water ballast port gasket

[crazy dave]

I read enough

For your information, when the boat was designed, the water is appx 2 inches below the vent. When you add weight to any boat, guess what, the boat water line is now higher. Think about the cargo ships when the fill up with freight and they sink into the water. Same princaple. The hunter 26 and 260 will allow for one person with out water coming up through the vent or the wing bolt. You have to have a gasket on the underneath of the washer below the wing nut. If it is worn, remove it and reinstall a new one. IF the area is not smooth, then you can sand around the top of the fiberglass trunk until it is smooth or add a new thick gasket that you can really crank down on. The same is true with the intake circular plate with its gasket. On the hull, make sure there is no build up of paint where the gasket is. By the way, you do not need paint between the washer and the area of the hull where the gasket seals the entrance.Anything else, I will be glad to add to. I think this has been beaten to death. Yes I will run so I will not be flogged if I am wrong.Crazy Dave

 

[Brigg Franklin]

Please don't read this Dave

Dave, please don't read this ( darn,I see it's already too late).Dave, some of us don't know it all, as you apparently do, and we appreciate others experiences so we can learn more. We don't get bored hearing what other owners are doing with their boats, and we appreciate what they have to share. In return some of us want to share what we are learning working on our boats so other owners don't have to make the same mistakes. (What kind of boat did you say you own and work on?)My Mother always told me "If you can't say something (constructive) don't say anything at all" SO PLEASE DAVE, DO RUN, AND DON'T READ ANY MORE OF MY POSTINGS. I don't want to bore you.Brigg, Hunter 260 "Wandrin' Star"

 

[alan]

Brigg, please don't chase Dave away. Actually...

...he is a Hunter Dealer who helps out with free advise from a position of knowledge and experience. Dave would tell you that while he can be somewhat opinionated most of that is safety related and he freely admits that sometimes we have shown him a better way. Yes his last post did seem a little strong, but I think in part it's his brand of humor.You mentioned that after water started leaking from your control and vent it wound up in a number of places. From personal experience it can sit on top of the ballast tank for A LONG TIME. When heeling, this water will wind up under the sinks. Of course any leak in the sink drain or plumbing can cause this too. It took several months of sailing and heeling with towels appropriately placed and ventilation to get rid of the water.By the way, nice web page! alan

 

[Marcel]

Overdoing it?

After seeing the photos of how Hunter mounted the tank drain valves and the sealing area for the valves on other H-26 boats, and then reading how many other people have had gasket problems, I have to ask: Are we much more concerned with hermetically sealing the ballast tank drain valve than Hunter is? Just a thought.

 

[Tom]

Experience with other WB boats....

I regularly haul the boat out with the ballast valve closed because it is a good way to see if the valve is leaking. I dump the ballast at the top of the ramp so it can drain back where it came from without making a big mess. I'll occasionally get strange looks from onlookers that notice so much water pouring out of the boat. The boat and trailer can handle it OK, but I wouldn't drag it any distance like that. Before the Hunter 260, I owned a Mac26 (a 1990 sailing model, not the motor sailor they now sell). Its ballast valve is almost exactly the same design, except that the Mac26 wasn't recessed as deep into the hull the way the H260 is. While hauling the Mac26, once I noticed that the water was pouring out before the valve was open and came to realize that the threaded rod was bent. I'm pretty sure it was bent due to it being open coming on or off the trailer and hitting the aft trailer bunk -- this is one good reason for keeping the valve closed while launching or hauling the Mac26 (not a problem with the H260 trailer). I managed to use a hammer and cement block as an anvil to straighten the rod without having to replace it. The original gasket was still good on that boat when I sold it after 8 years.Are replacement gaskets available from Hunter or the dealers? My Hunter (and Mac26), which I tend to keep lightly loaded, has never had water at the ballast vent plug when at rest. On the other hand, I have friends with both type boats that load them down, and they do have to carefully watch that the vent plug and top rod gasket are both intact and they carefully monitor during filling to make sure the ballast tank is sealed when full, otherwise the boat is sinking.As a side note, I'll occasionally get water into the bilges under the aft bunk, and also under the sink in the head but never under the gally sink, under the settee seats or any where forward.I'm still tracking down the sources of these intermentent leaks, but suspect that there is water coming from the port, aft end of the boat, perhaps at the motor braket mount or the hull deck joint. The head sink has a leak above, (window or ??) and water is running down under the liner.Fair winds...Tom

 

[crazy dave]

Brig

Yes I can be a twerp and chirp like a skunk but you gotta bear with me. Yes I am a dealer but out of respect for the forum, I do not tell anyone where I am or who I am. To answer your question, I currently do not own a boat but it is true I work on them.I was involved from the outset with the orginal waterballast boats. I recall I pushed Hunter for it and had alot to say when the 23.5 was designed. I introduced the boat internationally and it was a success. I have introduced all the other water ballast boats for Hunter. Yu can say I am the Godfather of these suckers. Maybe now you can understand why I know them. I have done everything to them but once in a while I do learn something.And by the way, I do meow like a putty cat and yes I am certifiably nuts. I even can say I physically knocked Liz on her behunkus once.Crazy farthead buzzlebutt gone to fruitcake house

 

[Rob]

Venturi effect

I had that happen to me once - but only in one location. We were sailing off Venturi Beach... I was mortified to learn that something was sucking my ballast.