Water leak in the aft cabin - help!

[Peter Blake]

I recently bought a 1996 Hunter 280.I have been spending the last couple of months ironing out all sorts of maintenance issues.A few days ago I pumped out the header tank and, as I was checking aft, I noticed a leak. Water was dripping down from the ceiling at about the place where there is the division between the aft cabin and the chamber holding the header tank and diesel tank.On further investigation, I noticed that the chamber for the emergency tiller is full of water.Has anyone come across this problem? I'm wondering if this is related to pumping out the header tank.I'm also thinking I need professional help.Anyone with any comments?

 

[Mike]

Check all of these things

Use a hose and spray down and watch for leaks in the following areas:1)Stern Rail (primary source of my aft leak)2)Pedestal (2nd biggest leak)3)Hinges on both aft seat hatches.4)Cigerette lighter outlet (if you have one)5)Instrament panel especially the tachometer.6)Access port for emerg. tillerI hate to say it, but I think you will find your stern rail is leaking like crazy. Water collected in the area of the emerg. tiller on my boat just as you describe. If your 280 is anything like my 28.5, then you will find that removing the stern rail is a royal pain in the aft. You will probably also find that the rail does not fit snuggly to the deck and there are gaps which you will have to fill with 4200 or similar sealant. On my 28.5 the bolt holes for the rail were oversized and poorly aligned too, making sealing the holes all that much more difficult. You could try the easy way out and put some sealant around the posts and see if the leak stops. Removing the aft rail is a 2 man job. You might have to remove the water heater to get at one or two of the nuts. Depends on whether you are a big guy or not.I did not have to remove my pedestal. I found the upper half of the pedestal was leaking, and so thankfully I didn't have to deal with taking the helm off the boat completely. Good luckMike

 

[Peter Blake]

Thanks Mike

Thanks MikeOn Friday evening I manually pumped out excess water from the emergency tiller area.I inspected Saturday and the leaking seems to have stopped for now.I am going to keep monitoring the situation and see what happens, though I suspect this problem will reemerge in the near future.Peter

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

good way to find leak

If all else fails on locating that pesky leak, then there is a good way to find it. Close all ports. Then take plastic and tape it around the companionway and any lockers. You may want to tape the lockers. Then insert an air blower into the plastic and of course tape it too. What your are trying to do is presuurize the cabin in a sense with the blower running. Have someone go over every bit of hardware, hull to deck joints, rub rail, chain plates and so forth brushing with soapy water. If you see air bubbling, then you found that pesy critter called a leak.Crazy dave condon

 

[Peter Blake]

Thanks Dave!

Thanks DaveI think this is going to take most of the season to get to the bottom of.I notice water is coming down the inside hull padding on the starboard side of the aft cabin.Water is collecting below the galley cupboards under the stove.problems, problems, problems.....