Leak-Quest

[jaysweet]

So I've been pretty busy with life and getting the boat ready to launch, but I did do more leak investigatng over the past couple of weeks. The answer is: 99% of the leak was from the GPS puck on the rear quarter on the starboard side:

This was original to the commissioning of the boat in 2004, and was used by our old Raymarine C80 (RIP). At some point, I unmounted it and replaced an internal coin battery, and I thought I used 4200 or some such to bed it down, but whatever I used has now started to leak profusely (like a gallon per rainstorm).

In finding the leak, I initially taped plastic over the cockpit shower box, the engine panel, and the bilge blower exhaust, and still got about a gallon of water in the bilge the next rain. I then taped over the GPS puck, and have had virtually no water in the blind bilge since then. So I'll need to unmount the thing some time soon and either do a kludgy temporary repair (caulk or 4200), or figure out how the heck I'm going to plug 3 holes and finish off the gelcoat so it doesn't look terrible.

 

[jaysweet]

I am still getting a small leak in the aft cabin (near the puck), the source of which is completely mystifying. I think I'll have to climb back there with a flashlight during a rainstorm to find it.

 

[LLoyd B]

Crazy Dave Condon has suggested to find a leak of this type you could spray the suspected leak areas with bubble solution then pressurize the hull using a shop vac or leaf blower. no guarantee but worth a shot. butyl tape is your friend

 

[jaysweet]

Long-deferred follow-up: The bilge was dry for months (with the GPS puck hole covered over), and then I started to get like 2-3 gallons of water in the bilge for no reason I could figure out. In early August, I actually completely emptied it and went for a sail, and had another gallon in the bilge. This made me strongly suspect a leak from the fresh-water plumbing system. After a couple more times of emptying a gallon or two from the bilge, it occurred to me to turn off the water cut-off between the water pump and the tank. This was a test: is it a plumbing leak, or a deck leak? Well, the bilge was dry when I visited the other day (despite several rain storms), so I think I have my answer: the original leak over the winter was from the GPS puck, but now I have a plumbing leak. Not too surprising with 22 year old PEX piping. After the pump and Hot Water Heater, it only tees off for the galley sink, the head sink, and the stern shower. So I think it shouldn't be all that hard to track down. My hope is that it's only a cracked fitting.

 

[Davidasailor26]

After the pump and Hot Water Heater, it only tees off for the galley sink, the head sink, and the stern shower. So I think it shouldn't be all that hard to track down. My hope is that it's only a cracked fitting

If the leak is after the pump you’ll hear the pump cycling to rebuild pressure every few minutes (or hours, if you have an accumulator). If closing a shutoff at the tank stopped the leak, and the pump doesn’t usually cycle, then my guess is the leak is between the tank and the pump.

 

[jaysweet]

If the leak is after the pump you’ll hear the pump cycling to rebuild pressure every few minutes (or hours, if you have an accumulator). If closing a shutoff at the tank stopped the leak, and the pump doesn’t usually cycle, then my guess is the leak is between the tank and the pump.

Yeah, it's still a little mysterious. The time when I emptied the bilge, went for a sail, and found a gallon in the bilge afterwards: I did have the pump on the whole time, but it's not so loud that I would have heard it cycle from up in the cockpit. I'm not sure how it would have gotten 3 gallons of water in the bilge during a couple of weeks of sitting in the slip with the DC power off, though, except that the water tank is higher than most of the piping connections, so just gravity could make it leak if there's a cracked fitting.

Re. your last sentence: there's maybe a couple of feet of piping between the water tank and the pump, and the shutoff is right at the pump (on the tank side). So if I shut it off there and got no leaks, there's probably no leak between tank and pump. Another factor: the pump and hot water heater are pretty far forward (under the forward leg of the salon settee), and the blind bilge that seems to be receiving the water is just at the base of the companionway steps, further aft. As it happens, this is where I'd expect the majority of the fittings to be: on either side of where the blind bilge is. So that's consistent with a leak where one of the hot/cold tubing pairs T off to go to the galley sink or the stern shower or the head sink. Or possibly where the tubing connects to the sinks themselves. I think I just need to get at all the fittings and wrap them with some dry paper towels and go for a sail with the pump turned on. Not what I'd like to be doing before a big trip in late September, but that's life.

 

[Woodworks1]

You could have more than one issue.
I had a prop shaft seal, window seals and fuel cap seal. They kept me busy this season.

 

[jaysweet]

You could have more than one issue.
I had a prop shaft seal, window seals and fuel cap seal. They kept me busy this season.

Yeah: that's my biggest fear. I'm determined to track this down and satisfy my dry bilge fantasy. But if more than one thing is happening at the same time, it can escalate the difficulty of the diagnosis. Gives me a headache, if I'm being honest. But get on with it, as they say. (or "get'er done", if you're into Blue Collar Comedy...).