Oceanis 41 bilge water

[zoya]

Curious to hear back from other 41 owners. Is anyone lucky enough to have a dry bilge or if not, how often does the pump kick in? The bilge on my 41 tends to collect quite a bit if water, the pump goes on often but stopped working a few weeks ago. I am waiting for a replacement to arrive. Best.

 

[Paul Mermelstein]

Curious to hear back from other 41 owners. Is anyone lucky enough to have a dry bilge or if not, how often does the pump kick in? The bilge on my 41 tends to collect quite a bit if water, the pump goes on often but stopped working a few weeks ago. I am waiting for a replacement to arrive. Best.

My 393 has a dry bilge. I would expect that you should too. Have you determined if the water is fresh or salt water to start narrowing down the potential sources?

 

[zoya]

I am on the Chesapeake bay so, with brackish water, it's a bit hard to figure out but ill try... I had water coming in the bilge during winter with fresh water tanks emptied so, I assume this is sea water. So you mean that your bilge pump rarely kicks on?

Thanks.

 

[Tejas]

If fresh water, the source could be rain water or tankage. A way to determine which is a swimming pool pH test kit. Rain water should be close to pure water with a pH of 7.

Our boat is in a lake, an a pH test helped us distinguish between lake-water, rain or tankage. The answer was tankage. The shower head mounted on the transom had been cracked by freezing weather and leaked into the bilge whenever the water system was pressurized.

 

[Captn TJ]

I am on the Chesapeake bay so, with brackish water, it's a bit hard to figure out but ill try... I had water coming in the bilge during winter with fresh water tanks emptied so, I assume this is sea water. So you mean that your bilge pump rarely kicks on?

Thanks.

I assume the boat was on the hard during the winter and winterized?

If so, then it must be rainwater since the water system was turned off

Our 423 has a dry bilge.

 

[zoya]

Actually no, my boat was in the water, I sailed through the winter.

 

[Paul Mermelstein]

I am on the Chesapeake bay so, with brackish water, it's a bit hard to figure out but ill try... I had water coming in the bilge during winter with fresh water tanks emptied so, I assume this is sea water. So you mean that your bilge pump rarely kicks on?

Thanks.

I am on the Chesapeake too, about 20 miles north of Annapolis. To me, brackish water tastes and looks different than clear fresh water from a water tank, rain leakage, etc.

Does the leak get worse when the engine is on and you are underway? Did you check around each seacock in the boat? If you close ALL seacocks, does the problem diminish or go away?

How about after it rains? Or when your fresh water system is pressurized?

You can start to narrow it down by observing when it is worse and perhaps if you notice any other areas of moisture. We may be able to help with more information.

 

[zoya]

Ok, thanks. I'll run through the checklist and try to pinpoint the source.

 

[Compromise]

My 41 benny has been exceptionaly dry. That is after I took care of the condensation problem. We had a cooler and longer than normal Spring in Galveston Bay this year so I had to keep the dehumidifier running. It definitely did the trick. As a matter of fact, I need to test the bilge pumps. Haven't done that yet.

 

[zoya]

So, I am at anchor, no AC running and my bilge pump kicks in every 10 minutes or so. Normal?

 

[Captn TJ]

I assume its kicking because of water in bilge vs short? You shouldn't have any water in the bilge - I'd start looking for the source.

 

[Omoishiroi]

dry bilge

Curious to hear back from other 41 owners. Is anyone lucky enough to have a dry bilge or if not, how often does the pump kick in? The bilge on my 41 tends to collect quite a bit if water, the pump goes on often but stopped working a few weeks ago. I am waiting for a replacement to arrive. Best.

I also have a 41 - bilge is totally dry. I would have this looked at by the dealer. If salt water they may have to drop the keel and reseal.

 

[taipoutini]

In my Oceanis 42 CC -05 the bilge is usually dry. Only last winter fresh water accumulated in the bilge due to a blocked drain on the aft deck. Cleaned it - Easy fix.

 

[Lee Hadjiosif]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the shaft seal? Is there water under the shaft seal? The seal should be dripless. My bilge pump never comes on unless the A/C is running and still it will take a couple of days before the water rises to lift the float switch. If the seal is not leaking and the A/C is not on and is not raining and still get water in the bilge, I would not be using the boat until I traced the leak. First shut off all the thru-hulls and turn on one at a time and check. Also shut off the fresh water supply right before the water pump in case it's a fresh water line leak. Good luck.

 

[bigmc83]

I have a 37 and am also on the Chesapeake. My bilge stays pretty dry, and was actually bone dry when it went back in the water this year. Normally only a tiny bit of water in the very bottom around the pump intake. Aside from all the systems and hardware mentioned, the areas that I access the most which would cause a wet bilge include:

A/C Strainer- I clean this out when needed. Make sure you haven't lost the gasket

Speed Transducer-This has not been a problem for me, but there could be some weeping or needs tightening

Your bilge pump running every 10 minutes seems extremely often for these boats.

-Sean