Water in my Bilge

[kiteflyer]

I purchased a 1991 Hunter 28 three years ago, and I always had a little bit of water in my bilge (just up to the bolts that are visible where my pump is). Problem is the automatic bilge pump runs every five minutes or so. I assumed it was normal, but then the Hunter owner next to me said I should be dry. I empty the bilge, it fills back up. I tightened the packing nut on the stuffing box, and it's dripping every 10 seconds or so, but not when I'm not running it. Pump runs even when it isn't raining. Water tank in front is empty. At a loss to figure out where the water is coming from. Keel bolts maybe? Any thoughts?

 

[whatfiero]

Taste water is it salty my leeks were from refrigerator ice melt and leek in freshwater tank also rain water trapped in between liner yes there is another space under or around the bilge you see

 

[kiteflyer]

Leeks in your refrigerator can also smell bad after a while. Salty water with leeks is the start of pickles.

 

[Warren Milberg]

You've got a 25-yr old boat so water can get in from any number of sources. When I finally got around to testing the bolts joining the hull to deck on my 1986 H28.5, I found a large number of them quite loose. Many needed to be re-caulked and tightened. Put a wrench on some and see. Also, check integrity of chain plates and mast step.

 

[rgranger]

Taste water is it salty

He is in Wisconsin.... no salty water up there.

 

[rgranger]

If you find the water is coming up through the keel bolts... a temporary fix until you can haul the boat would be to put a thick neoprene gasket under the washer of your keel bolt nut and crank it down. I'm not familiar with the H28 but I'm assuming you have at least three keel bolts. Only loosen one at a time... You should still address the seal between the keel and hull at haul out but that might help keep the funk out of your boat until you can.

 

[Benny17441]

What kind of automatic pump do you have? Is it electronically controlled or does it have a float switch, internal or detached? There are pumps that turn them selves on every2-3 minutes to test for water resistance. Another condition could be "back flow" or the return to the bilge of water that did not make it out of the discharge hose. Water that returns to the bilge could raise the level again to trigger the float switch repeatedly. The use of a check valve to stop back flow is not recommended. A volume of a cup or two of water could be normal as bilges in old boats are seldom dry. Manually scooping water and towel drying the bilge is not within the design consideration of normal. Normal is closer to a volume of water that will hold pretty constant for a few hours below the line where the pump is activated. Shut off your pump and monitor the inflow of water for a couple of days to see if the water level raises significantly pointing to a leak. It is not normal for a pump to be running and discharging water out the thru-hull every 5 minutes; it could be said that the volume of water discharged will be similar to the amount of water leaking in in five minutes so check the discharge port when the pump is running. Tracing leaks is difficult as they frequently originate at one place and manifest themselves at a different location. Is the water in the bilge fresh or salt water? Had a difficult to locate rain leak (fresh water) one time and it ended up being from the bow pulpit; rebedded the base and stanchions and it was fixed.

 

[kiteflyer]

i thought about the 2-3 min pump interval, but there's water being spot out every time so it's being replaced somehow.

 

[kiteflyer]

If the seal is broken, will I eventually have to drop the keel and reseal?

 

[kiteflyer]

And the winner is: loose stuffing box nut. Man, it's really amazing how a drip every five seconds can collect so much water in the bilge. Thanks everybody for your help!

 

[Benny17441]

While the stuffing box may be a major contributor for the pump to discharge water every 5 minutes you seem to have a larger leak than that. Fix the stuffing box and continue your search.

 

[kiteflyer]

I adjusted the stuffing box nut last weekend and after a bunch of rain this week went back to check today - NO WATER to speak of. Maybe 2 mm from condensation but a LOT better. I'll keep an eye on it until take out on Oct. 16. Thanks.