 25, 2015

Sometime cracks/gaps from deck/cockpit leaks. Water then flow in the liner finding its way around inside. A leak from one area may wet another part elsewhere.

quadrille38 · Aug 25, 2015

I have a 2008 38 and the first thing I'd check is the gaskets in the ports. If they have dirt in them they don't seal properly. Mine will drip if they have dirt caught between the gasket and the glass.

Clean the gaskets carefully with a damp,cloth and soap if needed.
At the same time inspect them to make sure there isn't a tear or wrinkle that is causing leakage.

I've noticed that in normal rain I don't get a leak but if I get carried away when cleaning the decks and spray the ports with spray from a nozzle they will leak. Direct spray with too much pressure forces the water through.

SEMPERAVANTI41 · Aug 25, 2015

I have also had leaks when the window gaskets get dirty. After I clean them, I wipe plumber's silicone (from HD) on them. No more leaks!

charliegrau · Aug 26, 2015

I had some leaks on my 380. Difficult to track the source of the leak because of the fiberglass headliner. Pretty much solved the problem by rebedding hardware on the cabin top. Rebed the fasteners for the removable deck panels, rebed the fasteners for the under deck sheaves, rebed the fasteners for the hand rails. "Rebedding" was just removing the fastener, cleaning out the hole, and refastening with 4200 as a sealant. There were a couple of instances where the hole had to be filled and redrilled.

JamesG161 · Aug 28, 2015

I had the same "phantom" leaks. Nothing on the inside surface from windows or other cabin openings.

But...

Two slow drain bilges had water too.

Here what I found...

1) The rub rail had a few spots that needed caulking, but Hunter Design has deck over hull on rub rail. So only the hold down screws could leak. This was a slight chance.

2) The life rail stanchions have support brackets that are though bolted with a backing plate. Over the years of "Docking helpers" grabbing the stanchion to pull my 13Ton boat to dock. That has broken the 5200 seal. I opened up the access panels, at least on boat, Hunter put them for bolt access. I found the drips!:dance:

I am slowly resealing each stanchion support bolt. It isn't fast or easy.

I would suggest the stanchion nearest your oven.

Jim...

PS: I am not sure what Hunter uses to seal today, but my docs show 3M 5200

mz4wheeler · Aug 28, 2015

JamesG161 said:
1) The rub rail had a few spots that needed caulking, but Hunter Design has deck over hull on rub rail. So only the hold down screws could leak. This was a slight chance.

My rub rail had "hidden" holes behind the rubber. When I pulled off all the rubber, there were 4 (empty) screw holes, allowing water penetration (on BOTH sides!). We unscrewed all, resealed, and filled in the holes.

My theory is at the factory, they drilled multiple screws that wouldn't "bite". They unscrewed it and tried again. It was leaking for decades!!

Gordon Taylor · Aug 28, 2015

We had a couple of problems with leaks into the aft cabin of out 2005 38.

The first was from the aft starboard arch plate. This is the one that has the wiring running up to the speakers and light for the arch. Not a factory problem but we had the arch removed and replaced for shipping. There is a panel in the overhead that can be removed above the head of the berth. The instructions from Hunter called for caulking only the bolt holes, in retrospect not the best advice. Spray water on the deck above and look see if water is leaking here. On our boat the bolt holes were caulked but not the entire plate so water was pouring between the four areas of caulk through the large hole for wires.

Our second leak only happened in prolonged heavy rain. Was down the aft bulkhead on starboard side at the back of the bed. Eventually having ruled out everything else, I took a caulking gun with 4200 and filled the gap in the cockpit floor around the front and sides of the pedestal for the wheel. Problem was fixed. Water had been running back in the headliner from here.

The 38 is a great boat. We have had ours for 9 years now and are still very happy. Great sail today, 21 miles on 1 tack. Sitting quietly on anchor. Will be worth a bit of effort for you to sort everything out. There is some great support available from this site. Don't be afraid to ask.

Hunter 38 Water Leaks

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SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John

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