My Oday has leaky thru hulls (3). They drip less than a gallon a day. Before I launch for the summer I was thinking of resealing. Should I bother?? What suggestions do you have to seal? Thanks in advance. Billy C.
leaky thru hulls
- Thread starter billyc13
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What type of seacocks do you have? Where are they leaking from? Do you have pictures of the seacocks?
A gallon a day seems like a lot to me. They could be near failure.
I would recommend re-bedding them if they are actual seacocks, rather than gate valves. If they are gate valves, I'd recommend replacing them. I'd recommend you follow Maine Sail's excellent tutorial on this.
Billy C:
I'm surprised so few responses to your post considering the safety implications. Sorry to be alarmist, but I'm in Hermit Scott's camp. Given that the leakage rate for a healthy thru hull/seacock/valve is normally zero (in its lifetime!), something is seriously wrong about "less than a gallon a day". Please consider not to put your boat back into the water until all the thru-hulls components are competently fixed. A sunken boat is the risk of not acting. If all three thru-hull areas are leaking and they are all of the same type, then they are likely failing in the same way which is worrisome. Maybe a previous PO incorrectly installed new hardware or did a band-aid fix which is now failing. If the fittings are bronze (and might now have been on the boat for 20+ years), maybe the metal has turned pink. Scrape away the surface tarnish both on the inside and outside of the hull. The color should be clean metallic gold yellow --- if pink, the bronze has been attacked by galvanic corrosion and is likely very brittle, cracked and could be near complete fracture. When opening/closing the seacock/valve on the bronze fitting, one day the valve might break right off the pinked bronze thru-hull and you'll be watching the water gush in. On the inside of the hull, are there plywood backing plates? If so, are they water logged and soft? Does your O'day have a cored hull below the water line? If so, the interior wood may have softened and the thru-hull fitting is no longer tightly mounted. Maybe the hoses are cracked or the hose clamps loose. Maybe the valves might be leaking through the stems. Many possibilities, but the problem(s) really must be fixed or the boat is not safe.
I'm surprised so few responses to your post considering the safety implications. Sorry to be alarmist, but I'm in Hermit Scott's camp. Given that the leakage rate for a healthy thru hull/seacock/valve is normally zero (in its lifetime!), something is seriously wrong about "less than a gallon a day". Please consider not to put your boat back into the water until all the thru-hulls components are competently fixed. A sunken boat is the risk of not acting. If all three thru-hull areas are leaking and they are all of the same type, then they are likely failing in the same way which is worrisome. Maybe a previous PO incorrectly installed new hardware or did a band-aid fix which is now failing. If the fittings are bronze (and might now have been on the boat for 20+ years), maybe the metal has turned pink. Scrape away the surface tarnish both on the inside and outside of the hull. The color should be clean metallic gold yellow --- if pink, the bronze has been attacked by galvanic corrosion and is likely very brittle, cracked and could be near complete fracture. When opening/closing the seacock/valve on the bronze fitting, one day the valve might break right off the pinked bronze thru-hull and you'll be watching the water gush in. On the inside of the hull, are there plywood backing plates? If so, are they water logged and soft? Does your O'day have a cored hull below the water line? If so, the interior wood may have softened and the thru-hull fitting is no longer tightly mounted. Maybe the hoses are cracked or the hose clamps loose. Maybe the valves might be leaking through the stems. Many possibilities, but the problem(s) really must be fixed or the boat is not safe.
I had a friend tell me that he had a small plumbing leak in his basement ceiling. I asked how small? he said only about a bucket full a day. We fixed it. There are no small, ignoreable, plumbing leaks they always get bigger.
Be sure to use "BRONZE" and not brass hardware. The stuff is really not that expensive and may save your life.
Purchase a quality product like Apollo or Groco thru hulls, seacocks, ball valves. It will probably be the last time you even need to replace them.
Purchase a quality product like Apollo or Groco thru hulls, seacocks, ball valves. It will probably be the last time you even need to replace them.
I would definitely replace or reseal them it's not a hard job and can save your boat and give you peace of mind. Do it now while the boat is still out of the water.
This boat has leaked like this for 10 years! It is initially wet, barely a drip/every 10 seconds that seals after two weeks in the water...plugs with algae. I will definitely remove & replace all wet fittings. The previous owner wasn't concerned...I sailed on the boat for 3 summers before it was given to me.
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