water ballast port gasket

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T

Terry

I am replacing a bad gasket on the water entry port of the ballast tank on the H26. I unscrewed the wing nut off of the port "door" from inside the boat and the port door fell out of the boat onto the trailer. Ok so far. But the shaft is so long that it still extends into the ballast tank of the boat. So I have no access to the top of this 1.5-2 ft long bolt to run the gasket down over the top. My plan is then to slit the circular gasket down a radius, make a hole for the long bolt, shove the gasket over the centering peg and silicone the gasket down. I will also silicone shut the slit I put in the gasket. Has anyone done this already, is this what you did, or is there a better way? I'm hoping to complete this job with the boat remaining on the trailer.
 
M

Marcel

That's the way

I used red rubber gasket material about 1/8" thick, cut to the diameter of the valve plate. A gasket hole punch directly at the center worked well, then a razor blade cut from the center hole to the edge. That let me bend the gasket around the shaft, and the 2 edges butted together. Silicone is fine, you don't need a perfect seal anyway. The ballast tank is not pressurized, and just as much water is trying to get into the tank as out.
 
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Michael Bell

Well...

Keep in mind that when your heeled up, the water would want to flow out of the tank. I'm sure what your doing is OK, but I would try and get a good seal.
 
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crazy dave

bad idea

I have seen the result of a cut and glued gasket often when it is brought into the shop. Suggest getting the boat on trailer at an awkward angle and then take care of that with one gasket. It seems cut gaskets get caught and come off or unglued.
 
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Marcel

Depends on how well you do it

Terry, how long the replacement gasket lasts depends on the quality of the gasket material and how well you install it, even if you decide to split the gasket. My replacement is certainly lasting longer than the original Hunter gasket did. Of course, if you do not use a durable material, and care in installation, then it will not last. Saying that it can not be done that way under any circumstances is a guess at best.
 
T

Terry

Result

Thanks for the responses. I've finished, now we'll see if it leaks. I liberally coated the metal plate with 3M 4000. I then place the gasket on top of that. I had slit the gasket to the center and made a hole for the main shaft and one for the guiding pin. I tried to get the slit sealed and lined up in-between the drain holes. Hopefully, that will take care of that -- now on to the other jobs.
 
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Jeff Peltier

Remove the Centerboard Bunk

and you should be able to wiggle it out of there if it's like my trailer. Jeff Peltier
 
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Mark

I'm with Crazy on this one

Having a slit in the gsket will eventually mean a break down no matter how good the goo. Try floating her on a fine (warm) day. Tie her up and don the suba gear and drop that shaft. Place the new gasket on let it dry and refit. A bit of messing around but the result will save you pain in the future!
 
H

Harvey Small

Mask and Snorkel

Scuba gear? A mask and snorkel should be all you need to drop the assembly, and you can do without the snorkel in a pinch. You will need a buddy in the boat to release the wing nut and rod at your signal. And don't worry about leaving the boat in the water with the rod and gasket out -- the wing nut and vent are above the waterline on an even keel.
 
R

Ron Mehringer

Why worry?

Considering that the boat won't take on excess water even if the port is open, why all the concern about the "slit gasket" approach. I don't see how a small leak in the seal would matter much. Ron Mehringer s/v Hydro-Therapy
 
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Tom

Boat's motion can suck the ballast out...

The water flowing past the ballast tank valve, due to the boats motion through the water, will create low pressure relative to the water in the tank and can gradually suck the water out of the tank if the seal is not tight. This is called the venturi effect. Fair winds, Tom
 
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Mark

Spot on Ron

I had not fully tightened up mine once and yes that is exactly what happened.
 
A

alan

Sorry Ron, also have to disagree.

If you have the occasion to beat for extended periods of time, you would loose ballast through a leaky valve via heeling. Air could replace water lost here causing a tender boat to become very unstable. I know my valves, tank and cover are tight because...click on link. I don't think that having the tank full on the trailer is a good idea but it has not harmed the boat as far as I can tell. alan
 
T

Terry

My Defense

Ok, I've gotten many replies after my note that the job was done. Let me comment on some of those replies. The water ballast port hole on the bottom of the boat had a gasket that was folded back -- therefore no seal. Not replacing it was not an option. Further, when I launch the boat and have the ballast port open on the bottom of the boat and the air vent open on the top, water pours into the boat. I have discussed this with Hunter, and was told that indeed the vent hole under the step was made to the same height as the natural water level after filling. In other words, I MUST monitor the inflo of water into the tank and close off everything before the water overflows the top of the ballast chamber and comes into the boat. Thus, the scuba thing (of which I'm not able anyway,) is out of the question in my case. The Venturi effect does indeed work nicely. If we run the boat with the engine 6 or 7 kn with the lower entry port open, we can take down the water ballast level a few inches in 10 min or more. Helps before pulling boat out, etc.
 
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Ron Mehringer

Venturi - didn't think of that

Good point about the venturi effect. Didn't think of that, despite having taken my fair share of fluid dynamics classes back in college. That's what I get for abandoning engineering and taking up a career in sales! Terry - I've never heard of a H26 that will overfill. That doesn't sound right. Does anyone else have that issue? Others have even commented in the past that if the hull were to be holed in the water tank, the boat would still float since the water wouldn't rise any higher than it would when the port is open. In other words it wouldn't spill out the air vent. Very curious. Ron Mehringer s/v Hydro-Therapy
 
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Brigg Franklin

Tank overflow

The tank definitly overflows when you have four or more people and all their gear on board and the water line rises and inch or two above the empty boat level. Last weekend I took on 20 gallons of water before the bilge pump started up and kept the level down, and this was tied up to the dock at night. If you get water leaking out the top of the tank, as I have, there are problems at both ends of the tank. My lower valve (see picture) has dried harden resin coating much of the gasket, and the top valve has raised drops of hard resin keeping the washer from sealing. Someone at Hunter quality control was asleep when my boat went through check out. I plan to do the loading ramp trik to drop the lower valve. When I get the valve just off the trailer end I will have the wife unscrew the top nut and then push a cork into the open hole. That should keep extra water from entering the tank at the bottom. I will then retrailer the boat and pull it back home until I can replace the gasket. I'll do the reverse after the repairs. Question: what kind of gasket material should I use? The current stuff is a black rubbery 1/8" thick stuff. Aside from the resin coating on the gasket, it is missing parts around the edges. The boat bottom in the valve area is also very rough and needs sanding/smoothing. The other problem I have is that when water gets into the small area between the cabin sole and the tank top it migrates into the lockers under the seats, under the galley and under the head cabinet. It is flowing through thin places in the glass/resin filler between the sole and tank top. I can sit and watch it seep through small holes. What can I "paint" on this area to seal the lockers from the bilge? The glass has been overpainted with the eggshell white (paint?) that covers the locker interiors. All suggeations are appreciated.
 

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Brigg Franklin

Other side of the valve

This is a picture of the boat side of the fill valve. It needs to be smooth also to make a good seal. You can see mine is quite rough. A water ballast system will only work if the water is completely trapped inside the tank. When the boat is heeled the water is lifted above the external water line and provides downward pressure or righting moment. That water will also try to flow out of the tank at both the top and bottom valves, causing loss of balast and loss of stability. It is very important to have a good seal. I'll post a picture/project here when I finish the new gaskets. Brigg
 

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Gerard

Hi Terry-

Sounds like you've got it under control. Please let us know how it works. I'm interested in case the one goes on my 95. I've wondered how to fix it. Is the weather as bad on Lake Erie as it has been on Lake Ontario?
 
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Rick Webb

Brigg,

Take a look at the mobile home roof paint at your local home center. It is a rubbery sort of paint made to seal metal and fiberglass roofs. I used it on my metal shed that had started leaking after I moved it and no more leaks.
 
B

Brigg Franklin

Pulled the plug

An update on pulling the ballast plug. I took Jeff's idea to move the trailer keel board and was able to drop the ballast tank plug with little trouble and on dry land. I noticed that there are only three bolts holding the long keel board in place. Also, the keel only rests in one spot, on the front lower edge, on the board. So, I took out the bolts and pivited the board under the keel, until the plug dropped off the edge (see photo). I'm playing with the idea of adding a layer of silicone latex sealer to the top of the existing gasket to build it up an 1/8th inch or so. I'll use the kind that stays flexible. If it doesn't work I can still replace the gasket. I also noticed that the circular metal plate, on my plug, is not at right angles to the long threaded rod welded into it's center. The port side of the plate, away from the guide rod, doesn't quite touch the hull while the starboard side is tightly compressed. If you look closely at the previous picture of the plug you can notice the difference in the gasket. I figured this out when I closed the plug tight and started adding water into the tank through the top vent hole using a hose. The water trickled out the port side of the plug. This should be a good way to test your seal if your boat is on the trailer. I haven't figured out a good way to square the plate so I'll just build up the gasket on the port side. I'll add all the pictures to my sailing web site and the projects page here. Brigg
 

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